Special Places: Eco-lessons from the National Parks in Atlantic Canada

Grade 7

The Links of Life — Ecosystem Interactions in a National Park

Table of Contents:

• Summary
• Learning Outcomes
• Activity Information
• Teacher Background
• Procedure
• Evaluation
• Extension
• References
• Resources

Summary

Students will create a diagram (mural, flow chart or other visual display) that illustrates the flow of energy in an ecosystem, using a national park as the model.

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Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• distinguish between and understand the following terms: consumer, producer, decomposer, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, food chain/web, ecosystem;
• create a sketch of an ecosystem and identify the interactions that take place within that ecosystem, including both biotic and abiotic components;
• explain how energy is supplied to and how it flows through a food web;
• identify and investigate questions related to a local ecosystem such as “what types of species live in a particular ecosystem” (specific to the Extension activities);
• organize and record data collected in an investigation of an ecosystem (specific to the Extension activities).

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Activity Information

Grade level: 7

Subject: Life Science (Atlantic)– Interactions within Ecosystems

Curriculum linkages: 109-12; 109-13; 111-6; 208-2; 208-3; 210-1; 210-2; 306-1; 306-3 (Students will identify roles of producers, consumers and decomposers in a local ecosystem and describe their diversity and their interactions; describe interactions between biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem. Food webs: they will describe how energy is supplied, and how it flows through a food web; describe how matter is recycled in an ecosystem through interactions among plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms.)

Duration: Approximately 90 to 120 minutes.

Setting: Classroom and field investigation as extension

Materials: Drawing/mural paper, markers, scissors, Kejimkujik and Prince Edward Island National Park Backgrounder and Student Information Sheets, flora and fauna Species Lists for both parks. If desired, a variety of species information sheets from the Kejimkujik National Park Webpage (accessed through the Parks Canada Web site) and/or species information obtained through other Internet research.

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Teacher Background

All animals need a place to live. The environment in which an animal lives is called its “habitat”. An animal’s habitat includes food, water, shelter and space in an arrangement appropriate to that animal’s needs. All things are interrelated. When we look at a biological community, we see an intricate web of interrelationships between plants and animals. These relationships are important in terms of the flow of energy in a system.

Kejimkujik and Prince Edward Island National Parks are fascinating systems, filled with unique interrelationships and interdependencies. Kejimkujik is characterized by a myriad of lakes and rivers, as well as undulating glacial landforms. Its Seaside Adjunct is a representative example of the Atlantic Ocean shoreline. The park is a large area of natural habitat composed of native plants, forests and animals and is one of the few remaining areas of wilderness in Nova Scotia. (For additional information, please refer to the Kejimkujik National Park Backgrounder and Student Information Sheet or the Parks Canada Web site: www.parkscanada.gc.ca.)

Prince Edward Island National Park is characterized by beaches, ponds, sand dunes and coastal habitats. It provides a stop-over, feeding and nesting habitat for migrating shore birds, including the internationally endangered piping plover. The park also includes rare, U-shaped parabolic sand dunes. Prince Edward Island National Park is a small park which has been heavily impacted by past and present human use. (For additional information, please refer to the Prince Edward Island National Park Backgrounder and Student Information Sheet or the Parks Canada Web site.)

There are five other national parks in Atlantic Canada that have unique ecosystems and biological communities. They are individual and special in their own right and can all be explored through the Parks Canada Web site.

This lesson involves researching a national park and its many inhabitants, creating an energy flow diagram, and taking the next step to do the field investigation. The students will use Kejimkujik National Park or Prince Edward Island National Park as their exploration site. They will create a mural or other diagrammatic graphic (see the sample food chain diagram below) that includes a variety of wildlife and plant species and illustrates the energy flow throughout a number of food webs.

Producers and Consumers © Parks Canada/ Don Pentz

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Procedure

• Tell the students they are going to be creating an Eco-mural, designed to reflect the food chains and webs found within either Kejimkujik National Park or Prince Edward Island National Park.
• Ask the students to review the following terms in a large group. Can they give examples of each? (See Special Places Glossary, p.xix.)
  • Consumer
  • Producer
  • Decomposer
  • Food web/chain
  • Niche
  • Ecosystem
  • Habitat
  • Photosynthesis
  • Abiotic/biotic
  • Carnivore
  • Omnivore
  • Herbivore
• Introduce and describe the variety of habitats at Kejimkujik National Park and Prince Edward Island National Parks. Focus on the biotic and abiotic interactions that are most apparent, at both parks and including the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct. If desired, provide information, available on the Kejimkujik and Prince Edward Island National Park Web sites on some of the more special features of these parks. Piping plover and Blanding’s turtle research, as well as rare plant management programs, are of interest.
• During these discussions, ask the students to identify some of the obvious food chains that are apparent. Keep a running tally on the chalkboard.
• Divide students into groups of four. Provide half the groups with the Kejimkujik Species List (p.28.1) and copies of Student Information Sheets and Park Backgrounders for Kejimkujik. Provide the other groups with the Species List for Prince Edward Island National Park (p.29.1) and the Student Information Sheets and Park Backgrounders for Prince Edward Island National Park. Ask each group to select 10 species from their Species List as their target species.
• Students will work within their groups to determine each of the species’ basic habitat requirements, its prey and its predators, and its general role in a food web at Kejimkujik or Prince Edward Island National Park.
• The groups are responsible for creating a mural that includes each of the 10 species and also explains how each species is linked to the other, through a variety of interactions (food chains and energy transfers). Please have the students assume their mural should automatically include “decomposers”, and then their 10 species. They can use arrows, cartoon balloons, or whatever technique they choose to illustrate the interactions. Encourage them to use either their own drawings or pictures from magazines. Also, remind them to include other important elements, like the rocks and minerals, sun, etc.
• Have each group give its mural a title and present the mural to the rest of the class, explaining the interactions between species and outlining the apparent food chains and webs.

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Evaluation

Have the students select one of the murals created to write a short story that illustrates the flow of energy through a food chain or a sample food web.

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Extension

Students can visit a local habitat to make various observations, such as:

• identifying as many plants as possible;
• listening for sounds of wildlife (bird calls, etc.) and other sounds;
• looking for signs of wildlife – bird nests, woodpecker holes, deer trails, etc.

Ask the students to create a similar mural or diagram, exploring the interactions and food webs/chains they observe within this area. They can also predict what would happen to that area if it were suddenly subjected to a human disturbance, such as being cleared for a baseball field, etc.

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References

Parks Canada Web site: www.parkscanada.gc.ca

Resources

• Student Information Sheet - Kejimkujik National Park
• Student Information Sheet - Prince Edward Island National Park
• Park Backgrounder - Kejimkujik National Park
• Park Backgrounder - Prince Edward Island National Park
• Species List for Kejimkujik National Park
• Species List for Prince Edward Island National Park

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