Preservation of Ecosystems - How We CAN Make a Difference!
My students need science exploration supplies like owl pellets, magnifiers, and a terrarium that are hand-on and meaningful to understand the symbiotic relationship between ecosystems and food chains.
My 6th grade students love activities that are interactive, engaging, and fun. They enjoy working on projects and activities that are hands on and meaningful to them.
When I provide them with an engaging project that they create themselves they blow it out of the part; they learn so much from the process because they have ownership.
I have been an educator for over 13 years. In my experience students learn and grow from curriculum that is hands-on, engaging and fun. I pride myself as an educator on using STEM elements in my curriculum and lessons as much as possible. I have noticed that when I include projects, labs, and group activities in my curriculum the students enjoy learning- because of the activity/ project being hands on- they are able to remember and reflect about the process and their own learning. It is far more meaningful for a student to USE tools like scales, test tubes, batteries, etc. than looking at a picture of a circuit on a worksheet.
I am currently teaching 6th grade science to six different classes- that's 180 students!
My Project
Our sixth grade science curriculum has a significant focus on ecosystems and food chains- and how these relationships are affected by human interaction.
We are creating mini terrariums.
This hands-on activity breaks down the layers of the ecosystem and allows the students to create an ecosystem of their own. Each student will create their own individual mini terrarium that they can assemble themselves- they will learn what the layers of an ecosystem are and why each one is imperative in making the ecosystem thrive and sustainable. In order to make this possible I am asking for some of the more expensive items.
The pebbles act as the filter and will allow the soil to drain and not pool up at the bottom of the terrarium. The activated charcoal will be placed above the pebbles in-between the soil and pebbles keeping the terrarium clean and preventing mold and bacteria.
We are exploring different types of ecosystems and the trophic levels in them as well as the importance of the food chain and the connections from producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, and tertiary consumers. We would love to observe an aquarium in our classroom to house an aquatic turtle.
Owl Pellets are requested because owls are at the top of the food chain and can be informative. Owl pellets are undigested food that is regurgitated. We would also appreciate the tools like the tweezers, dissecting diagrams, and magnifying glasses.
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Oettli and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
