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Lesson Ecosystems
Lesson Ecosystems
Ecosystems
Overview
This series of lessons was designed to meet the needs
of gifted children for extension beyond the standard
curriculum with the greatest ease of use for the edu-
cator. The lessons may be given to the students for
individual self-guided work, or they may be taught in
a classroom or a home-school setting. This particular
lesson plan is primarily effective in a classroom setting.
Assessment strategies and rubrics are included. The
lessons were developed by Lisa Van Gemert, M.Ed.T.,
the Mensa Foundations Gifted Children Specialist.
Introduction
As the environment becomes an ever-increasing matter of national and international importance, stu-
dents knowledge of ecosystem dynamics gains in value. In addition to being a core requirement of science
standards across the country, the study of ecosystems is interesting to students, creating an arena in which
complex ideas become accessible to learners.
This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Lesson 1: The structure and function of an ecosystem
For each section below, read the information in the box on the left, draw a picture to represent the informa-
tion in the box on the right, and circle the word in the box on the left that you feel is the most important word.
This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Find the areas of the world in the arid desert biome. Based on this map and your knowledge of ecosystems
and biomes, answer the following questions:
1. Is the arid desert biome found on more than one continent? _________
2. What can you infer about the Range of Tolerance of animals and plants living in the arid desert?
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3. Xeric means extremely dry. What do you think the difference between the arid desert and xeric shrubland
biomes might be?
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6. If you could live in any biome, which one would it be and why?
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Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
These ecosystems abut each other. What do you notice about the land at the edges of the marine ecosystems?
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Look at Ecosystem 32, the Arabian Sea. How is it different than Ecosystems 27, 28 and 29?
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Find Ecosystem 63, Hudson Bay, and Ecosystem 34, the Bay of Bengal. How do you think these ecosystems
are different from each other?
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Warm water evaporates much more quickly than cold water. Predict which bay evaporates more quickly,
Hudson Bay or the Bay of Bengal?
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Evaporation creates increased salinity (saltiness). Which bay would you expect to be more salty, Hudson Bay
or the Bay of Bengal?
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This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Within an ecosystem, plants and animals relate to each other in different ways. Some animals eat other animals
in a relationship we call the food chain. Its easy to envision animals competing with each other, but did you
know that plants do, too? Plants compete for space, water, nutrients, and light. Plants get their nutrients from
air, water, and soil. What do you think a plant could do to increase the amount of nutrients it was getting?
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Other plants and animals live side-by-side in a relationship we call symbiosis. There are dif-
ferent kinds of symbiosis.
The first is called parasitism. This is where one species (the parasite) feeds off of or is depen-
dent on the other species (the host) in a way that may hurt or even kill the host. An example
of parasitism is fleas on a dog. The photo at left shows a flea through an electron microscope.
Another example of parasitism is called brood parasitism. This is when a bird lays
its eggs in another birds nest rather than building its own nest and sitting on the
eggs. Cuckoo birds and cowbirds lay their eggs in another birds nest and have the
host bird babysit the egg. This doesnt always work out for the host, because the
cuckoo sometimes shoves the hosts eggs overboard to try to fool the host!
If the host and the parasite benefit from the relationship, we call that mutualism. An
example of that would be bacteria in the gut of cows. The cows need the bacteria to
help them digest their food; the bacteria need the cow to provide them nutrients.
Another example is the relationship between the clown fish and the sea anemone.
The anemones protect the fish from predators that would eat the clown fish but
dont want to mess with the stinging tentacles of the anemone. The clown fish in
turn protects the anemone from a fish called the butterfly fish that eats anemones.
What do you think the biggest problem that brood parasitism could cause would be and why?
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This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Go to ga.water.usgs.gov/
edu/followadrip.html and
follow a drop of water
through the hydrologic
cycle.
In an ecosystem, the
cycle of water is critically
important. Do you re-
member what a Range of
Tolerance is? Many plants
and animals have a strict
Range of Tolerance when
it comes to water and
are very susceptible to
drought or flooding.
Image: ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/watercycle.html
After studying the diagram and reading about the drop of water, you are ready to write a cinquain poem
about water. A cinquain (pronounced sin cane) is a five-lined poem that follows a pattern of syllables.
Here is the pattern: Line 1: topic either a two-syllable word or two single syllable words
Line 2: four syllables of adjectives or words describing the topic
Line 3: six syllables of verbs that show what the topic does.
Line 4: eight syllables that express something about the subject. It can be a sentence.
Line 5: two syllables that wrap the whole poem up. It can be a synonym of the topic.
Heres an example:
Desert Now you Water
Sandy and dry try it. The
Waiting for welcome rain first line is ___________________________________
To make the flowers bloom again done for
Arid you. Make ___________________________________
sure you
check the ___________________________________
number of
syllables! ___________________________________
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Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
1. What are some of the challenges, both man-made and natural, that Dr. Dunbar and his team have found
to the ecosystems in the Antarctic and the Galapagos Islands?
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2. Dr. Dunbar discusses El Nio events. An El Nio is when the normally cold waters on the western coast of
South America heat up. This causes everything from flooding in Peru to drought in Australia. What are some
of the effects of this natural event?
