Teacher Preparation

Part 1.

Review what students know about ecosystems. Use an example to highlight the living (plants, animals, microorganisms, etc) and non living (climate, soil, topography, etc.) components within a typical ecosystem. Explain that these components interact.

Begin this activity by asking your students to list some of the types of ecosystems they know, and what they know about these ecosystems. Ask each student to think of four different ecosystems that they like or that they would like to learn more about. Explain to the class that they will be creating these four ecosystems in a shoebox, and will be finding and creating all the parts of those ecosystems. (Students can also work in small groups if you prefer.)

First, they will need to undertake research on the ecosystems they have chosen. Ask students to find an image of that ecosystem that includes some of the typical features of that ecosystem, such as vegetation, animals, and landscape features such as water or weather. Also ask them to list the main components of each ecosystem in the Student Worksheet.

Part 2.

With an understanding of the elements of each of their ecosystems, students can begin the construction. The first thing to do is to separate the box into four sections. Students can cut pieces of cardboard to fit exactly in their box one way and then the other so that the box is divided into quarters. The second piece of cardboard will need to be partially cut in the middle to go over the first piece. Before the pieces of cardboard are fixed in place, ask students to write the name of each ecosystem on the wall of each corner, so that each corner represents a different ecosystem. Students can also decorate the ‘walls’ of each of their ecosystems at this point, showing background details such as mountains or weather conditions typical to those ecosystems.

Part 3.

Soil time! Prior to the start of the class fill ice cream containers with different soil types, including sand, potting mix, pebbles, confetti (for snow) and woodchips. Students will need to select the soil necessary for each of their ecosystems. Students will glue their soil to the base of their box so they won’t need much soil for each corner (half a small paper cup should be enough, depending on the soil type).

Part 4.

Animal time! Ask students to either cut images of the animals they want in their ecosystem from magazines, or to create their own by either drawing them or creating mini models of them. Encourage students to be creative in how they design the animals and how they display them in their shoeboxes.

Part 5.

Plant time! Ask students to think about what types of plants they will need for each of their ecosystems. How can they represent these plants using what is available in the schoolyard? For example, fallen twigs could be used as trees, while twigs painted green or wrapped in green paper could be used as cacti. Ask students to use mainly fallen leaves and twigs and to only collect what they need. Back in the classroom, students can decorate their ecosystems with the plants they have collected, again being as creative as possible (for example, students could stick different shaped paper leaves onto twigs to represent different types of trees).

Closing activity

Once students are happy with their ecosystems, ask each student to write a short statement about each of their ecosystems, including the typical plants and animals of their ecosystems and why they chose those ecosystems. Stick these statements to the outside of the box next to the relevant ecosystems. Ask each student to present their ecosystems to the class, summarising their statements in their presentation.

Ecosystem in a Box

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