Oak Woodland Lesson
Oak Woodland Lesson
How can we visualize and understand the complex relationships and processes — often invisible to a human eye — of an ecosystem?
Students learn to look at an ecosystem — the oak woodland — as a system and, by doing so, become aware of relationships among living things, the processes and patterns that drive survival and evolution, and the importance of abiotic characteristics in sustaining life.
You can generate a thoughtful and revealing discussion by downloading the Center's "Oak Woodland" Activity, which includes a beautiful mural by artist Ane Carla Rovetta in 15 panels, 30 information cards for use by students, and instructions.
Download Smart by Nature: Oak Woodland Activity (2.93 mb pdf)
Grade Levels: Sixth grade and up (for younger or more advanced students, the
information cards may be modified for reading level and content
appropriateness).
Key Concepts: Complex
interactions, which often go unnoticed by people, drive the survival of the
species in an ecosystem. People who study ecosystems use different methods,
including (1) counting individual organisms and species and (2)
"mapping" the ecosystem to show its parts and their relationships.
Each of these approaches has strengths and weaknesses.
Estimated time: 45 minutes prep time (longer if instructors mount the panels on boards and/or write their own information cards). The activity will take about 60 minutes in class.
