Interactions Between Living Things and Their Environment

The student will investigate how living things interact with one another and with nonliving elements of their environment.

http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm

http://www.mbgnet.net/

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/biomes.html

http://worldbiomes.com/

Day 1 Interdependence of Plants and Animals

Ecosystem - all the living and nonliving things that can be found in a particular area

Have students name ecosystems while teacher fills in a chart similar to the one below. Next have students brainstorm to fill in additional material. Chart from Enchanted Learning http://members.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

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Day 2

1. Discussion:

• World has many environments called ecosystems.

• Remembering chart from Day 1 - Which factors influence type of plant and animal population in a specific ecosystem?

  • amount of rainfall

  • temperature

2. View ecosystem pyramid.

• Which ecosystem is the coldest?

• Is the tundra or boreal forest colder?

• Which  ecosystems are warm?

• Which ecosystem receives more rain:

  • prairie or desert?

  • tropical deciduous forest or tropical rainforest?

  • warm desert or cold desert?

3. Run off the chart for students. Discuss the types of animals, plants, and nonliving factors for each ecosystem.

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Day 3 Wetlands, Swamps and Oceans

1. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 157 Pond Habitat (coloring page)

2. Enchanted Learning Website - Swamp Animals (Coloring Page with Labels for each Animal)

3. Make origami paper crane - video showing how to fold paper crane  http://www.sadako.com/howtofold.html OR http://www.planetpals.com/IKC/peacecrane.html

4. Wild About Otters Build-a-Book http://www.mbayaq.org/PDF_files/activities/aquarium_wao_book.pdf

5. Animals I Spy http://www.mbayaq.org/lc/activities.asp

6. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 159 Ocean Habitat (coloring page)

7. Enchanted Learning Website - Ocean Animals Label Me! Printout. (Fill in the blanks to label animals)

8. Read and complete biome booklets found at Enchanted Learning http://members.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

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Day 4 Forest Biomes (Rainforest, Deciduous, and Boreal)

1. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 153 Mixed Forest Habitat (coloring page)

2. Evan-Moor Corp. Learning About Animals page 38 In the Woods (cut, paste, and coloring page)

3. Instructional Fair, Inc. Science Enrichment page 51 At Home in the Forest Community (Find animals that don't belong.)

4. Read and complete biome booklets found at Enchanted Learning (Forest Animals)  http://members.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

5. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 146 Rainforest Habitat (coloring page)

6. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 147 Map of Rainforest Around the World

7. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 149 The Rainforest (illustration of 4 plant layers)

8. Read and complete biome booklets found at Enchanted Learning (Rainforest Animals) http://members.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

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Day 5 Polar, Tundra, and Desert

1. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 161 Polar Habitat (coloring page)

2. Animals of the Artic Tundra http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/instructor/images/Arctic_Tundra/arctic_repro.pdf

3. Make candy elk.

4. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 150 Desert Habitat (coloring page)

5. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 151 Deserts of the World (map page)

6. Read and complete biome booklets found at Enchanted Learning (Desert Animals) http://members.enchantedlearning.com/biomes/

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Day 6 Savannas and  Grasslands

1. Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 - Page 155 Savanna Habitat (coloring page)

2. Instructional Fair, Inc. Science Enrichment page 49 At Home in the Grassland Community (Find animals that don't belong.)

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Day 7 Where does this animal live?

1. Using the following pages from Giant Science Resource Book EMC 398 have students make a large ecosystem chart like the illustration below. Students cut out animal pictures for the pages below and glue them under the correct ecosystem.

   • page 145 Pictures of Desert, Ocean, Grassland, Rainforest, Arctic Tundra, and Pond

   • page 148 Rainforest Animals

   • page 152 Desert Animals

   • page 154 Forest Animals

   • page 156 Savanna Animals

   • page 158 Pond Animals

   • page 160 Ocean Animals

   • page 162 Polar Animals

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Day 8 Interdependence of Plants and Animals

Students make a flow chart illustrating that plant give off oxygen which animals breath, and animals give off carbon dioxide which plants need. http://www.teachtheteachers.org/projects/MBergey/photo_worksheet.html

Ask questions:

Why would animals not survive without plants?

Why would plants not survive without animals?

TCAP Coach Lesson 1

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Day 9 Relationships Among Organisms

Distinguish between commensalism, parasitism, and mutualism.

Discuss each relationship

• commensalism - relationship between two living organisms where one benefits and the other is neither harmed nor helped

  • one animal attaching itself to another for transportation

  • using a second organism for housing such as birds that live in holes in trees or orchids which live in trees

  • birds that live among cattle to eat the insects stirred up as they walk

  • clownfish lives among the forest of tentacles of an anemone and is protected from potential predators

  • barnacles attach to shells or whales

• parasitism - one organism, usually physically smaller of the two (the parasite) benefits and the other (the host) is harmed

  • mosquito feeding on a host

  • hookworms living in host's gut

  • fleas

• mutualism - both species benefit from the interaction
  PowerPoint with examples of mutualism http://facstaff.bloomu.edu/ccorbin/mutualismexamples.ppt

  • Flowers and their pollinators (examples:  bees and hummingbirds gather nectar and spread pollen)

  • birds and mammals eat  berries and fruits while plant benefits by the dispersal of it seeds

  • coral reefs

  • algae and fungi > lichen

  • bacteria in the cow's gut

• predator - one eats another (Herbivores eat plants. Carnivores eats animals.)

Graphic Organizer  Plant and Animal Relationships

Examples from the Internet

http://www.oceanfootage.com/stockfootage/Sea_Slug

http://www.geocities.com/eco_psychology/

 

TCAP Coach Lesson 2

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Day 10 Organisms and Their Ecosystems

1. predator - organism that does the killing

Characteristics

• excellent eyesight

• strong wings

• sharp teeth

• fast leg muscles to catch prey

prey - organism that is eaten as food

 

Characteristics

• fast leg muscles to run away from predator

• good hearing

• can hide well

• colors that blend in with environment

2. Prediction Population Changes in Ecosystems- Using plastic animals group according to which ecosystem the animal lives. Introduce new animals and discuss how this affects the biome.

3. The Best of the Mailbox Worksheet page 62 Keeping the Balance

4. TCAP Coach Lesson 3