Preparing Children Today for a World of Science Tomorrow!
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Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
Irvine, CA 92617
(949) 721-2222 office/(949) 721-2225 fax
Staff Contact Info
Your lessons on ecosystems and interdependence will literally come to life as students construct and observe their own terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Here's what their ecosystems will include
Aquatic:
-Algae
-Duckweed
-Elodea
-Snails
-Mosquito Fish or Guppies
-Terrestrial
Grass:
-Mustard
-Alfalfa
-Crickets
-Isopods
After observing the systems separately, students connect the 2 into 1 system
called an ecocolumn. By experimenting with their ecocolumn., students discover
that their 2 ecosystems are intertwined.
You complete the unit by focusing on a much larger ecosystem - the Chesapeake Bay watershed. You'll discuss the bay's complex problems, including pollution and population challenges, and students will discover that in a large ecosystem, as in their columns, altering 1 resource can impact others.
As a final activity, your classroom turns into a mini-conference where different students represent the conflicting interests of the boater, dairy farmers, watermen, and general residents who make up the Chesapeake Bay watershed's population. Students experience the tradeoffs involved in environmental policy. They also discover that through sacrifices, all the groups with competing interests in an ecosystem can help preserve it.
©1999 STC
Subject: Students see firsthand a portion of the intricate web of interrelationships
that link plants, animals, and the physical world.
Preparing Children Today for a World of Science
Tomorrow!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arnold
and Mabel Beckman Foundation
Irvine, CA 92617
(949) 721-2222 office/(949) 721-2225 fax
Staff Contact Info