Building Blocks of Science® A New Generation: Ecosystem Diversity 2nd Edition 1-Use Unit Kit

Grade 2. In 5 lessons spanning 21 class sessions, Ecosystem Diversity takes students on an exploration of what living things need to survive in their particular environments. It begins with an informal pre-assessment of what students know about living and non-living things and the basic needs of living things. Then, the class is introduced to 7 habitats that it will study throughout the unit. Students identify specific habitats and describe what makes each habitat unique. They begin to understand that the physical characteristics of living things are related to the climates in which they live.

Students explore plants and animals firsthand throughout the unit. They plant their own seeds and care for them according to a class-developed experiment to determine that plants, as living things, have some of the same basic needs as animals for survival. By planting seeds and manipulating variables, students learn that although all plants have the same basic needs, the environment in which they live can have an effect on a plant's ability to survive. Through observations and discussions of plants that are found in different habitats, students gain a basic understanding of plants' ability to adapt to their environment. 

Groups apply their growing understanding of habitats to plan and construct an aquatic or terrestrial habitat of their own. Students observe all the class habitats and evaluate whether the organisms would actually be able to survive in the habitats as designed or if modifications are necessary.

To conclude the unit, students learn about how human actions can affect habitats. Through an interactive reading activity, they discuss human actions that could happen in the habitat where they live. Students are asked to consider the habitat that they created and to think of examples of ways that each of the human actions discussed could affect that habitat. Groups choose one human action that could have the largest negative impact on their habitat and create a public education campaign to teach others about how their actions can affect local habitats.

Building Blocks of Science® lessons are structured in 30-minute class sessions, making it easy to fit science into your day. The Ecosystem Diversity 2nd Edition 1-Use Unit Kit includes a Teacher's Guide (item #514402A), teacher and student access to digital materials, and enough supplies and apparatus to teach the unit once to a class of up to 24 students. Kit also includes a voucher for prepaid delivery of the living organisms.

Next Generation Science Standards®
The Building Blocks of Science® unit Ecosystem Diversity, 2nd Edition, integrates process skills as defined by the Next Generation Science Standards®.

Performance Expectations

• 2-LS2-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight and water to grow.
• 2-LS2-2: Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants.
• 2-LS4-1: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans
• ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions

Science and Engineering Practices

• Developing and Using Models
• Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts

• Cause and Effect
• Structure and Function

Lesson Summaries
Lesson 1: Organisms and Habitats
This lesson begins with an informal pre-assessment in which students brainstorm and list living things and what they need to survive. As a class, students view various habitat cards and discuss the basic characteristics of all habitats, aquatic or terrestrial. Student groups have the opportunity to identify specific habitats and describe what makes each habitat unique. During an interactive reading activity, students learn more about the characteristics of different climates and what living things need in order to survive in those climates. The lesson concludes with students recognizing the differences between living and non-living things, and they begin to understand that the physical characteristics of living things are related to the climates in which they live.
Lesson 2: Plant Growth
Through the discussions and activities in Lesson 1, students have built an understanding that plants are living things and have specific needs that help them grow. By planting seeds and manipulating variables, they clearly see the effects that the physical environment has on plant growth. Students learn that although all plants have the same basic needs, the environment in which they live can have an effect on a plant's ability to survive. Through observations and discussions of plants that are found in different habitats, students gain a basic understanding of plants' ability to adapt to their environment.
Lesson 3: Plant and Animal Interactions
Students learn how animals help in seed dispersal by acting out the process using model seeds. Through dialogue and interactions between group members, students discover many ways that seeds can be moved from the flower to a location where they can grow into a new plant. Students next observe the characteristics of insects more thoroughly. They examine the body of a dried bee, and simulate the bee behavior of flying from one plant to another to develop an understanding of how bees use their bodies to pollinate plants. During an interactive reading activity, students learn more about the various methods of seed dispersal. The lesson concludes with students realizing the important role that plants and animals play in each other's lives and they begin to understand that neither could exist without the other.
Lesson 4: Diversity of Life
In this lesson, groups use the understanding of habitats gained in the previous lessons to plan and construct their own habitat. Half the class will create terrestrial habitats and the other half will create aquatic habitats. Then, students will observe all of the habitats and evaluate whether the organisms would actually be able to survive in the habitats as designed or if modifications are necessary.
Lesson 5: Human Impact
In this final lesson, students learn about various human actions that can affect a habitat. As they participate in an interactive reading activity, they discuss which of those human actions could happen in the habitat where they live. Students then look back at the habitat that they created in the classroom and come up with examples of ways that each of the human actions discussed could affect the habitat. Groups choose the human action that could have the largest negative impact on their habitat. Finally, they create a public education campaign to teach others about how their actions can affect local habitats.