Ecosystems Unit Plans - Cher Wheeler's Teacher Resources



Ecosystems Unit Plans

Biomes

Objective 1.01: Describe and compare several ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interactions with the environment).

• Biomes vocabulary cards and quiz

• Biomes Booklet: textbook, pages 158-169

• US video: Biomes: Our Earth’s Major Life Zones (26 min)

o Anticipation Guide

• Biomes I-poem

• Color-code map of biomes

• TFK materials:

o Arctic Wildlife

o Meet the Amphibians

o Super Salty Water

o Ocean Zones

o US Deserts

o Where are the Wildfires?

o This is the Arctic

o A Frozen Land

o Rainforests Around the World

Other Teaching Strategies & Resources:

• Complete the Science Connection Overview to activate prior knowledge.

• Information to complete the booklet can be found:

o on my ecosystems link

o in the Foss Environment book, pages 9-17 and 27-35

o in the science textbook, pages 158-169

• Have students compare and contrast 2 different ecosystems.

• Have students illustrate, label, and write a caption for a particular ecosystem.

• Have students create a diorama of an ecosystem with a short summary.

• Have students use KidPix to create an electronic drawing of an ecosystem with a short summary.

• Basal Area Lab- see Pam- identifying and graphing tree data

United Streaming Videos:

• Biomes: Our Earth’s Major Life Zones (Blackline Masters available) (26 min)

Ecosystems, Food Chains and Webs

Objective 1.02: Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem as producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Objective 1.03: Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.

• Ecosystems Vocabulary Cards and Quiz

• US: Food Chains and Webs (20 min)

o Anticipation Guide

o Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game – has the same questions as the Anticipation Guide

• US: The Food Chain Mystery (15 min)

• Analyze and interpret food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids

• Create and diagram food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids

• Play “Oh Deer”

• Owl Pellet lab

• US: Life Science: Ecology (17 min)

o Anticipation Guide

• Ecosystems 20 Questions game

• The Amazing Amazon inferences game (PP)

• TFK Materials:

o Reptile Files: Sea Turtle Facts

o Under the Sea Creatures

o Where a Great White Shark Swims

o Critters in Crisis

o Creature Features

Teaching Strategies & Resources:

• textbook, Chapter 1, pages 98-109 (Living Things and Their Environment)

• textbook, Chapter 2, pages 112-123 (Food Chains and Food Webs)

• Coach book, pages 42-44, Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers

• textbook, Chapter 4, pages 142-151 (Surviving in Ecosystems)

• Coach book, pages 38-40, Ecosystems

• Coach book, pages 46-48, Organism Diversity in Ecosystems

• Coach book, pages 52-53, Living factors in Ecosystems

• Predator-Prey game, see Pam

• Bioviva game- see Pam

United Streaming Videos:

• Food Chains and Webs (Blackline Masters available) (20 min)

• The Food Chain Mystery (15 min)

• VHS video about owls and their role in ecosystem – pellet dissection- see Pam

• Life Science: Ecology (17 min)

Life Cycles

Objective 1.04: Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature and soil composition in an ecosystem’s capacity to support life.

Objective 1.05: Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem.

Objective 1.07: Determine how materials are recycled in nature.

• GO: Cycles of Life

• Play “Oh Deer”

• Discuss role and importance of abiotic factors in ecosystems

• GO: Interaction within an Ecosystem

• GO: Interdependence: Interpreting a Food Web

Teaching Strategies & Resources:

• textbook, Chapter 3, pages 126-137 (Cycles of Life)

• Coach book, pages 59-62, Natural Cycles

• textbook, page 100-104

• Coach book, pages 49-51, Nonliving Factors in Ecosystems

• play “Oh Deer”

• textbook, pages 148-151

• Environments book, pages 53-55, How organisms depend on each other

• Environments book, pages 38-41, What is an ecosystem?

Human Influence

Objective 1.06: Explain and evaluate some of the ways that humans affect ecosystems: Habitat reduction due to development, pollutants, and increased nutrients.

• TLC Elementary School: People and the Environment (25 min)

• TFK materials:

o Understanding Global Warming

o A Brighter Future

o A Greenhouse Gas

o Get Water-Wise

o Where does the U.S. Get Its Energy?

o How the U.S. Uses Oil

o Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

o Too Much Trash

o Power Up with Nature

Teaching Strategies & Resources:

• textbook, pages 136-137 (recycling)

• textbook, Chapter 6, pages 174-187 (How Ecosystems Change)

• textbook, Chapter 5, pages 444-451 (Earth’s Atmosphere)

• textbook, pages 458-463 (Water pollution)

• textbook, pages 466-475 (Energy Resources)

• Environments book, pages 49-52, What happens when ecosystems change?

• Environments book, pages 36-37, Water pollution

• Coach book, pages 56-58, Humans and Environmental Change

• Student created PP on environmental problems:

o see list for suggested topics

United Streaming Videos:

• TLC Elementary School: People and the Environment (25 min)

Assessment

• Ecosystems 20 questions game

• Ecosystems Pyramid Game

• Coach Review questions

• Ecosystems Vocab 1 (PP)

• Ecosystems End of Grade Practice Assessment

Supplemental Literature

Read alouds:

• Hoot by Carl Hiaasen

• Flush by Carl Hiassen

• The Great Kapok Tree by Lynn Cherry

• The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

• Jaguar by Helen Cowcher

• Jacob’s Overcoat (recycling)

Basal stories:

The Grizzly Bear Family Book, page 602 (strategic questions and brochure)

The Golden Lion Tamarin Comes Home, page 628 (strategic questions and brochure)

My Side of the Mountain, page 650

Interrupted Journey, page 672B

The Rabbit’s Judgment, page 672H

Houghton Mifflin Readers:

Animals of Alaska

Saving America’s Wild Horses

A Deep Blue Lake

Keeping Warm in Winter

Animals of the Amazon

Help is on the Way

The Hyrax of Top-Knot Island

Saving Sea Turtles

Invaders

The Return of the Wild Whoopers

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download