Showing posts with label biodiversity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biodiversity. Show all posts

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Coastal Peru Virtual Field Trip

Take your students to Peru for free (live on youtube on March 16th at Noon Eastern)! Your class will investigate the amazing biodiversity of a coastal ecosystem as they explore the Humboldt Current! On the trip students will also see sea birds, penguins and flamingos!

Along with fisheries scientist Matias Caillaux, they will travel by boat to an island that has more than 30,000 sea lions at a time! They will discover how the Humboldt Current pushes vital nutrients toward the surface and forms the "basis of a unique and abundant ecosystem." They will also learn the importance of protecting an ecosystem so its inhabitants and the region's fishing industry remain thriving.



This trip is a great opportunity to cover science and geography standards through problem-based learning. They will get to view one of the most productive ocean ecosystems in action!

Field Trip Information
How Nature Works in Coastal Peru: The Amazing Biodiversity of a Coastal Ecosystem
Subject focus: Science and Geography
Age Range: 3-8 (all viewers are welcomed!)
Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Time: 12:00 noon Eastern Time
Length of Virtual event: 45 minutes

Can't Watch the Virtual Field Trip on March 16th?
You can still attend the field trip by receiving the official YouTube viewing link, which you can use to watch anytime after the live event has concluded. The virtual field trip will also be optimized and posted at a later date on Vimeo. Once the Vimeo version is ready, you will receive the link in another newsletter and then you'll be able to watch the virutal field trip anytime on Vimeo or YouTube!

Interactive websites for the classroom with background:
Fishing for Tomorrow: The Artisanal Fishers of Ancón Story Map (pictured below)



The Humboldt Current Ecosystem: How Earth Systems Influence Ocean Productivity and Biodiversity Story Map (pictured below)




Accompanying lesson with the virtual field trip: Fishing for a Future:
In this lesson students investigate sustainable fishing through a specific case study in Peru. 
Provided
1. Interactive story maps that explore the Humboldt Current, El Nino, and artisanal fishing
2. Fisheries management activity using data
3. Socratic Seminar that explores the challenges of open access fishing areas
Includes downloads for the classroom
·      Teacher Lesson Plan: Fishing for a Future (PDF & Word)
·      Student Handout on Fisheries Management (PDF & Word)
·      Student Handout on the Humboldt Current (PDF & Word)
·      Student Handout: Anchoveta Socratic Seminar (PDF & Word)

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Biodiversity Scavenger Hunt

Kids hunt for abiotic and biotic factors in their backyard (or school yard). Then, based on their observations, they create a food chain or web to represent what they discovered in the ecosystem they explored! Click here for the printable

Monday, April 29, 2013

Ecosystem in a Bottle

pill bug photo: teacher.vbsd / fish photo: toledonative365
Create a 1 to 3 tier ecosystem using soda bottles!

Featured above:
3 bottle construction - Scribbit: Motherhood in Alaska. Also check out Cranberry Corner.
Visit Annenberg Learner for activities to go along with your eco-column!

2 bottle construction - Legacy Owensboro

1 bottle - The Geo Exchange

Visit Bottle Biology for more ideas!
Check out NFBWA to see how to make a compost column!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

What's Living In Your Area?

photo credit: treehouse 1977 - flickr cc

E-nature Zip Guides - Discover the various plants and animals that reside in your area! You can also search endangered or poisonous species. Earth's Endangered is another endangered species search engine, easy for kids to use, that lists animals in their region.

EOL - has lots of biodiversity experiments for kids to conduct in their own backyard! Their tools section includes fun ways to implement technology into science lessons. Kids can also create customized field guides, build / explore ecosystems with an interactive tool, and create their own bingo games.

The Butterfly Site lists butterflies found in each US state.

Once you discover the different plants, animals, and insects in your area, see if you can find them!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

What's In Your Ecosystem?

Communicate with schools around the U.S. and countries around the world to see if all ponds contain the same abiotic and biotic components. What makes up a pond ecosystem? How do organism's work together to keep it thriving? Join CIESE's Bucket Buddies or The Square of Life to observe, record, and share environmental studies with school's world-wide. Bucket Buddies focuses on pond life. Kids head to their nearest pond and fill other's in on what's going on in their local pond ecosystem. The Square of Life Project has kids examine nature in the school yard. How is their school environment different from other's? 




Sunday, July 8, 2012

Cactus Hotel: Life Science Unit



Cactus Hotel, by Brenda Z. Guiberson, is an awesome book that shows kids the life cycle of the saguaro cactus, as well as biodiversity that encompasses the desert ecosystem in the North American Sonoran desert. The book focuses on all the different species that live inside of the saguaro cactus (while it's living and after it dies). It's a fantastic piece of literature to integrate in a Life Science Unit.

