BioDiverse MicroUniverse

I: Overview

 

II: Wildlife (animal) to plant interrelationships

 

III: Soil to plant and animal interrelationships

 

IV: Influence of water cycle to plants, animals and soil

 

V: Let's get started on Implementation

Wildlife 

OBJECTIVE:

The Learner will be able to ...

  • define an ecosystem
  • observe wildlife environments
  • determine the relationships between plants and animals in an ecosystem
  • recognize the natural checks and balances in an ecosystem.

MATERIALS:

paper, pens (pencils), magnifying glass (per group), poster board or construction paper (for graphing)

TIME CONSIDERATIONS:

  • This activity will take two or three 45 minute class periods.

 

PROCEDURE:

  1. Teacher preselects two different study sites where the students will make observations.
  2. Have the students picture a favorite site they enjoy visiting.
  3. Discuss with the students the living and nonliving things that made up that place.
  4. Use the students input to create a working definition of an ecosystem.
  5. The students will spend ten minutes at each site sitting quietly making observations. Their observations will include: the kinds and numbers of any wildlife or evidence of wildlife they see (the wildlife in this unit includes all plants, animals, insects and any other living form.)
  6. The students will record (chart and graph) each kind of plant and animal they see. The students will also record the numbers of each plant and animal.
  7. Return to class and use the poster board to create a class chart and graph of the combined results from each site.
  8. Discuss the two different sites with the students. Have the students determine the various factors that limit or increase the animal populations and determine the factors that influence the plant populations. The students will determine the relationships between the plants and animals.
  9. Using the above information, discuss and determine the factors that affect the checks and balances that ocur between species.
  10. Have the students identify and describe three things that people could do to increase the numbers and kinds of wildlife living in an area that has little evidence of wildlife.