What an exciting afternoon we had today - it was our first Science lesson of the year and we got straight 'out there' into the world, predicting, observing and recording rather than reading 'all about it' from a text book!
Our first unit of study is 'How Living Things Interact' and to start it all off, we'll be understanding what ecosystems are all about.
Today, students learned that the word 'organism' means 'a living thing' and brainstormed all the organisms they could think of. Then, we learned that an 'ecosystem' is anywhere where organisms can live and interact with each other, so we predicted what kinds of ecosystems we would find around our school.
Then, in small groups, armed with bug collectors, sample jars, magnifying glasses, string, crisps (to be used to lure and observe life), sketch paper, pencils and note books, we marched on outside and started exploring!
Squeals of delight could be heard all around the school as students found ants and caterpillars and butterflies and birds and giant snails and other evidence of life interacting.
Although we only had a short amount of time, it was amazing just how much we found.
So, if you fancy yourself as a scientist and are out for the day, why not choose some of these 'safari' tasks and discover an amazing array of ecosystems underneath (or above) your very nose?!
Safari Tasks
A. Look for signs of animals: tracks, homes, evidence of eating, fecal deposits, pathways. What do these signs tell you about who lives here?
B. Look for signs of who eats whom/what. Try to determine the food chain in which this animal exists. Do the animals you have discovered live off of nature or human intrusions (garbage, gardens, pet food, etc.)?
C. Do you see any animal homes in human-built structures?
D. Do you see any plants growing on man-made structures?
E. Be a bird-watcher: Where do you see them? What do they seem to be doing? What do they look like (color, shape)? Can you identify any of them? (Common city birds are crows, sparrows, finches, mockingbirds, jays, starlings, pigeons.) How many of each species do you see?
F. Compare the "wildlife" to human-influenced life: what plants are growing wild, or planted by people? Are there any wild animals? Are there any domestic animals?
G. Be an ant-watcher: Where do you see them? What are they doing? Do you observe any division of labor going on? Can you influence their behavior by scattering food particles?
H. What do you see that is reflective of human impact? Do you see any harms or benefits from that impact?
I. Lift a rock, move a twig, turn over a leaf. What do you see? (Be sure you put what you moved back the way you found it.)
J. Walk along a five to ten foot space. (You can bring along a 5 or 10 ft. length of string.) List all the different species of plant you see. If you don't know their names, just count them. Now do the same for all the animals that are there. (This technique is called walking a transect.)
K. Use your sense of smell. What is the dominant smell in the area? What is it caused by? Is it natural or man-made?
L. Pick one plant or animal at your level to examine as thoroughly as you can. If it is an insect, you can put it in the bug box, but be sure to put it back when you are finished observing it. Sketch or photograph it. Why did you pick this item?
M. Find a texture that is: (Identify the ones you find.)
hard__________ soft__________ sticky__________ prickly__________
furry__________ rough__________ smooth__________ slippery__________
N. Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds around you. Which one do you notice most? Why? Is it a sound from nature, or man's creation? If you have a tape recorder, record for a while. Play it back and see if what you focused on was what the tape recorder picked up.
Taken from 'Urban Science:Living Ecosystems' Science project
by Patricia Dung, UCLA Science Project
Co-DirectorEsther Zack, UCLA Science Project Facilitato
“Shoot for the moon! Even if you miss you will land among the stars!”-Les Brown
