Know your ecosystem project

Before implementing this project, review the previous articles in the series on how to initiate a unit on ecosystems. Shortly after the introductory lesson teachers can initiate the start of an exploratory project that children will do, and more importantly, will want to do, on their own over the course of the study. Engage Your Students in Choosing a Project I’m adamant in any course of study that children be able to work within the parameters of the unit goals to pursue their own interests. I think kids take seriously that which they had a part in planning rather than having to accomplish something that someone else feels is important. Post a piece of chart paper on the board and have them brainstorm with you ideas about what kinds of things they might do in order to learn and share information about their chosen organism. “Think of something that you would like to do, something you would be excited about doing to learn more about your organism.” Children typically run the gambit of ideas. Your chart will be filled with fantastic possibilities. In the past my charts have been filled with ideas including dioramas, models, presentations, pictures, research, photos, power point, posterboard visuals, video presentation, books, and bringing in live specimens. Narrow Down the Idea When you have a chart full of wonderful ideas find a way to narrow it down, of course, with help from the children. “Should we all do a diorama or should we pick three things from the list that we sh...

ADVERTISEMENTS: Do you want to to create an amazing science fair project for your next exhibition? You are in the right place. Read the below given article to get a complete idea on ecosystem: 1. Meaning of Ecosystem 2. Components of Ecosystem 3. Structure 4. Food Chain 5. Energy Flow 6. Functions. Contents: • Science Fair Project on the Meaning of Ecosystem • Science Fair Project on the Components of Ecosystem • Science Fair Project on the Structure of Ecosystem • Science Fair Project on the Food Chain in Ecosystem • Science Fair Project on the Energy Flow in Ecosystem • Science Fair Project on the Functions of Ecosystem Science Fair Project # 1. Meaning of Ecosystem: ADVERTISEMENTS: The populations of organisms interact with each other in biological communities, and no biotic community can live in isolation. It lives in an environment which supplies its material and energy requirements and provides other living conditions. A biological community interacting with the non-living environment is called an ecosystem. An ecosystem can be natural or artificial, temporary or permanent. A pond, a lake, a tract of forest, a coral reef, a large grassland, a village, an aquarium, a field of sugarcane, a manned spaceship, or a laboratory culture can all be regarded as ecosystems. Thus, an ecosystem may be defined as a dynamic system which includes both organisms (biotic component) and abiotic environment influencing the properties of each other and both necessary for the maintenance ...

• Have students list what they know about ecosystems. Write their responses on the board. Then ask: • Why is interdependence important in an ecosystem? • Turn and talk with a partner: Provide an example of interdependence. • Ask students what they have learned about the food chain. • Create a chart that describes the roles of the producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers, as well as provides examples of each. • Divide students into small groups. Have each group select an ecosystem, such as the rainforest, desert, coral reef, or grasslands. Have student groups create a simple food chain on paper that includes: producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and decomposers. Have students share their information with the class. • Define a keystone species to students. • Have students provide an example of a keystone species from their group's ecosystem.

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as a biotic factors, or nonliving parts. Biotic factors include plants, animals, and other organisms. Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature, and humidity. Every factor in an ecosystem depends on every other factor, either directly or indirectly. A change in the temperature of an ecosystem will often affect what plants will grow there, for instance. Animals that depend on plants for food and shelter will have to adapt to the changes, move to another ecosystem, or perish. Ecosystems can be very large or very small. Tide pools, the ponds left by the ocean as the tide goes out, are complete, tiny ecosystems. Tide pools contain seaweed, a kind of algae, which uses photosynthesis to create food. Herbivores such as abalone eat the seaweed. Carnivores such as sea stars eat other animals in the tide pool, such as clams or mussels. Tide pools depend on the changing level of ocean water. Some organisms, such as seaweed, thrive in an aquatic environment, when the tide is in and the pool is full. Other organisms, such as hermit crabs, cannot live underwater and depend on the shallow pools left by low tides. In this way, the biotic parts of the ecosystem depend on abiotic factors. The whole surface of Earth is a series of connected ecosystems. Ecosystems are often connected in a la...