Students explore the interconnected relationships between plants and animals in an ecosystem. They will decorate wooden blocks with plants and animals and then stack them to simulate an ecosystem (producers on the bottom). They will then take turns removing blocks from the ecosystem, giving a possible reason for that particular organism's removal from the ecosystem until the ecosystem becomes so unstable that it collapses.

In this interactive activity, students explain a phenomenon, make hypotheses and predictions, and then test their predictions with data. Students will measure the biomass of primary producers in a defined area and extrapolate the amount of algal biomass in a river pool. Students will also investigate the relationship between biomass pyramids and pyramids of productivity and the role of the physical environment (mainly the amount of sunlight versus shade) on trophic biomass pyramids. This activity is based on the fieldwork of ecologist Dr. Mary Power.

In this activity, students participate in a game to understand the meanings of different types of symbiosis. Students discover the meaning and importance of symbiosis by matching hosts and symbionts based on their respective needs. They will also explore the advantages and disadvantages of different types of symbiosis.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science created this resource as part of an online workshop series, but you are welcome to use or modify it for your classroom. It includes a video and written directions for creating nature journals and tips for incorporating them into your classroom. For information on taking any the Nature Neighborhood online workshops for CEUs or EE credit, visit: https://naturalsciences.org/learn/educators/online-workshops.

In this lesson, part of the NC Science Now series, students will identify the factors that affect the Red Drum population and discuss the relationships between predator and prey.

Flowering plants keep the world cooler and wetter than it would be otherwise.

This activity introduces students to the ecosystem processes and interactions among populations, communities, and their environments. It will help students connect the flow of matter and energy through observations, lab work, and group field studies. Studying plant and animal life will directly focus on predator/prey, parasite/host, and producer/consumer/decomposer relationships.

In this lesson, students diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.

Students explore a bay ecosystem and how the different organisms of the ecosystem compete with one another for resources.

Students conduct an investigation of soil and leaf litter from the forest floor. Students will collect animals they find in a jar. At the end of the activity, students will classify animals by number of legs and place specimens in white bottomed pans for group observation and identification. They will also create a food chain representing the organisms found in the soil and leaf litter ecosystem.

In this lesson, students will collaborate with classmates to explore and explain different symbiotic relationships using known relationships, and then elaborating to new organism relationships. Students will be able to compare and contrast the symbiotic relationships of mutualism, predation, commensalism, and parasitism through several discovery activities.

Students will read scientific text about top predators in Arctic marine ecosystems and how they may be affected by global climate change. Students will work individually or collaboratively to write a report based on the scientific text they have read and participate in a large-group discussion session based on their analysis.

This lesson will incorporate how organisms affected at one trophic level in an ecosystem can change the entire structure of the ecosystem. The students will gain an understanding that human impact through deforestation, climate change and even restoration effort can alter an ecosystem's flow of energy through a food web which can have a chain effect spreading through the entire food web. The affect could cause an entire ecosystem to collapse especially if the original organism affected is a keystone species or an umbrella species. Students will learn that the extinction of the polar bears will cause devastation on the Arctic ecosystem that may cause the extinction of world biome.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.        

This lesson will incorporate how organisms affected at one trophic level in an ecosystem can change the entire structure of the ecosystem. The students will gain an understanding that human impact through deforestation, climate change and even restoration effort can alter an ecosystem's flow of energy through a food web which can have a chain effect spreading through the entire food web. The affect could cause an entire ecosystem to collapse especially if the original organism affected is a keystone species or an umbrella species. Students will learn that the extinction of the polar bears will cause devastation on the Arctic ecosystem that may cause the extinction of world biome.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.        

Students will be working in a group of four. Students will be given a situation that has occurred within their given world ecosystem. The situation could be a disease that has infected a certain species of animal, resulting in eradication. What happens to your food web and how might this situation be avoided in the future? Students will then create a three-minute video newscast using moviemaker or screencast in order to communicate what has happened to their ecosystem and how scientists are working to make certain that this does not occur in the future. Students can use their notes or internet search to investigate the situation that is occurring within their world ecosystem.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.        

Students will investigate an ecosystem of their choice and then create a food web poster with at least 30 organisms. The students will have different sections that will include food web, food chain, energy pyramid, invasive species, and symbiosis, climate and population factors within an ecosystem. This is the summative lesson of the unit. This will allow the student to apply all the information that has been learned throughout the unit. The students will demonstrate through analyzes how an ecosystem is an interconnected ever changing system that incorporates many factors that affect organisms living in the ecosystem.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.        

Students will investigate an invasive species. Two students in the class will be investigating the same invasive species. Once they have investigated on their own, the two will then collaborate to create a visual presentation using technology, such as PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Prezi, to present to the class. This lesson will inform students about the destructive nature of species being transferred from one ecosystem to another ecosystem. The lesson will introduce students to invasive species throughout the world and how they affect ecosystems. During the lesson students will be able to determine different methods of transport for invasive species such as the ones that can hitch rides to those that have been purposely introduced by humans.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.        

Lesson one allows students to explore the interconnection between organisms and the environments they make their homes. They will begin with investigating how food webs, food chains and energy pyramids are different and similar throughout the world. By analyzing food webs, food chains, and energy pyramids, the students will be able to discover how different organisms in different ecosystems throughout the world utilize each other for their own survival. This lesson specifically addresses the need for students to understand how organisms within an ecosystem interact with each other. It will include the interaction of producers, consumers, and decomposers as energy flows through the ecosystem.This lesson was developed by Elizabeth Bartlett as part of their completion of the North Carolina Global Educator Digital Badge program. This lesson plan has been vetted at the local and state level for standards alignment, Global Education focus, and content accuracy.

In this activity, students will use a simple sampling method to determine if invasive species impact other plants and animals in the forest. This activity focuses on garlic mustard, but the same procedure can also be used with other invasive plants in different habitats. Note: This activity can also be simulated in the classroom with different kinds of leaves to represent different plants.