Micro-Ecosystems

Ecology is the study of how living and non-living things interact in an ecosystem.  An ecosystem can be a tropical rainforest, it can be the abandoned corner lot or it can be the micro-ecosystem in your backyard.

Materials: 1-yard of string or yarn, knotted in a circle for each Kid Scientist

Procedure:

• Invite your friends, cousins or brothers & sisters to join you
• Drop the circle of string somewhere in the yard
• Lay on your tummy near the micro-ecosystem
• Observe what is happening in this tiny system...think about what is living and what is not living
• Stay still for a while, so the creatures in your system move around
• Compare what you saw with your friends...what is different?  What is the same?

Extensions:

- Big Kid scientists may want to list the living and non-living parts of their micro-ecosystem in their science journal

- Encourage kid scientists to visit their micro-ecosystems several different times to see what changes

For Mom's Eyes Only...

Kid Scientists often have trouble identifying non-living components of an ecosystem.  As they learn more about the world around them, Big Kids may easily identify air or sunlight as non-living.  Little Kids aren't so sure, they don't have a clear "rule" about what is living.  Many Little Kids think that water is living because it moves (they could say the same for wind).  Many kids will have a hard time with things like seeds or leaves off of trees.  Engage your kids in conversation, ask questions and see why they think, what they think.