Group items tagged

Animated video that explains the importance of coral reefs in the food web. Narrated by Celine Cousteau, the video is ideal for school kids and an great tool for teachers to introduce them to ocean biology, environmental issues and social activism.4.1.B.a; 4.1.B.c; 4.1.D.a; 4.2.A.a

describes the different levels of an ecosystem, biotic & abiotic, energy transfer etc.

Higher level read that could be used to introduce photosynthesis. **You will need to create a Kids Discover account to view this source.

**You will need to create a Kids Discover account to view this source.

Higher level read but a good real world example of a decomposer. **You will need to create a Kids Discover account to view this source.

There are a couple of things about this one that I think need some careful attention. For one: "A [food]chain will always start with a plant (a primary producer)." That isn't really true for the largest ecosystem on the planet, for example: the oceans. Not only are most algae not considered plants, a large number of these are unicellular and prokaryotic... the "blue green algae/bacteria" or cyanophytes. In fact, there are even deep sea hydrothermal ecosystems, for instance, that do not even rely upon photosynthetic organisms at all. These primary producers are chemosynthetic in the blackness that is the sea floor. So yes, "primary producer" is accurate... but not so for "plant." I'm also anxious to see what kids will place in between the snail and the bird (as pictured) on food chain "B" to complete the "missing link." I honestly had to work the Google to find out that spider-eating snails do exist. I feel like that is pretty obscure.

I could see me using parts of this article to assist in discussing different living things 'role' in their ecosystem.

Lower reading level.

On grade level reading.

This activity helps students grasp how energy flows. Scroll down to materials and click on Energy Pyramid Activity-Teacher Version for the lesson plan.