2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Title: Biodiversity in Ecosystems
Objective:
Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats
Preloading:
Vocabulary: ecosystem, biodiversity, population, habitat
Introduction (10 minutes):
Introduce yourself and your group to the students.
Today we are going to learn about plants and animals that share space in our world.
Have you every wondered how many living things share space in the world? Have you ever
thought about how they depend on one another?
I know it is a lot to think about. To explore these ideas, we need to understand two different
words; ecosystem and biodiversity.
First take in this video on ecosystem. (view video on website for intro to LS4.1)
After the show has been viewed, ask the following:
Let’s fill in the blanks here so we can remember what ecosystem is:
Display “An ecosystem is a system of ______ things and ______ things that depend on each other
to survive.” (living / nonliving)
“The science word for a living thing is called an ________.” (organism)
Great Job! Now watch this little video about biodiversity. (view video on website for intro)
Display “The different life that occurs in an __________ (Ecosystem) is called biodiversity.
Reference the graphic on ecosystem and biodiversity as you review.
Great, now we know that an ecosystem includes all living and nonliving things that depend on
one another to survive. When we talk about biodiversity we are talking about all the different life
in an ecosystem.
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
1
2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
First Activity (10 minutes)
HSEs Split up into your small groups.
This dialogue is for individual HSEs with their own group.
Now in order to understand ecosystem better, and to have a little fun, we are going to make
everyone “Bean Counters”.
You will all be scientists studying the biodiversity of an ecosystem called “Coffee Can
World” (reference the can). Inside of “Coffee Can World” you will find many different
beans. We want to find the amount of biodiversity in Coffee Can World.
Someone tell me how we can find the biodiversity of your Coffee Can World.
(we want them to understand that we must count the number of different types of beans.)
So what I’m hearing is that we must see how many different types of beans are in Coffee
Can World. Great! The number of different kinds is biodiversity. Reference Biodiversity
graphic if necessary.
Okay, I’m going to scoop out a population sample from the ecosystem. Then you will sort
them out so we can see the biodiversity of Coffee Can World.
I need my reporter to get ready to check off the type of beans as they are sorted and write
how many different types of beans they had in the sample. Use your bean page for help.
Also, write the number of each type of bean you find, we call this the population of each
bean.
Okay, now I’m going to scoop out a second population sample from the ecosystem. This
will help us have a more exact biodiversity number.
Reporter, be sure you record the data for the second population sample.
HSEs as the group completes their data, have the recorder and reporter come up front to
record the data on the table.
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Reproduce on board:
Biodiversity in Coffee Can World
(Number of different kinds of beans in world)
Coffee Can
World 1
World 2
World 3
World 4
World 5
World 6
Biodiversity #
Populations:
Pink
Pinto
Black
Black eyed
Garbanzo
Kidney
Lima
Cranberry
Fava
Now whole group - one HSE lead the class in the following:
Now let’s compare the different ecosystems to see which had the most biodiversity and
the least biodiversity.
So which Coffee Can World had the most biodiversity? And the least?
Now reporters check with your recorder to see which type of bean had the biggest population or the largest number of the same bean. Share.
What would be a reason that one world wouldn’t have any of a living thing, but another
would have many? (climate, water, food)
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Experiment (20 minutes):
One HSE to whole group:
Do you think biodiversity is important?........WHY? WHY NOT?
(we want them to understand that great biodiversity means that more organisms (living things)
can survive and the ecosystem can better recover from natural disasters, like floods and fires.
THE ORGANISMS DEPEND ON EACH OTHER)
Well now we have a special activity for you to do. Your group is going to study a model of
three different ecosystems. You will notice certain things about them that are different.
After you finish this then identify the biodiversity within the ecosystem. Be sure you are careful and include all organisms in your ecosystem. Recorders, record them and write down
how many types of living things your group identified.
Okay, your group will have 7 minutes at each ecosystem to do your research. Your HSEs will
be there to help. Let’s get back into our groups and get started.
HSEs working with separate groups - have them carefully study the ecosystem and document
their observations.
Rotate to other ecosystems every 7 or 8 minutes.
Wrap up (5-7 minutes): Whole Group
Wow, you did a great job studying your ecosystems. I had a few questions for my reporters.
1. Which ecosystem appeared to have the most biodiversity? WHY is it most biodiverse?
2. Which ecosystem appeared to have the least biodiversity? WHY is it the least biodiverse?
3. WHY do you think the rainforest has more biodiversity than the desert?
Questions for anyone:
3. Did you see any organism in more than one ecosystem? Tell me about that.
4. If yes, what does that tell you about that type of organism?
5. How did the organisms in the rain forest ecosystem compare with the ones in the
desert ecosystem? (skin, needs, food, populations)
Complete Assessment
Now boys and girls our Earth’s ecosystems are full of wondrous organisms there for you
to discover. I hope you had fun getting to know about ecosystems and biodiversity.
Have a great day at Discovery Zone.
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Assessment (4 minutes):
Name: __________________________ Classroom: ____________________
Listen to and follow along as these are read to you. Put your mark on your answer choice.
1. Ecosystems with high biodiversity will have many
different kinds of living
things (organisms).
2. What would be a reason
that the biodiversity of the
rain forest is greater than
that of the desert?
Finish the sentence.
True (yes)
False (no)
The desert has plenty of water to support many living things.
The rain forest’s ecosystem supports more types of organisms
than the desert’s ecosystem.
The rainforest does not have the water it needs for great
biodiversity.
The ocean ecosystem has low biodiversity.
3. Strong biodiversity allows ecosystems to
__________________________________________
__________________________________________
__________________________________________.
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
Data Recoding Sheet - Group Ideas
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Coffee Can World _________
Ecosystem - a system of living and nonliving things that depend on each other to survive.
Biodiversity - the different kinds or types of life in an ecosystem.
Record your Coffee Can World’s biodiversity number and the populations of the beans.
Biodiversity in Coffee Can World
(Number of different kinds of beans in world)
Coffee Can
C
O
F
F
E
E
World ___________
Biodiversity #
Populations:
C
A
N
Pink
Pinto
Black
A
C
T
I
V
I
T
Y
Black eyed
Garbanzo
Kidney
Lima
Cranberry
Fava
Record the ecosystems’s features and biodiversity.
Ecosystem:
Description of the features:
B
I
O
D
I
V
E
R
S
I
T
Y
Biodiversity: record number
of different types of living
things (plants/animals)
Ocean
Rain Forest
Desert
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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2-LS4-1
Gr. Level: 2
Creation Date: 12-01-2014
2-LS4-1
Print Date/Time: 2/11/2015 4:35 PM
Writer(s): 1
Materials List
Biodiversity in Ecosystems
Date__________
Number needed
Description
Introduction –
1
Projector to show: Intro, video,
1
2
Computer to input slideshows to projector
1
3
Sentence Frames
6
3a
Ecosystem/Biodiversity graphic
2 ea
4
50 ml beaker to collect population samples in Coffee Bean World
4a
Bean picture reference sheet
6
4b
Coffee Bean World ( b eans in cans labeled 1-6 )
6
4c
Dry Erase reproduction of data table for Coffee Bean World
1
Experiment 5
Diorama ( Ocean, Rain Forest, Desert )
2 Tundra
2 Rain Forest
2 Desert
6
Recorder sheets
1/group
7
8
9
13
Assessment graphic/slideshow
Extension -
2-LS4-1
IVDZ: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.
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