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8th Grade Program
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Ecosystem Scavenger Hunt

Ecosystem Scavenger Hunt

Eighth Grade Program
Ecosystem Scavenger Hunt
Students embark on an exploration of the Ingram Pond ecosystem by canoe.  While canoeing students collect names of species they identify through the use of specialist prepared resource rings. Students observe and identify interdependent and dependent relationships existing in the pond ecosystem, focusing on the transfer and transformation of energy within. Returning to the classroom, students enter collected data into an energy pyramid identifying autotrophs and heterotrophs again focusing on the transfer and transformation of energy with the pond ecosystem.

Species Adaptations 
Upon donning hip and chest waders, students enter the pond ecosystem to collect macro-invertebrates and fish for laboratory study.  Returning to the Fish House, students classify their organisms, identifying the structure/function relationships of their adaptations.  Students compare the structures of a bony fish to that of a cartilage fish; the dogfish shark. Students proceed to dissect a preserved shark specimen analyzing the internal systems and the role they play in species survival.