Leopard seals and penguins: A delicate balance
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/08/g68/seasseal.html
A lesson plan for grade 5 Science
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In this Xpeditions lesson, students explore basic information about leopard seals and the Antarctic ecosystem and to think carefully about the fragility of the ecological balance. Activities in this lesson engage students in whole class discussion, online learning, collaborative group work, and drawing.
Students will:
- discuss the meaning of the term “ecological balance”;
- read and discuss a web page about leopard seals;
- discuss reasons why an ecological balance is maintained between leopard seals and penguins;
- list factors that might jeopardize this balance;
- draw diagrams showing leopard seals, penguins, and other members of the Antarctic food web and including factors that might affect the ecological balance of this food web; and
- write paragraphs describing their drawings.
Xpeditions provides detailed directions for completing the lesson, suggestions for assessment and extension activities, discussion questions, and links to helpful web resources.
North Carolina Curriculum Alignment
Science (2005)
Grade 5
- Goal 1: The learner will conduct investigations to build an understanding of the interdependence of plants and animals.
- Objective 1.01: Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction with the environment).
- Objective 1.02: Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem:
- Producers.
- Consumers.
- Decomposers.
- Objective 1.03: Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.
- Objective 1.05: Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem.
- Objective 1.06: Explain and evaluate some ways that humans affect ecosystems.
- Habitat reduction due to development.
- Pollutants.
- Increased nutrients.
