Interactions Within Ecosystems

Interactions Within Ecosystems is a comprehensive science unit for middle years students with very little prep required by teachers. It is completely laid out with teacher notes and a sequence of activities. Students will learn about many ways in which organisms interact within an ecosystem. They will also play some simulation games to reinforce unit concepts. A culminating activity for the unit is a project in which students design, build, test, and evaluate their own insect trap.

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This product includes:

1. Student Notes

2. Teacher Notes and Sequence of Activities

3. Life in a Drop of Pond Water

4. Student-Designed Experiment

5. Breathtaking Biomes

6. Suggested Videos

7. Pass It On Simulation Activity

8. Symbiotic Relationships

9. Oh Deer! Simulation Activity

10. Human Influence on Ecosystems

11. Build an Insect Trap Design Project

12. Review Sheet

13. Assessment Rubrics

14. Unit Test and Answer Key

In this unit, students will learn about: organisms, biotic and abiotic things, individuals, populations, communities, species, interaction, habitats, ecosystems, microorganisms, designing a fair test, biomes, biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, food chains, producers, consumers, herbivores, primary consumers, carnivores, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers, omnivores, food webs, pyramid of numbers, bioaccumulation, scavengers, decomposers, photosynthesis, cellular respiration, symbiosis, parasitism, mutualism, commensalism, succession, limiting factors, and human influence on ecosystems.