mrsjaffe14

We recently started a new science unit on ecosystems. The focus of the unit is on how matter and energy flow through an ecosystem. While my experience is that students are innately curious about all science topics, they are more easily engaged when they have some familiarity with the topic. Our earlier study of matter particles (VERY, VERY SMALL) and space (VERY, VERY BIG) were somewhat inaccessible for students. In our present topic, you can’t get much more familiar than plants and animals!

We have been viewing a number of videos, reading books, and recording our observations in a digital notebook. Throughout the unit, students will be learning about food chains and food webs, reflecting on how living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem interact with each other, and factors that adversely impact on our environment.

This week, Miss Pavlicek from the Burlington Science Center, will visit our class to help us set up a compost bin. We will observe how matter decays and replenishes the earth with nutrients.