We explored our school garden recently, looking for ways that living things (and non-living things) interact to form an ecosystem. First we made observations of non-living things. For example, students measured the outdoor temperature and compared soil from different locations in the area. Then we made observations of living things. I invited students to draw pictures of three living things, and describe an interaction they observed in our garden ecosystem.
Many students described how insects found shelter in the garden. For example, they wrote about how the ants interact with the soil to form tunnels and build a home. Or, how the ladybugs interact with the sunflower to take shelter under its leaves. One student commented that the sunflower must be a home to the ladybug because ladybugs are laying eggs there. I loved that she was backing up her claim with evidence!
Another student noticed the wasps were much less active than usual today. In fact, they weren't moving at all. Maybe because it was chilly this morning. He discovered an interaction between wasps and temperature! Finally, a student wrote that pumpkins interact with humans, because pumpkins make people happy. Pumpkins do make us happy! Who doesn't love to see a big orange pumpkin growing in the garden!
Many students described how insects found shelter in the garden. For example, they wrote about how the ants interact with the soil to form tunnels and build a home. Or, how the ladybugs interact with the sunflower to take shelter under its leaves. One student commented that the sunflower must be a home to the ladybug because ladybugs are laying eggs there. I loved that she was backing up her claim with evidence!
Another student noticed the wasps were much less active than usual today. In fact, they weren't moving at all. Maybe because it was chilly this morning. He discovered an interaction between wasps and temperature! Finally, a student wrote that pumpkins interact with humans, because pumpkins make people happy. Pumpkins do make us happy! Who doesn't love to see a big orange pumpkin growing in the garden!
I showed students the tiny aphids living under the sunflower leaves. I invited them to think about how the aphids might be interacting with other living things in our garden. I pointed out that the sunflower leaves with aphids on them were turning yellow and brown; leaves without aphids on them were still green and healthy. Also, wherever we found aphids we also found ladybugs. How might these tiny creatures be interacting in our garden ecosystem?
We also discovered an ant colony next to the school building. Dozens of black ants were busily scurrying in and out of their underground home. This inspired students to add several questions about ants to our question board. Students were curious: Do black ants bite, or do just red ants bite? How many eggs can a queen ant lay? What do ants eat? (They found ants eating a dead insect.) How strong are ants? (They found ants carrying large objects.) What are the ants doing on the sunflowers? (They found ants on the undersides of the sunflower leaves and climbing up and down the stems.)
This discovery also prompted a discussion between some of the students. They were wondering if the ants in the garden were different than the ants in the wetland. Because the ants in the garden looked small and black, but the ants at the wetland looked bigger and more red. How many different species of ant could we find at school? We decided to investigate.
We also discovered an ant colony next to the school building. Dozens of black ants were busily scurrying in and out of their underground home. This inspired students to add several questions about ants to our question board. Students were curious: Do black ants bite, or do just red ants bite? How many eggs can a queen ant lay? What do ants eat? (They found ants eating a dead insect.) How strong are ants? (They found ants carrying large objects.) What are the ants doing on the sunflowers? (They found ants on the undersides of the sunflower leaves and climbing up and down the stems.)
This discovery also prompted a discussion between some of the students. They were wondering if the ants in the garden were different than the ants in the wetland. Because the ants in the garden looked small and black, but the ants at the wetland looked bigger and more red. How many different species of ant could we find at school? We decided to investigate.
We set up some ant traps in different locations around the school. We baited the traps with cookies (Pecan Sandies) and collected them the next day. We compared the ants we found at the different locations and tried to identify them using an ant ID chart (see School of Ants citizen science project). Students were really excited to look at the ants under the microscope!
We also did some insect research and discovered that both ants and ladybugs depend on aphids for food. The ants in our garden farm the aphids, milking them for "honeydew" (or poop). But ladybugs don't farm the aphids, they eat the aphids! So, ants will attack a ladybug that gets too close to the aphids they are farming. Why were our sunflower leaves turning yellow and brown? Those aphids were eating our sunflowers! Gardeners love ladybugs. Because they eat the aphids that destroy their plants. Ladybugs must be important for our school garden too.
We also did some insect research and discovered that both ants and ladybugs depend on aphids for food. The ants in our garden farm the aphids, milking them for "honeydew" (or poop). But ladybugs don't farm the aphids, they eat the aphids! So, ants will attack a ladybug that gets too close to the aphids they are farming. Why were our sunflower leaves turning yellow and brown? Those aphids were eating our sunflowers! Gardeners love ladybugs. Because they eat the aphids that destroy their plants. Ladybugs must be important for our school garden too.
We made a garden food web with yarn to represent our learning. We saw how everything in an ecosystem is connected. We also played a game of food web tag to model how the aphids and ladybugs interact in our garden ecosystem. The students pretended to be aphids, looking for food, water, and shelter (i.e., sunflowers). After each round of tag we collected data, recording the number of aphids in the population. Mid-way into the game, we added a ladybug predator. How did the ladybug affect our aphid population size? Back in the classroom, we graphed the results.
We noticed that when sunflowers were plentiful, the size of the aphid population went up. When sunflowers were scarce, the size of the aphid population went down. When we added ladybugs to our ecosystem (see the arrow at the top of our graph), the aphid population size began to decline more rapidly. We recorded the results in our science journals. Now we are ecosystem experts!
We noticed that when sunflowers were plentiful, the size of the aphid population went up. When sunflowers were scarce, the size of the aphid population went down. When we added ladybugs to our ecosystem (see the arrow at the top of our graph), the aphid population size began to decline more rapidly. We recorded the results in our science journals. Now we are ecosystem experts!