Learning Task 2: Healthy Ecosystems

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Activate

Post the definitions that students created for ecosystems around the classroom. Have them do a gallery-walk where they walk around the room, reading the different definitions. When finished, ask them to pick the one that they feel best defines an ecosystem and have them share with a partner their choice and reasons why they selected that particular definition. Feel free to have a few students share with the whole group.

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Acquire

Using the Word Splash in BM 31 (p. 37) in the Lake Winnipeg Water Stewardship: A Resource for Grade 8 Science (http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/esd/water/blms/water_stewardship_blms.pdf) ask students to make connections between the elements listed on the sheet. They can draw lines between the different elements to demonstrate a connection or a relationship the two elements have that contributes to a healthy lake ecosystem. They can then write a short sentence that describes the relationship. See BM 32 on page 38 for an example.

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Apply

Students will share their work with a small group of 2-3 students and add connections that they did not have on their Word Splash. As a small group, students will decide what their top 3 relationships are that contribute to a healthy lake. They can identify these relationships by writing 1,2 and 3 on their sheets. As an exit slip, ask students to pick one relationship they feel is important and have them explain why they feel this way.

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Possible Adaptations

Remove some of the words on the word splash to make it easier to make a connection.

Have the student(s) explain verbally the connection without needing to write it down.

Have student(s) explain verbally or record their response to the exit slip.