This focus idea is explored through: Contrasting student and scientific viewsStudent everyday experienceStudents tend to think of organisms as being only animals that interact with the physical environment and plants, without appreciating the complex interdependence between members of and across species. Research: Hubber & Tytler (2004) Their ideas of ecosystems are usually only associated with natural and wilderness areas rather than their own environments. This concept of an ecosystem also influences their ideas about how humans interact with ecosystems, which is often in terms of the destruction or collapse of natural and wilderness ecosystems rather than those systems that are part of their more immediate environments. Research: Novak & Gowin (1984) Scientific viewThe world contains a wide diversity of physical conditions, which creates a variety of environments where living things can be found. In all these environments, organisms interact and use available resources, such as food, space, light, heat, water, air, and shelter. Each population of organisms, and the individuals within it, interact in specific ways that are limited by and can benefit from other organisms. Interactions between different organisms are numerous and are usually described according to their positive (beneficial), negative or neutral effect on others. The interactions between living things and their non living environment makes up a total ecosystem; understanding any one part of it requires knowledge of how that part interacts with the others. Ecosystems do not ‘collapse’ but do change in function, structure and composition over time due to natural or human disturbance (examples include the impact of drought, flooding, mowing and herbicides). Research: Novak and Gowin (1984) Critical teaching ideas
Explore the relationships between ideas about organisms and their interactions with their environments in the Concept Development Maps – (Flow of Energy in Ecosystems,Natural Selection) Students need to experience evidence of a functioning ecosystem with abundant plant-animal interaction to develop a better understanding of the complexity of interactions and to understand that they themselves live within ecosystems. Time is a factor that influences the type of interactions and changes that take place in an ecosystem. This is problematic for science planning that does not allow students to observe changes over an extended period of time. Allowing ongoing investigations to run throughout the year is an important consideration (or alternatively use video clips that record changes over time). Research: Skamp (2004) Teaching activitiesCollect evidence/data for analysisIdentify a project within your local community where student research and involvement may have an impact. Some examples are:
Research: Baker (2005) Challenge some existing ideasIn order to challenge the ideas that ecosystems only exist in wilderness areas and that human impact is always negative, encourage students to undertake activities which allow them to investigate living things in a natural local environment such as the schoolyard, local pond, a wetland or a constructed environment such as a classroom pond. Research: Skamp (2004) Collect evidence/data for analysisStudying pond animals over a period of weeks gives a sense of the changes that occur in populations as they interact or in changes of form as animals go through their lifecycles. Students can link this with a longer study to provide insights to seasonal changes and animal adaptations related to seasonal cycles. The ten part TV series The Life of Birds completed by Sir David Attenborough in 1998 provides some great examples of how birds have adapted to urban environments. Research: Skamp (2004) Focus student attention on overlooked detailEncourage students to record observations and descriptions of phenomena using science journals, labelled diagrams, timelines and PowerPoint presentations. Use microscopes and hand held lenses to assist observations of structure and function. For example you could map a school pond or nearby wetland, track where tadpoles are feeding and where other organisms are situated or move in relation to each other. Clarify and consolidate ideas for/by communication to othersStudents could create a news report on their project or develop a project like creating a new playground. They could explore an issue for the media or their school newsletter from differing perspectives such as a politician, a greenie, a farmer, a parent, a local elder or other teachers. This involves ethical decision-making on behalf of the students as to what to include and what not to include in the report. Further resourcesScience related interactive learning objects can be found on the FUSE Teacher Resources page. To access the interactive learning object below, teachers must login to FUSE and search by Learning Resource ID:
What is all the living and nonliving things that interact in an area?Ecosystem: All living and nonliving things that exist and interact in one place.
What is the term used to describe all living and nonliving things?An ecosystem can be described simply as the collection of all living and non-living components in a particular area. The living components of the environment are known as biotic factors. Biotic factors include plants, animals, and micro-organisms.
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