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Interdependence of life is one of the topics of instruction in elementary schools. After taking my PD indexer for it, I was surprised to find that I did not score high on it at all. When I was in elementary school, I do not remember specifically learning anything on this topic. Grant it, I do not remember much about that time period concerning my eduction in terms of science and social studies. I do remember learning about it in my science of water class in college. The water rich ecosystems really are a good example of this idea, after all. If this unit has its own PD Indexer, it seems to be deemed important enough to the curriculum to have its own unit and concentration. I am curious as to how some of you guys teach the interdependence unit in your classrooms. I think that the best way to teach it is to have students observe it actually happen in nature, but there is only so much that you can do with that depending on how intricate the ecosystem is in the school yard playground due to the human influence. There is the possibility of teachers taking their students to a garden or to a nearby lake for a field trip to observe nature outside the school parameter. I am just curious about what you guys think about it.

Hi Kirsten, I definitely do teach this type of unit in my Environmental Science course. I agree that students will probably need to see it for themselves as they venture outdoors. I also have students complete an Eco-column project that helps them witness how all the different nutrient cycles and food webs work. In addition, I think that it may be helpful incorporate some videos/movies to elaborate the ideas, such as Avatar and Fern Gully.

What about creating a EcoSphere? It's a good hands-on activity for your students to take on. It helps them understand the concept that no matter how small or large the ecosystem (whether it be planet Earth or your classroom EcoSphere) living and nonliving things rely on each other and need to find a balance in order for the cycle of life to continue. The EcoSphere I have in my classroom is made of soil, water, and a plant. It has been living well since the beginning of the school year. Since this EcoSphere has (so far) been successful, I'm thinking about adding an animal to the mix for next year.

Hi Kirsten, I teach fourth grade and we do a bunch of different activities to teach interdependence of life, starting with basic food chains, leading to food webs, and finally ecosystems. My class is very visual, so I like to show videos to supplement my lessons. Here's a site that has several videos about food chains/webs and different biomes: http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep.htm Depending on where you live, there are many different ecosystems to study, like a nearby park or even the tree outside your class. My students can relate to coral reefs since we live in Hawaii, so I plan to create a unit on the coral reef ecosystem. I also like the ideas listed above about creating an ecosphere in the classroom and will most likely incorporate that into the unit too!

A great hands-on activity is to have them act out roles, and pass on a ball of yarn around the room to create a large web to show how every organism is interdependent on one another. Drop one role, or organism, and they can literally see how the web falls apart. Someone else mentioned spheres; creating small glass terrariums is a great way to tie in cycles and interdependence. Check out Bottle Biology: http://www.bottlebiology.org/

Hello Kirsten and all, As I go through the SciPack [i]Resources and Human Impact[/i], the interdependence of life is discussed in terms of populations. As a preschool teacher, I am always trying to figure out how I can adapt and modify curriculum so that my young students are better able to grasp the scientific concepts and, in turn, apply and generalize their new knowledge. Whitney, Sondra, Adah, Lauren, and Cheska suggested great outdoor activities that they may have tried, but, just as you noted, Kirsten, what we are able to teach is dependent on what is available in our regions. For the past two weeks, my preschool kids have been learning about ocean animals. We've read books, sang songs, observed our fish tank, and worked on interactive activities online (kids.nationalgeographic.com; pbskids.org - Sid the Science Kid). Though we live in Hawaii, and the ocean is a field trip away, it is not exactly feasible to take a field trip under the sea. So, when my colleague and I learned about a traveling production company that performed a play called [i]In the Clear Blue Sea[/i], we thought it would be a great culminating event and a fun and different way to see some of the ocean creatures we have been learning about in the classroom but, what we learned from Ohia Production's play was even better than we could have imagined. Four performers used props, song, dance, and dialogue to teach our young children about the interdependence of life in the oceans of Hawaii. The funny and exciting play brought to life how coral reefs are made of polyps and how polyps and zooxanthellae depend upon each other. They then acted out how algae growing on the coral reef feeds the Manini fish, how the Manini fish are food for Ulua fish, and how Ulua fish are food for sharks. With their 1-hour performance, they taught our preschoolers about how these sea creatures depend on each other and what might happen if there is an imbalance in the system. There are so many resources available to us, and, thankfully, we have these community forums to share them with each other. While we may not all have the same types of resources readily available (students in Ewa Beach, Hawaii do not watch the leaves change the way other students in other parts of the world might), we can certainly let each other know about what options might be out there so that we can find something similar or be creative and come up with our own way to help our students discover some concepts that are typically far from reach.

It depends on the age of your kids but I like using this website and game for teaching my fourth graders about the roles of organisms in a food chain. Food chain game
You could also play a game of rock, paper, scissors but change them out with examples of components of a food chain with a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and decomposer. If they lose,they have to drop down the food chain and if they win, they need to move up the food chain.

Invasive species are a problem because they have no natural predators to keep the population in check. Enter invasavores people who hunt and harvest invasive species for food. This site features recipes that include blackened snake head and kudzu blossom sorbet. There has got to be some creative lessons here http://eattheinvaders.org/

I just came across this wonderful video penguins adapting to climate change David Ainley and Jean Pennycook are studying Adélie Penguins in Antarctica to learn how they may adapt to climate change. Ainley is looking closely at the "superbreeders" among the penguins for clues.http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_videos.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=126692&media_id=73765 http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=126692&org=NSF&preview=false Here you will find fun and educational activities to help students learn about Adelie Penguin life, history and their relationship to climate change. Students can send questions to the researchers who study penguins, check the nests of penguins as they raise the chicks, and (from Oct-Jan) even receive a postcard from Antarctica! Adelie Penguin's existence in the far south region of our planet. The average day in the life of a penguin is filled with adventure and drama, as they struggle to live and thrive in a challenging environment and changing climate of Antarctica. Explore the many activities below. Check out the Gallery of Picutres, the yearly Journal and test your skills at answering the Reflections from the Field. Go to the Did You Know section to find out how we know what we know. http://www.penguinscience.com/

Hi Sherilynn,

Thanks for the website with the food chain game - my fourth graders will love it! I also found another food web game that shows how populations will increase/decrease based on what predators or prey you add to the web. The game is in a really fun format too!

The interdependence sciguides have a lot of useful information and simulations that can help with the visual learning. You can also create a food chain from pictures you have taken or those that are of species that are found locally so the students can relate to what you are trying to teach them. The Monarch butterfly is a great example as well being that they will only reproduce on one type of milk plant (i'm not 100% sure on what the name of the plant is called), but you can relate this to your students by explaining to them that this is a species that is dependent on another for their survival and because this specific butterfly species has not adapted over the years, the extinction of the plant will mean guaranteed extinction for the butterfly. A lot of this type of information comes from the other teachers in my department as well and can be a great resource when trying to figure out ways to teach and engage your students.

An invasive species of beetle is killing Hemlock trees
Accidently introduced to Virginia in the 1950s through the importation of ornamental Japanese weeping hemlocks, the hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) is a purplish insect less than a millimeter long. It’s detectable mainly by its egg casings — ghostly pale fibrous masses clotting the underside of the hemlock’s shoots. Over several years the HWA larvae feed on the phloem sap that carries life-giving sucrose to the tree’s elegant flattened-needle leaves, eventually causing them to wither and fall from lack of nutrients. And as the leaves fall, the trees starve.

Just to share in my enthusiasm with Mitchell about the SciGuides, the SciGuide on Interdpendence of Life has lots of great ideas for lessons. Also, the SciGuide on Resources and Human Impact happens to be a free offering right now. Take advantage and download it into your libraries:
Carolyn