Forest Ecology - Post-site Activities/Teacher
Led
Grade Level: 5
Content Area: Life Science
Time
to Complete: 60-75 minutes
Title of Program:
Forest Layer Life
South Carolina State Standards
Addressed:
|
5-1.1 |
Identify questions suitable for
generating a hypothesis. |
|
5-1.4 |
Use appropriate tools and
instruments safely and accurately
when conducting a controlled
scientific investigation. |
|
5-1.6 |
Evaluate results of an investigation
to formulate a valid conclusion
based on evidence and communicate
the findings of the evaluation in
oral and written form. |
|
5-1.8 |
Use appropriate safety procedures
when conducting investigations. |
|
5-2.2 |
Summarize the composition of an
ecosystem, considering both biotic
factors and abiotic factors. |
|
5-2.3 |
Compare the characteristics of
different ecosystems. |
|
5-2.4 |
Identify the roles of organisms as
they interact and depend on one
another through food chains and food
webs in an ecosystem, considering
producers and consumers,
decomposers, predators and prey and
parasites and hosts. |
|
5-2.5 |
Explain how limiting factors affect
populations in ecosystem. |
Lesson Description:
After
your field study visit to Table Rock State Park, we hope the students have a
greater understanding and appreciation for the fascinating forest and the
ecosystem that it provides. As a review, students will associate a list of
living organisms to the proper forest layer habitat in which they are
found. They will then apply what they have learned to assess a local wooded
area to identify forest layers and compare their observations with what they
studied at Table Rock.
Focus Questions
for Students:
|
1. |
How does a forest provide the basic habitat requirements of food, water,
shelter, and space? |
|
2. |
Which forest layer is the most important to wildlife? |
|
3. |
Does every forest have all the layers we have identified? |
Culminating Assessment:
Discuss with the students how all the forest layers are interdependent and
why many living organisms utilize multiple layers.
Materials, Equipment, and Resources:
| list of
forest layers/organisms |
| notepaper |
| field
study notes |
Teacher Preparation:
|
1. |
Prepare copies of the forest layers/organisms list for the matching
exercise. |
|
2. |
Select a wooded area as close to the school grounds as possible that
the students can easily access to make observations and comparisons. |
|
3. |
Have field study notes from Table Rock State Park saved for a reference
after the students complete the outdoor part of the activity. |
Procedures:
|
1. |
For the list of animals and plants
given, match the letter(s) of the forest habitat layers that the organism is a part of or interacts with the most. Some organisms may have more than one correct answer.
Can you make a simple food web from this
list?
|
A. Forest floor |
__ ant |
__ hemlock |
|
B. Herb layer |
__ bacteria |
__ holly tree |
|
C. Shrub layer |
__ bat |
__ hummingbird |
|
D. Understory |
__ beech tree |
__ mountain laurel |
|
E. Canopy |
__ Christmas fern |
__ owl |
| |
__ dogwood tree |
__ poison ivy |
| |
__ earthworm |
__ red-tailed hawk |
| |
__ fungus |
__ salamander |
| |
__ garter snake |
__ swallowtail butterfly |
| |
__ golden mouse |
__ violet |
| |
__ gray squirrel |
__ warbler |
| |
|
|
|
|
2. |
Go to a wooded area that borders
your school or at home. Identify
layers you find in it an compare it
to the forest you visited at Table
Rock State Park. After completing
the Table Rock/School Comparison
sheet, answer the following
questions:
|
• |
How are they similar
or different? |
|
• |
Try to identify
three plants or animals found in
each layer.
Did you see them at
Table Rock in the same layer? |
|
• |
If so, what is it about each
habitat that allows the same
organism to live in both
places? |
|
• |
If some of
the plants or animals are
different in each forest,
why do you think that is the
case? |
|
Extension Ideas:
| |
Language Arts: |
| |
|
• |
Write persuasive letters
on environmental issues.
For example, write a
letter to your
congressman/woman about
the impact of humans on
a place such as Table
Rock State Park. |
|
| |
|
• |
Draw and illustrate a
book about the forest
layers, plants and
animals for the first
graders at your school. |
|
| |
Social Studies: |
| |
|
• |
Make a map showing the
distribution of certain
types of tree in the
state. |
|
| |
Math: |
| |
|
• |
Graph the number of each
tree species you saw. |
|
• |
Measurement |
|
• |
Word problems |
|
| |
Art: |
| |
|
• |
Make leaf prints with
crayon rubbing or using
paint and a stamp
technique. |
|
|
