ACTIVITY

Exploring the Interconnectedness of Ecosystems – 60 Minute Field Trip

Description: Students create a physical model of an ecosystem, using ecosystem cards and wool to show how different organisms and environmental factors are connected and depend on one another. They then explore how changes to one part of the ecosystem can affect the whole system.

Intention: Students develop an understanding of how ecosystems are interconnected and how biodiversity, environmental changes, and human activities can affect their stability and resilience.

Before:

Choose a nearby natural area large enough for students to spread out and create the ecosystem web.
Inform students that they will go outside, so they should bring suitable shoes and clothing.
Print the Ecosystem Activity Cards with text or without text.
Decide how many cards you will use based on the number and age of students.

Walk with the students to a nearby natural area.

Start with an active game where students can move and be loud.

Gather the students in a circle, and give everyone an ecosystem card.

The students tell each other in turns what is on their card.

Begin creating the ecosystem.

Start with the sun. The student holding the ‘sun’ card keeps the end of the wool and throws the ball to a ‘plant’, showing that plants get their energy from sunlight.
The plant then connects to an organism that depends on it, like a herbivore.
Each student holds a piece of wool before passing it to the next related card.
Continue until all cards are part of the web.
Many organisms connect to more than one other, showing how everything in an ecosystem is interconnected.

Once the ecosystem is ready, explore its strength and fragility. Introduce a change, such as the loss of a species or a change in the environment. Ask the student representing that part of the ecosystem to release their wool or gently pull on it. Ask the other students what they notice and how the change might affect the rest of the ecosystem.

Finish with a group discussion. Pick a few questions to talk about:

How are different organisms in an ecosystem connected?
Why is biodiversity important for the health of an ecosystem?
What human or natural events could disrupt an ecosystem’s balance?
Can ecosystems recover from damage? What helps them recover?
How do human activities (like farming, construction, pollution) affect ecosystems

You can use for example the methods of What if? or Forecasting, to activate the students in making their own questions and predictions.

Didactic tips:

Choose the number of ecosystem cards according to the group size. For larger groups, students can work in pairs with one card.
Encourage students to make multiple connections between organisms rather than creating one simple chain. This helps demonstrate the interconnectedness of an ecosystem.
During the “strength and fragility” part, introduce different scenarios, such as drought, pollution, loss of a species, or habitat destruction, and ask students to predict what might happen to the web.
You can use the methods What if? or Forecasting to encourage students to make their own questions and predictions.

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Engage

Investigate

Create

THEME:

Nature & biodiversity

AGE: 10-12 years, 13-15 years

SUBJECTS:

Nature sciences
Mother tongue

TOOLS / MATERIALS:

Ecosystem Activity Cards
Ball of wool or string
Optional: scissors, if you need to prepare shorter pieces of wool