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3. What did you think was the most interesting thing Dr. Dunbar talked about?
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Suppose you could do one thing to help the desert ecosystem. What would it be?
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This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
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This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
There are three kinds of ways animals interact with food. They can be producers, consumers or decomposers.
l Plants and algae are usually the producers in an ecosystem. Producers
dont eat anything else; they get their energy from another source, often
the sun, which is that foundation of the food web just like it is at the foun-
dation of the water cycle. Plants get their nutrients from soil, water, and air,
so they dont need to eat things. There are plants that eat insects, though!
l Consumers eat the producers and/or other consumers.
l Decomposers eat the dead plant and animal material in the ecosystem,
turning it into nutrients that can be used by the producers. Fungi, like these
mushrooms growing on a tree, bacteria, and worms are the most common
decomposers.
Plants and animals are assigned what is called a trophic level. Tro-
phic is a word with Greek origins meaning food, so a trophic level is
a fancy way of saying where an animal or plant is in the food chain.
Trophic levels are a pyramid, meaning that as you go up the levels,
there are fewer organisms there.
For example, this cow has eaten the grass around it. If that cow becomes
a steak, the person eating the steak also used up the resource that was
the grass, too, not just the cow. The higher you go, the more resources
you use.
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Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Look carefully at the trophic level pyramid here. Read the descriptions of the organisms listed in the chart
below the pyramid and decide what trophic level they belong to.
TERTIARY CONSUMERS
(carnivores that eat other carnivores
SECONDARY CONSUMERS
(carnivores [animal-eating animals] that eat herbivores
PRIMARY CONSUMERS
(herbivores [animals that eat plants])
PRIMARY PRODUCERS
(plants and algae)
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Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
2. Phytoplankton
Tiny organisms that receive energy
from the sun
3. Rabbit
Rabbits are herbivores
4. Wolf
Wolves are omnivores that will eat plants, When eating foxes:
as well as other animals. Some animals
they eat are carnivores, like foxes. Others When eating vegetation:
are herbivores, like rabbits. So, the wolf will
be at different trophic levels depending on When eating mice:
what it is eating.
5. Eagle
Eagles can eat foxes
6. Mushrooms
Gain nutrients from decaying matter
This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
1. What are your favorite games? It will be easiest and most rewarding to design a game that incorporates
some of the things you enjoy about games. Do you like games that require strategy? Do you like traditional
boards, or do you prefer more innovative ones? Do you like characters or just markers? Do you like drawing
cards, rolling dice, or a combination of both?
4. Follow the guidelines in the rubric in the Assessment section to make sure your game fulfills (or exceeds)
the standards.
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(Ralph)
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Buy an Ecosphere!
l eco-sphere.com
Research El Nio!
l elnino.noaa.gov
l kids.earth.nasa.gov/archive/nino/intro.html
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Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
One possible assessment strategy would be to award two points each for each possible answer, and giving
some answers three possible points to bring the total to fifty. Some answers require considerably higher
levels of thinking than others and that could justify a higher point total. The cinquain could be worth 10
points, and then the game is worth 90, for a total lesson value of 200 points. A teacher could take it as two
separate grades, one for the questions and another for the game.
The game rubric is included on the following page. The cinquain should meet the requirements of a
cinquain and also reflect an acceptable level of understanding of the poems subject.
This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.
Rules Rules are unclear, too Rules are lacking in one Rules are: Rules are:
develop- long, incomplete, and/ of the following areas: l reasonably brief l reasonably brief
ment or contain rules that l reasonably brief l clear l clear
add complexity without l clear l complete l complete
improving play. l complete l in a booklet with a l in a booklet with a
l in a booklet with a design on the front design on the front
design on the front l innovative or creative
in some way
Effective- There are significant por- There is a lack of align- There is alignment There is complete align-
ness tions of the game that ment between success between success in the ment between success in
bear no relation to the in the game and knowl- game and knowledge of the game and knowl-
content. One could play edge of ecosystems. ecosystems, although it edge of ecosystems.
the game well without may not be complete. Players who demonstrate
knowing about ecosys- superior knowledge will
tems. perform better.
Cards The game cards are The game cards are not The game cards are Game cards are attrac-
sloppily done. The ques- particularly attractive reasonably attractive and tively and neatly done.
tions are poor, lacking or neat. The questions neat. The questions re- The questions require
in sophistication and require less than com- quire fairly comprehensive comprehensive knowl-
understanding of the prehensive knowledge knowledge of the content. edge of the content.
content. of the content.
Playability The game lacks chal- The game is lacking The game is lacking in one The game meets the
lenge, is not flexible, in more than one of of the Hasbro Rules, but Hasbro Rules complete-
has an unclear path to the Hasbro Rules, offers and overall satisfac- ly fun, challenging, has
victory, and/or is predict- and does not offer a tory playing experience. a clear way to win, and
able from playing time to very satisfying playing offers a different playing
playing time. experience. experience each time.
Comments
/30 x 3
This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Education & Research Foundation, mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public.
Reproduction and distribution without modification is allowed. Images, links and linked content referenced herein are the property of the originating entities.