LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Ecosystems and Interdependence
ENGAGE (5 min.)
• Review expectations of working in the outdoor classroom.
• Ask students to record some quick weather observations in their
journal.
• Ask the students to name some biotic (living) and abiotic
(nonliving) components of the outdoor classroom/environment.
• List the students’ responses.
EXPLORE (10 min.)
• Pass out the Ecosystem Exploration sheet and ask students to
explore the outdoor classroom, looking for different components
of the ecosystem. Encourage students to turn over rocks and logs
and to look under leaves. Pass out hand lenses so students can
take a “micro-look.”
Grades
1st - 2nd
Timeframe
60 minutes
Materials
Journals and pencils
Hand lenses
Copies of Ecosystem
Exploration checklist
EXPLAIN (10 min.)
• Gather students back in a central location.
• Have students share what they discovered.
• Explain to the students that each biotic and abiotic object they found is part of their ecosystem, a
system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment. Organisms
rely on other organisms and nonliving things in the environment for survival. This is called
interdependence.
• Ask students to give examples of other organisms or objects they rely on for survival. Answers might
include things like family members, etc. Who or what relies on your students for survival?
ELABORATE (15 min.)
• With 1st grade students, elaborate by applying the idea of interdependent relationships in the human
community. Just like organisms in the environment rely on each other, humans also rely on each
other. Ask students to identify members of the community and how we rely on them. Record their
answers.
• Ask 2nd grade students if they can identify examples of interdependence in the outdoor classroom,
such as a butterfly circling a flower for nectar, etc. Organize students in pairs, prompting them to act
out these interactions.
EVALUATE (20 min.)
• Prompt 1st grade students to draw a picture of a member of the community and write a description of
how they help us.
• Show 2nd grade students images/video of other ecosystems beyond the local environment. Prompt
students to identify and record components of those ecosystems and the interactions of organisms
and their environments. Can they identify any interdependent relationships?
Copyright  2014 REAL School Gardens
www.realschoolgardens.org
OBJECTIVES
Grade 1 Science
WYY Unit 2 Central Idea: People live, work, and interact within their communities.
Grade 2 Science
WYY Unit 1 Central Idea: An ecosystem is a community of organisms interdependent with one another and
their environment.
Copyright  2014 REAL School Gardens
www.realschoolgardens.org/lessons