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 

Water Cycle

OBJECTIVE:

  • Determine where water comes from.
  • Determine the part water plays in the interrelationship between plants, animals and soil.
  • The affect a drought or a flood on an ecosystem.
  • Research the causes and effects of erosion.

MATERIALS:

paper, pencil, access to library materials, small ziplock bags, medicine cups, water, food coloring, stream tables (or deep cookie trays), gravel, soil, mulch, grass samples, soil erosion sites for visiting.

TIME CONSTRAINTS:

1 class period of 45 minutes to set up labs for recording over a 2-4 week observation period. 1 class period to analyse the results.

PROCEDURES:

  1. Discuss the water cycle and where water comes from. A neat activity for the water cycle is in the book Project Learning Tree activity #44, pp 142-147, Americican Forrest Foundation, Washington, DC, 1993.
  2. Distribute one zip lock bag and one cup per group of 3-5 students. Place blue colored water inside the cup and place the cup in the corner (upright) inside the bag. Hang the bag (carefully) in the window where it can receive sun. Observe, record and graph the evaporation process over one week.
  3. Use two stream tables, one to demonstrate soil erosion and the other to demonstrate the part that plants play in erosion prevention. Observe, record and graph the results of the demonstration changing one variable at a time to show the best contributers to erosion prevention. This will take an additional class period.
  4. Reseach the effect the El Nino floods of 1997&1998 had on soils, plants and animals. Use the research to make general conclusions about the effects of flooding.
  5. Research the effect the El Nino droughts of 1997&1998 had on soils, plants and animals. Use the research to make general conclusions about the effects of droughts. (Note, the satellite Topex/Poseidon has charted El Nino and El Nina and has posted it on its web site "will insert a click here with that site")