Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 06 — Our Ecosystem Diagram

Learners bring the living-world strand together in one labeled diagram. They draw an ecosystem — living and nonliving parts, the arrows of dependence between them, and at least one animal adaptation — then self-check their work against a short checklist. This diagram is a portfolio artifact: one picture that shows how adaptations, ecosystems, and dependence fit together.

D06 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness D06.S2 60 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

How can I show, in one diagram, that living and nonliving things — and animals' adaptations — all depend on each other?

ecosystemdiagramlivingnonlivingadaptationdependarrowlabel

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

A labeled ecosystem diagram of a pond edge, with a plant and a frog as living parts, sun and water and soil as nonliving parts, arrows showing dependence, and a note labeling the frog's legs as an adaptation
A labeled ecosystem diagram of a pond edge, with a plant and a frog as living parts, sun and water and soil as nonliving parts, arrows showing dependence, and a note labeling the frog's legs as an adaptation

Lesson 6 — Our Ecosystem Diagram

Summary

Lessons 4 and 5 gave learners two living-world ideas — adaptations (body parts and behaviors that help survival) and ecosystems (living and nonliving things depending on each other). Now they join them into one labeled diagram. Learners draw an ecosystem with living and nonliving parts, arrows showing who depends on whom, and at least one animal adaptation, then self-check against a short checklist. The finished diagram becomes a portfolio artifact — one picture that shows how the living world fits together.

Objectives

  • Describe how animals’ body parts and behaviors help them survive in their environment. (D06.S2.04.01)
  • Explain how living and nonliving things in an ecosystem depend on each other (such as soil, water, and sunlight). (D06.S2.04.02)

Connection

A map helps a traveler see a whole place at once. A diagram does the same for ideas. When you draw a pond with its plants, its frog, its soil, and its sunlight, and you draw arrows from the frog to the plant it eats and from the plant to the sun that feeds it, you have made a picture of dependence that anyone can read. Adding the frog’s strong legs shows how its body helps it survive there. Diagrams are how people everywhere — farmers planning a field, fishers reading a coast, doctors mapping a body — put the pieces together so others can understand.

Materials

  • Large paper and crayons or colored pencils
  • The example ecosystem diagram
  • The animal and ecosystem card sets from Lessons 4 and 5

Preparation

  • Display the example ecosystem diagram where everyone can see it.
  • Have the card sets ready for planning.
  • Prepare the diagram checklist (or write it on the board): living parts, nonliving parts, arrows, and an adaptation.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). It is a synthesis lesson, so use a worked example first — draw one diagram together on the board, pointing to each part, arrow, and label — then let learners draw their own (guided practice) and self-check against the checklist. Feedback is built in three ways: the checklist (self), a partner-check (peer), and your glance (observation). Keep the egalitarian lens: the diagram must show that the nonliving parts and the small creatures matter as much as the big ones — a worm or a patch of soil belongs in the picture as much as a lion. Encourage ecosystems from many places (a rice paddy, a coral reef, a desert, a city park) so every learner can draw a home that is theirs (global lens). This artifact is kept for the unit portfolio; celebrate each diagram, and let a learner who is not finished return to it — “not yet” is information, never a verdict.

Procedure

  1. Gather and remember (5 min). You have two ideas: adaptations and ecosystems. Today you will show both in one picture — a diagram.
  2. Watch the example (10 min). Look at the example diagram. Point to a living part, a nonliving part, an arrow showing dependence, and an adaptation. Say what each arrow means: “The frog depends on the plant.”
  3. Plan your diagram (10 min). Choose an ecosystem you know or can imagine — a pond, a field, a forest, a reef, a garden. List what you will draw: at least two living parts, two nonliving parts, and one adaptation.
  4. Draw and label (20 min). Draw your ecosystem. Label each part living or nonliving. Draw arrows to show who depends on whom. Label one animal’s adaptation and write how it helps it survive.
  5. Check your work (10 min). Use the checklist: living parts? nonliving parts? arrows? an adaptation? Swap with a partner and ask: can they follow your arrows? Close by remembering: every part of the web matters.

Differentiation

  • Support: Draw a three-part diagram (plant, water, sun) with a partner, and label “living” and “nonliving” aloud.
  • Support (non-speaking): Draw the parts and point to the dependence arrows; a partner writes the labels.
  • Support (blind/low-vision): Build the diagram with found objects (a leaf, a stone, a cup of water, a feather) and describe each part and arrow aloud.
  • Extension: Add a second ecosystem and a note about what would happen if one nonliving part (the water) were removed from both.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Does the diagram include living and nonliving parts, arrows of dependence, and one labeled adaptation?
  • Self: The learner checks the checklist and marks anything they want to improve.
  • Peer: A partner reads the arrows and confirms they make sense.
  • Artifact (portfolio): The finished labeled ecosystem diagram, kept for the unit portfolio.

Home connection

At home, draw a quick diagram of one real place with a grown-up — the kitchen garden, the balcony, or the backyard — and add two arrows showing what depends on what.

Resources