Ecosystem Dynamics

Grade Level: 5th

Subject: Science

Time Frame: 4 weeks (January/February)

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Essential Questions

 

- how can a food web be used to help observe interactions between organisms in an environment?
- what are the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers and the Sun in an ecosystem?
- how is matter transferred through an ecosystem?
- how can an organism maintain its population in an ecosystem? What factors can threaten a species?

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By the end of the unit, students will know:

 

-  all food webs rely on the sun for its energy source and producers to create their own food
- energy and mass are transferred from one organism to the next as it is eaten
- Decomposers take dead material and recycle it back into usable material
- ecosystems are very fragile and require a perfect balance of predator and prey

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By the end of the unit, students will be able to:

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- create a food web
- explain the importance of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystems
- observe and analyze factors that aid decomposition
- describe the flow of energy and mass through a food web
- make conclusions about an ecosystem's chances for survival based on factors such as overpopulation or overhauling 

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Topics

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- food webs
- decomposers
- decomposition
- compost creation
- leaf decay
- cycles of matter
- maintaining an ecosystems 

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Standards

LS2.A, LS2.B