Higher:
Is able to explain the balance of nature and the consequences of the balance being damaged
Middle:
Can identify and explain why habitats are important
Lower:
Is able to recall what a habitat is
Lesson Starter: The Red Admiral butterfly can often be seen in Britain. However the British winters are too harsh for Red Admirals, so they must migrate southwards if they are to survive. What would happen if the Red Admiral did not migrate?
However, the British winters are too harsh for red admirals, so they must migrate southwards if they are to survive. What might happen if the red admiral did not migrate?
Presentation - Starter Slide.
Explore the presentation and learn about the balance of nature and how life is a cycle.
Talk Partners: 30 Second Challenge: Discuss the meaning of the balance of nature.
Talk Partners: Did you know that most British slugs eat rotting vegetation, but a few are carnivores. Slugs play an important role in ecology by eating decomposing vegetation. Discuss the reason why slugs are important with your talk partner.
Key Concept:
During this unit, each lesson contains a key concept question housed in the '30 Second Challenge' slide. To help children master this content so the knowledge moves from their short term memory to their long term memory, at the beginning of the follow on lesson the question from the previous lesson is revisited.
The questions covered during this unit include:
1. Write a sentence that defines the term balance of nature.
2. What is an ecosystem?
3. Write a sentence that defines the word pollution.
4. Air pollution is an issue that is harming our world. What can we do to prevent damage to our planet in the future?
5. What can you do to reduce water pollution?
6. Has Alex been wasting or conserving water?
Presentation
Careers Film: Jane Clarke works for Thames Water as a Nature Reserve Manager at Kempton.
Expert Film: Jane Clarke from Thames Water talks about the importance of looking after the balance of nature in her job.
How we deliver the Gatsby Benchmarks:
2 - Learning from career and labour market information: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about jobs in your area.
4 - Linking curriculum learning to careers: This unit showcases careers at Thames Water. Access our 360° virtual work tours.
7 - Encounters with Further and Higher Education: Pop along to Developing Experts career’s zone to find out about training providers in your area.
Presentation - Expert Film
Interdependence Study
Watch the Lesson Assignment film for help with this task.
Your task is to plot a graph to show the amount of show-shoe hares and lynx for each year, as presented on Handout. What deductions can children make about the number in each year - is there a correlation?
Build a Bug Habitat
You can either build the bug habitat shown on the film or go outside and build a bug habitat using natural resources. If you choose to create a habitat outside, here are the key resources which will help you: soil, twigs, leaves, flowers, berries.
You can even build a wooden box around this, and create a 'bug hotel.' Return to your bug habitat over time - are any bugs living in it? Has the material (soil/leaves etc) changed?
Discuss how environmental changes may have an impact on living things and identify how the habitat changes throughout the year.
Interdependence Study
Handout
Pen / pencil / colouring pencils
Build a Bug Habitat
Crisp tubes
Masking tape
Paint
Ribbon
Scissors
Paintbrush
Bark, leaves, sticks, straw, hay, cardboard, etc.
If you chose the Build a Bug Habitat Task, Complete the Handout.
Draw and label the features of your Bug Habitat design, or evaluate your graph to show you understand the interdependence of the lynx and snow-shoe hare. Explain what will attract bugs to your habitat.
Quiz
With their talk partners, the children are to go through the quiz at the end of the presentation and answer the questions.
Handout(s)
Quiz in presentation
Can children describe different habitats?
Can children explain how environmental changes may have an impact on living things?
Habitat task:
Can children explain why they have designed their habitat in the way they have? Can they justify the features they have included in their habitats?
Quizzes available in pupil zone.
Unit knowledge organisers and quizzes available in unit / lesson documents.
A habitat is…
It is important to look after a habitat because…
A habitat provides animals and insects with…
The Science Behind the Science
The balance of nature is a general term that can be used to describe ecosystems. Some ecosystems are more robust than others, meaning that they can take more damage, or be more adaptable, but they will all have a balance to them.
This balance will include the number of each species in a habitat and the number of different species in that place. The balance will also encompass non-living things such as the amount of rainfall a habitat receives, the amount of sunlight, and the temperature. If any one of those things changes too much, the ecosystem will no longer be balanced and it may collapse.
Humans have disrupted many ecosystems, whether that be because of climate change, urbanisation, deforestation, forest fires, or oil spills. Scientists are debating whether we have entered a new time period, because of how much we have changed the environment, known as the Anthropocene - the human period.
Explore and use classification keys to help group, identify and name a variety of living things in their local and wider environment and identify how the habitat changes throughout the year.
The study of the characteristics, systems, and behaviours of humans and other animals, and of plants; the interactions and relationships between and among them, and with the environment.
Grouping and Classifying.
Recording findings using simple scientific language, drawings, labelled diagrams, keys, bar charts, and tables
Grade 5 Our Environment
Grade 3 - Life Science - Living things - A look at living things - What do living things need? / (Food, water, gases, space)