SIERRA NEVADA JOURNEYS VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
WEEK 3 - RELATIONSHIPS AND ECOSYSTEMS
This unit was developed with the Next Generation Science Standards in mind and includes Social Emotional Learning competencies. Also, it was designed with fifth grade standards and competencies in mind. However, it can be used for second-through-eighth graders.
These activities are listed in their recommended order. This order will help to deepen student understanding by building on concepts from activity to activity. However, they were also designed to provide students with enough information that they will make sense on their own.
Download Relationships and Ecosystems Teacher’s Guide with suggestions for differentiation of lessons and additional notes. If you are using Google Classroom, consider using kamiapp.com to easily integrate activity pages which are created as PDF Fillable Forms.
HABITAT HUNT
In this 3-minute video, students are prompted to find examples of the four parts of a habitat in their own outdoor area. Students can also use the written activity guide to help guide their thinking. For younger students have them draw pictures in the spaces provided.
After watching the video, download the Habitat Hunt Activity Guide where students are prompted to find examples of the four parts of a habitat in their own outdoor area. This activity can be used with the video or on its own.
Tiny Habitats
Utilizing the Tiny Habitats Activity Guide, students will be instructed through the steps of making their own tiny habitat. They can draw their habitat or build it with natural items from outside.
Download Tiny Habitats Activity Page
Spanish Tiny Habitats Activity Page
Do I Belong Here?
Students will use this written worksheet as a way to guide students through matching an animal to its ideal habitat. They must figure out what parts of the habitat do not fit the animal’s needs.
Download Do I Belong Here Activity Page
Spanish Do I Belong Here Activity Page
Habitat Connections
Students use the written activity guide to learn how habitats can overlap to form an ecosystem. They will explore how organisms can share parts of a habitat within an ecosystem.
Download Habitat Connections Activity Page
Spanish Habitat Connections Activity Page
Resilience Dice Game
Students use the Resilience Dice Game Activity Guide as a way to play a game of odds. Students will learn how changes in an animal's habitat can affect the animal's survival.
Download Resilience Dice Game Activity Page
Spanish Resilience Activity Page
Predator vs. Prey Camouflage
Students learn how animals can blend into their surroundings to help them survive by playing a game.
Download Predator vs. Prey Camouflage Activity Page
Spanish Predator vs. Prey Camouflage Activity Page
Indoor Camouflage Hunt
Students learn how animals can blend into their surroundings to help them survive by completing a challenge.
Download Indoor Camouflage Hunt Activity Page
Spanish Camouflage Hunt Activity Page
Habitat Restoration Plan
Students have to decide how to restore a deer's habitat — so that the deer have everything they need to survive — by creating their own plan for a deer restoration area.
Download Habitat Restoration Plan Activity Page
Spanish Habitat Restoration Plan Activity Page
Habitat Helpers
Students will use the activity guide to read through four environmental scenarios, pick what they believe will be the best solution, and write why they think that solution will be the better solution.
Download Habitat Helpers Activity Page
Spanish Habitat Helpers Activity Page
Extinction Bingo
Students learn about different animals that are endangered. In this fun bingo game, students will read the call-out sentences and mark on the bingo card which animal best fits the sentence.
Download Extinction Bingo Instructions
Download Extinction Bingo Blank Card
Download Extinction Bingo Card With Pictures
Spanish Downloads:
Spanish Extinction Bingo Instructions
Spanish Extinction Bingo Blank Card
Spanish Extinction Bingo Card With Pictures
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITIES
Interactive Food Web
Students explore the concept of a food web and trophic levels though this hands-on activity. Students will be able to explain how an ecosystem's different food chains are interconnected.
Download Interactive Food Web Activity Page
Spanish Interactive Food Web Activity Page
Energy Transfers
Students analyze the resources it takes to create the food that they eat as well as the energy it takes to get that food into their homes and on their plate.
Download Energy Transfers Activity Page
Spanish Energy Transfers Activity Page
Food and Environmental Impact
Students calculate how much carbon dioxide is put in the environment based on the food they eat. They will reflect on what choices they can make to change that output and reduce their carbon footprint.
Download Food and Environmental Impact Activity Page
Spanish Food and Environmental Impact Activity Page
Create-a-Critter
Using their imagination, students design then draw or craft a living creature. Based on the habitat a student chooses, they must design the creatures' body features to help them survive and thrive.
Download Create-a-Critter Activity Page
Spanish Create-a-Critter Activity Page
Grass, Rabbit, Hawk
In this game, students will create a model of how energy moves through an ecosystem.
Download Grass, Rabbit, Hawk Teacher’s Guide
Download Grass Rabbit, Hawk Activity Page
Spanish Grass Rabbit Hawk Activity Page
Biotic and Abiotic Yard Service
Using this survey as a guide, students will understand how the living and nonliving parts of their yard interact and depend on one another.
Download Biotic and Abiotic Yard Survey Activity Page
Spanish Biotic and Abiotic Yard Survey Activity Page