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Science lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 60 minutes

Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.MS-LS2-1CCSS NGSS.SEP 4England: KS3 Biology: Relationships in an ecosystemEngland: GCSE Combined Science: Ecology

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Environments change: human impact

Leads to: Population growth and carrying capacity

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Environments change: human impact). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Does this help or harm wildlife: draining wetlands? (helps wildlife / harms wildlife) → harms wildlifePrompt: Does it make habitats bigger and cleaner, or smaller and dirtier?
  2. Which is a natural change to an environment? (spraying pesticides / a volcano erupting / building a car park / building a dam) → a volcano eruptingPrompt: Which one is not caused by people?
  3. Which action helps wildlife? (dropping litter / spilling oil into rivers / draining wetlands / leaving wild areas for bees) → leaving wild areas for beesPrompt: Think about what happens to habitats.

Hook · 6 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: an invasive species?
  • Step 1: Biotic factors come from other living things.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: biotic (living)
  • Answer: biotic (living)
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: temperature? (abiotic (non-living) / biotic (living)) → abiotic (non-living)Prompt: Does it come from a living organism?
  2. Students placed quadrats in a line leading out from under a tree. Light intensity (% of full sunlight) → number of daisies: 10 % → 3 30 % → 7 50 % → 11 70 % → 15 90 % → 19 Which conclusion do the data support? (The tree eats the daisies. / Daisies grow best in the shade. / The data prove that light is the only factor that matters. / More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.) → More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.Prompt: Look at how the number of daisies changes as light changes.

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Warmer ocean water causes corals to lose the algae living inside them (bleaching). Which factor changed? (predators, a biotic factor / temperature, an abiotic factor / light, which disappeared / the number of fish) → temperature, an abiotic factorPrompt: What is rising because of climate change?
  2. Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: competition for food? (abiotic (non-living) / biotic (living)) → biotic (living)Prompt: Does it come from a living organism?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Environments change: human impact.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Population growth and carrying capacity.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-6.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: number of pollinating insects?

    • A. abiotic (non-living)
    • B. biotic (living)

  2. Question 2

    Lichens grow less well near busy roads. Which abiotic factor is the likely cause?

    • A. the number of predators
    • B. competition with trees
    • C. air pollution such as nitrogen dioxide
    • D. a new disease

  3. Question 3

    Students placed quadrats in a line leading out from under a tree. Light intensity (% of full sunlight) → number of daisies: 90 % → 18 70 % → 14 50 % → 10 30 % → 6 10 % → 2 Which conclusion do the data support?

    • A. The tree eats the daisies.
    • B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.
    • C. Light has no link with the number of daisies.
    • D. The data prove that light is the only factor that matters.

  4. Question 4

    Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: temperature?

    • A. abiotic (non-living)
    • B. biotic (living)

  5. Question 5

    Bee numbers fall in an area, and fewer apples form on the trees. Which factor has changed for the apple trees?

    • A. an abiotic factor: day length
    • B. an abiotic factor: soil pH
    • C. no factor has changed
    • D. a biotic factor: fewer pollinators

  6. Question 6

    Students placed quadrats in a line leading out from under a tree. Light intensity (% of full sunlight) → number of daisies: 10 % → 1 30 % → 6 50 % → 11 70 % → 16 90 % → 21 Which conclusion do the data support?

    • A. Light has no link with the number of daisies.
    • B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.
    • C. Daisies grow best in the shade.
    • D. The tree eats the daisies.

  7. Question 7

    Is this a biotic or an abiotic factor: competition for food?

    • A. abiotic (non-living)
    • B. biotic (living)

  8. Question 8

    Students placed quadrats in a line leading out from under a tree. Light intensity (% of full sunlight) → number of daisies: 90 % → 22 70 % → 17 50 % → 12 30 % → 7 10 % → 2 Which conclusion do the data support?

    • A. The tree eats the daisies.
    • B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.
    • C. Daisies grow best in the shade.
    • D. Light has no link with the number of daisies.

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Answer key: Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem

  1. 1. B. biotic (living)

  2. 2. C. air pollution such as nitrogen dioxide

  3. 3. B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.

  4. 4. A. abiotic (non-living)

  5. 5. D. a biotic factor: fewer pollinators

  6. 6. B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.

  7. 7. B. biotic (living)

  8. 8. B. More daisies grow where light intensity is higher.