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

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!

Pine Cone Experiment

Demonstrate how seeds adapt by conducting the pine cone experiment with your class! Drop a ripe pinecone into a bowl of water. Leave it submerged in water, and be amazed as the pinecone starts to close up. What's happening?! The pine cone is adapting to its environment! It closes up when wet ("protecting the seeds inside the cone"). Once dry, it opens back up! Click here for the full explanation. Check out a time lapse video of the experiment here. To find out more about pine cones - are they living or dead - click here!

pine cone via public domain

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? 

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!