Extreme Ecosystems (Grades 4-7)
Journey through the Amazon and Arctic galleries of the Aquarium and explore two very different places. Students learn that ecosystems are defined by living and non-living components, and that the interactions between those components make ecosystems very dynamic places. Students engage in several hands on activities, for example: re-creating food webs, touching real props from the Amazon and Arctic, and conducting a biodiversity survey. In the Amazon gallery students discover the amazing diversity of life by observing all the animals and their adaptations. Through demonstration, students see how the Amazon River floods affect animals. Students also explore the Arctic gallery and compare these animals and their adaptations to this extreme ecosystem. Students will observe animal adaptations, compare complex food webs, and uncover the importance of the diversity of life. Above all students will gain an appreciation and understanding of the complexity and importance of healthy ecosystems and how humans impact ecosystems.
Love the hands-on connections to learning and teaching students how to care for the world around us.Volunteers were great!The kids soaked up the information they shared. - Denise, Vancouver Christian School
Winter Semester (Jan-Apr), Thursdays, 10h00 and 12h30, 1 hour 30 mins, $12.00/student, 20-30 students
Prescribed Learning Outcomes:
Grade 4: It is expected that students will:
- Make predictions, supported by reasons and relevant to the content [Processes and Skills of Science]
- Compare the structures and behaviours of local animals and plants in different habitats and communities [Life Science: Habitats and Communities]
- Analyse simple food chains [Life Science: Habitats and Communities]
- Determine how personal choices and actions have environmental consequences [Life Science: Habitats and Communities]
- Analyse impacts of weather on living and non-living things [Earth and Space Science: Weather]
Grade 5: It is expected that students will:
- Describe potential impacts of using BCs living and non-living resources [Earth and Space Science: Renewable and Non-Renewable Resources]
Grade 6: It is expected that students will:
- Analyse how different organisms adapt to their environments [Life Science: Diversity of Life]
- Explain obstacles unique to exploration of a specific extreme environment [Earth and Space Science: Exploration of Extreme Environments]
Grade 7: It is expected that students will:
- Analyse the roles of organisms as part of interconnected food webs, populations, communities, and ecosystems[Life Science: Ecosystems]
- Assess survival needs and interactions between organisms and the environment [Life Science: Ecosystems]
- Assess the requirements for sustaining healthy local ecosystems [Life Science: Ecosystems]
- Evaluate human impacts on local ecosystems [Life Science: Ecosystems]