SCIENCE
Experiment 1: Demonstrate how cacti survive in the desert
materials: 4 cacti, water, and your science journal (to record your findings)
Water each cacti differently: "One as directed, one every day (kept saturated), and one with ten times more water than needed, and the final one no water at all. Cut them open after one week to compare and analyze the fibers inside." - Hinkle, 3rd grade teacher

Experiment 2: The Water Storers - Cacti Adaptations
Recreate how a cactus absorbs water by using a sponge, toothpicks, a flashlight, and clay. Visit Ocean Oasis for the full experiment!
TECHNOLOGY
Encyclopedia of Life - create a field guide to organize desert species! Kids can collaborate on their field guides for a project.
Skype with kids in Arizona about the desert and the saguaro.
Use Google Earth to check out the desert terrain!
WRITING
How do cacti survive in the desert?
How do animals stay cool in the desert? Talk about animal adaptations.
Biodiversity: Choose an animal from the desert for a report. Kids can use EOL's field guide for this assignment. How does their animal interact with different organisms in the desert ecosystem? Where does the animal make it's home (various animals live inside of the saguaro, hence the name "Cactus Hotel).
MATH
Measure out pieces of string the "exact lengths of the saguaro cactus at various ages."  - Hinkle. Then, compare the kids height to the saguaro. Afterwards, graph your results. What age of the cactus equaled the majority of the students' height?

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Butterfly and Moth Feeder

After learning about the lifecycle of a butterfly, create a butterfly feeder to observe the various species that live in your neighborhood! This sponge feeder is super easy to make from Rainbow Sunshine and ehow. Punch holes in a vibrant colored sponge (pink, yellow, orange, purple to attract butterflies) with an x-acto knife. Next, push through the hole with a screwdriver (4 holes, 2 on each side). Thread string through your holes so it balances when hung. Then, mix up nectar - 4 parts boiling water to 1 part sugar. Stir and let the sugar dissolve. Remove from stove or microwave, let cool down, and dip! Refrigerate extra solution for 1 week, then dispose it. Dip the sponge in the nectar so it soaks up. Finally, hang it outside. Keep your eyes peeled for butterflies! Clean your sponge and change the nectar once a week.

Besides this butterfly feeder, check out Our Big Earth's version. You can also just lay fruit on a plate. Hang it in a tree or sit the plate on a table outside via Garden Web!

photo credit: unplug your kids

Unplug Your Kids did an cool night experiment from The Learning Channel. They constructed a moth feeder, so kids could see the many different kinds of moths that reside in their environment. Click here for the tutorial!



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Aqua Scope


I saw this awesome activity on the Magic School Bus! Make your very own aqua scope to check out what lies beneath a pond, lake, river, or ocean! All you need is a plastic container (yogurt or cottage cheese container, milk jug / carton - anything will do). I used a bead container. All you do is cut a large hole in the bottom of your scope. Then, cover the bottom with saran wrap, rubber band, and head to your nearest aquatic ecosystem. Submerge the viewer into the water (don't dunk it all the way under!), leaving the opening just above the water. You'll be amazed at how your viewer suddenly gives you aqua vision power! Check out all the plants and organisms that all live together in one ecosystem. Talk about biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) components within an ecosystem.



Monday, April 30, 2012

Ecosystem: Food Web

Toss around a ball of yarn and see how all creatures are connected in an ecosystem! Each child catches the ball of yarn, calls out one component of the food chain in an ecosystem, following their previous classmate's response. Continue to circulate the ball until everyone is holding on to a piece of yarn. Tell students to pull tight! Then, say a tree got cut down or some aspect interfered with the ecosystem. Cut the string and see how "creatures" get affected by one change.


Friday, March 2, 2012

Tabletop Biosphere

A tabletop biosphere is "a fun demonstration of the ecological cycles."  Kids get to see how plants and organisms (biotic components) work together, along with abiotic components in an ecosystem. Visit CDN Makezine for the full tutorial and science behind the project!




Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Birds

Grab your binoculars and head outside for a bird watching expedition! Build a recreational center for birds right in your own backyard! Kids can view birds up close and personal, seeing the various species that reside in their environment.

binocular pic via squidoo

1. Milk Jug Feeder - With an x-acto knife, cut large "windows" in a milk jug. Next, tape off the edges, where you cut, with duct tape. The tape will prevent birds from getting hurt on any sharp edges. Then, punch holes with your blade underneath the "windows" you created. Find long, sturdy sticks in your backyard. They will serve as perches for the birds to rest on while they eat. Insert the sticks through the holes, so they criss cross inside. Then, punch holes in the top of your jug to hang your feeder. Thread heavy twine through the top holes. Now, pour bird seed into your jug and hang it outside. You'll see a wide variety of birds visiting for a snack! We did this in my class to celebrate Earth Day!

2. Bird Bath - Create a place for birds to cool off! Visit  Vicki O'Dell for the tutorial!

3. Nest Collector - Help birds make a nest by providing them with material! Visit Fiber Farm for the full tutorial!

4. Conduct an experiment to see what color seed birds are most attracted to. Visit Science Bob for the full tutorial!