We have just started our last topic of the school year: Environments! This unit begins with very basic information and vocabulary, such as producer/consumer/decomposer, biotic/abiotic factors, herbivore/omnivore/carnivore, and predator/prey. Once students are comfortable with the vocabulary terms, we will move to food chains and food webs. Throughout this unit, we will be discussing various biomes around the world. There are slightly different biomes based on where the information is coming from, so we will use the ones in the textbook for our current unit along with a few websites (such as Kids Biology, Ducksters, and Kids Do Ecology). One very important part of this unit is the importance of each factor (plant or animal) within that single environment, and the effects of even one factor being removed due to disease, hunting, or similar situation.
We will also spend time talking about animal adaptations, which allows us to watch some amazing videos that show another side of animals. Many are way more intelligent than they may seem!
We watched a video on decomposers early in this unit because that was one that the students seem least familiar with. Many were confusing decomposers with scavengers. You can view the video here.
Here is another video that the students will watch about predator and prey interactions in the ocean.
This link gives a thorough overview of the initial part of this unit, and this link will take you to a game that helps students identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.
This game will help students understand the dynamics in an environment, and how the various levels of the food chains interact and affect one another.
We will also spend time talking about animal adaptations, which allows us to watch some amazing videos that show another side of animals. Many are way more intelligent than they may seem!
We watched a video on decomposers early in this unit because that was one that the students seem least familiar with. Many were confusing decomposers with scavengers. You can view the video here.
Here is another video that the students will watch about predator and prey interactions in the ocean.
This link gives a thorough overview of the initial part of this unit, and this link will take you to a game that helps students identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.
This game will help students understand the dynamics in an environment, and how the various levels of the food chains interact and affect one another.
Live Animal Cams
The Monterey Bay Aquarium in California has several live animal cams so that the public can view the animals any time during the day. I have linked those cameras below.
Below are additional zoo & aquarium live animal cams.
There are also several Eagle Cams from around the country. Some of these will have nests with baby eagles so that the public can watch them grow. Below are a few options.