Each Monday, I’ll be posting some resource suggestions for a different topic. This week it’s ecology.
A nice starter for a lesson on ecology or ecosystems with this video Becoming an ecologist. Amy Eycott describes how she writes computer code to interrogate the databases of ecological information that she builds, so this is a good illustration of the varied skills involved in STEM roles, and the importance of a strong grounding in statistics for biological researchers. SAPs have produced a resource based on Amy’s story, looking at surveying habitats to measure biodiversity
In preparation for getting outside and doing some real sampling, you could use these online exercises from SAPs to introduce fieldwork sampling ideas and some basic ecological principles in the classroom before going out into the field: Online Ecology One and Online Ecology Two
For two more unusual activities for teaching about ecology and sampling:
Brine Shrimp Ecology from British Ecological Society explains how students can set up their own shrimp ecosystem in a bottle, with 13 practical activities based on the bottle ecosystem
Ecological Survey is useful for looking at how organisms affect, and are affected by, their environment, as it links to an exciting project which transformed 98 hectares of heavily polluted industrial land back into a place that is now home to kingfishers, newts, snakes, toads and rare wildflowers. There are two protocols provided- one for 16-19 and one for 14-16, which provide clear, easy to follow instructions for the various sampling techniques and investigations into abiotic factors The web site for this remediation project can be found at: www.theavenueeducation.co.uk
And finally, this guide from Wellcome Trust helps students look more closely at avoiding bias in sampling https://www.stem.org.uk/resources/elibrary/resource/460282/ecology-fieldwork