Virtual Galápagos
Unit 3 Lesson 1: What is an Ecosystem?
Tortoise Curriculum Lesson Plan
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
- Goal 1: Students will be able to define habitat and ecosystem and explain the difference between the two by drawing both their habitat and ecosystem.
- Goal 2: Students will be able to define and give examples of abiotic and biotic factors by completing a compare and contrast chart.
STANDARDS
Next Generation Science Standards
- 3-LS4-D: Biodiversity and Humans: populations live in a variety of habitats, and changes in those habitats affect the organisms living there.
- 3-LS4-C: Adaptation: for any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- Abiotic factors: Nonliving things in an ecosystem that shape the environment
- Biotic factors: Living things in an ecosystem
- Ecosystem: The relationship between living and nonliving things in an environment.
- Habitat: The place where a living thing lives, sleeps, eats, and reproduces.
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Students should have prior knowledge that living things usually live in a particular place that is best suited for them.
ADVANCE PREP FOR TEACHER KNOWLEDGE
A habitat is where a living thing lives, eats, and sleeps. For a human, a habitat would be like their house or apartment. For a plant or animal, a habitat would be like a pond for a duck or a log for a termite. An ecosystem includes a habitat, the surrounding area, and other living and nonliving things in the area (biotic and abiotic factors). “An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life” (National Geographic education). When we study ecosystems, it is important to study the relationships between living and nonliving things. For example, the duck’s or termite’s ecosystem could be an evergreen forest where the pond and log reside. This would include abiotic factors such as the soil, the temperature climate, and humidity, as well as, biotic factors such as other plants, animals, and organisms living in the area.
MATERIALS AND SETUP
- Virtual Galápagos Ecosystem Dynamics Module
- Virtual Galápagos Fieldbook
- Suggested materials for diorama activity:
- Shoebox
- Glue
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Coloring utensils
- Popsicle sticks
- Pipe cleaners
- Playdoh or clay
- Teachers can opt to instruct students to collect safe-to-touch fallen parts of plants and other non-living materials (examples: fallen leaves, flowers, grass, twigs, stones) to include in their dioramas. Students should be reminded to leave plants and living beings undisturbed and unharmed while collecting.
- Any other classroom materials of the teacher’s choosing
LESSON SEQUENCE
ENGAGE
- Option to have students transfer their current claim to explain the tortoise shell shape mystery to a new Scientific Field Notes page for this module:
- Optional introductory video explaining that the next focus is on ecosystems and introducing the concept.
- Engagement with the content begins with the teacher bringing the students outside to observe the ecosystem around them.
- Students can use a graphic organizer to prompt them to make observations using their different senses.
- Worksheet title: My Home Ecosystem Observations
- If students are unable to go outside, alternatives include:
- Looking out the window, searching up images or videos of particular ecosystems on the internet, or observing the ecosystem within the classroom.
EXPLORE
- Once back in the classroom, students will be instructed to use a shoebox to create a diorama of their ecosystem. The goal is to consider how different relationships within the ecosystem might be depicted.
- Teachers can prompt students to represent their observations creatively in their diorama.
- Students should be provided a variety of materials to use (see list above).
- Once their diorama is completed, students should store it in a safe place where they can come back to it later for further analysis as the diorama will be used later in the Ecosystems module.
EXPLAIN
- Students watch the Ecosystems vs. Habitat video to learn about (or review) habitats and ecosystems, and the biotic and abiotic factors within ecosystems.
- The video helps students understand the differences between the definitions of habitats and ecosystems.
- Additionally, students will be prompted to apply these definitions when thinking about their own homes and communities.
ELABORATE
- Students complete the Habitat vs. Ecosystem worksheet, where they draw the habitat and ecosystem where they live.
- Students can watch a video introducing the terms abiotic and biotic factors, by having them analyze their Habitat vs. Ecosystem worksheet interactively
- Then, students complete the Abiotic vs. Biotic worksheet where students write down and/or draw abiotic and biotic factors around them, as well as consider the relationships between different factors.
- Students can watch a video that transitions to the next lesson, about tortoises being ecosystem engineers, and traveling to Isabela island.
EVALUATE
- Students complete Observing Santa Cruz worksheet
DIFFERENTIATION
- For students who need supplemental help with writing, there is the option of only including drawings, rather than including labels and written words.
- For the diorama activity, if students are unable to go outside, the teacher will provide students with pictures of different ecosystems for students to model their diorama after.
ASSESSMENT
- Students complete the Observing Santa Cruz worksheet, where they draw the ecosystem of Santa Cruz.
- Students include abiotic and biotic factors in their drawing and label the components of their drawing.
- Students should also include vegetation, a description of the perceived climate, and any living and nonliving things they can see in the panorama.
This unit was designed by Sarah Jekel and Krelyn Zacarias, and edited by Ava Wojtaszek and Sarah Jekel.
You can download the lesson plan here:
Virtual Galápagos
virtualgalapagos.colgate.edu
