Why do you have to clean a fish tank but not a pond?

Why do you have to clean a fish tank but not a pond?
Lesson narration:
English Spanish
Scroll for prep
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DISCUSS (1 of 2):

What do you think is wrong with the fish?

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DISCUSS (2 of 2):

What would you do to try to help the fish?

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DISCUSS:

How can fish survive in a pond if waste doesn’t get filtered out of the water?

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DISCUSS:

Can you think of anything that could help LOWER the amount of carbon dioxide in a pond?

Hint:

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1. DRAW: Sketch a model of the interactions in a pond ecosystem. To get started, write plants, decomposers, and pond animals on a piece of paper. (Don’t write them too close to each other, you’ll be adding things in between them). Then draw arrows and add labels to show all the things that connect them.

diagram sketch

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2. CHECK: Did you include waste, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and oxygen arrows in your model? If not, add arrows in for those too.

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3. HERE’S WHAT WE DID: Here’s what our model ecosystem looked like, but there are many ways to draw this and yours might look different.

diagram sketch
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If you need a natural stopping point!

Teachers: If you are short on time, this is a good stopping point. You can play the Big Fish ecosystem game in a future session.

If you’ll be playing another day, have each pair of students clip their cards, their Fish-o-meter, their pointer and their worksheets together with a binder clip.

If you’re continuing right now, advance to the next slide.

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organism


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any living thing
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nutrient


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a substance that living things need to grow and stay healthy
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producer


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a living thing that makes its own food
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consumer


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a living thing that eats other living things
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decomposer


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a living thing that can break down dead living things
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bacteria


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an organism that is usually a decomposer; some cause illness
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fungus


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a living thing that is a decomposer and has spores, such as a mold or mushroom
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algae


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tiny living things in water that produce their own food, like plants do
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phytoplankton


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tiny, floating living things in water that are smaller than algae and produce their own food, like plants do
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system


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a group of things that affect each other and function as a whole
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ecosystem


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all the living things that interact with each other and their environment in one place
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cycle


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a set of events that repeats in the same order over and over
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matter


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anything that takes up space; can be in different forms such as solid, liquid, or gas
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carbon


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an important material that exists in the air, soil, and all living things on Earth
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carbon dioxide


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a type of gas that plants sometimes take in and that animals release when they breathe
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carbon cycle


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the process of carbon moving through living things and the environment
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oxygen


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a type of gas that animals use to breathe and that plants release
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atmosphere


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the air that surrounds a planet
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model


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a pretend version of something that scientists use when the real thing is too big, small, or complicated to work with
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Lesson narration:
English Spanish

Activity Prep

Print Prep

In this lesson, students combine what they have learned about plants, animals, and decomposers to see how they interact in an ecosystem. In the activity, Pond Ecosystem Game, students first build a pond ecosystem that will support a sunfish. To succeed, they must make sure that carbon dioxide levels are healthy for both plants and animals. Then, students play a game called Big Fish where they compete to make a healthy ecosystem for a sunfish.

Preview activity
Number of students:

I have a Mystery Pack

Action Cards printout 1 per group
Big Fish Ecosystem Cards printout 1 per pair
Check the Pond printout 1 per student
Fish-O-Meter printout 1 per student
Pick-a-Card/Discard Pile/How to Play printout 1 per group
Scissors
1 pair per student
Prep Instructions

In Part 1 of this activity, students will work in pairs. In Part 2 of this activity, students will work in groups of four to play the Big Fish game. Homeschool students can work on their own for Part 1, but will need a few friends in order to play the game.

Plan Your Time

Part 1 (building an ecosystem) takes 10 to 15 minutes. Part 2 (playing the game) takes at least 20 minutes.

You may want to divide this lesson into two sessions, stopping after Part 1 and continuing with the game at a later point. If you plan to do the activity in two sessions, the group game begins at Step 12.

Sort Materials for Part 1 and Part 2

Divide your materials into two piles.

For Part 1, you’ll need:

  • Half of the Fish-O-Meter printouts
  • Big Fish Ecosystem Cards
  • scissors
  • binder clips (optional)

For Part 2, you’ll need:

  • the rest of your Fish-O-Meters (so each student has one)
  • Check the Pond
  • Pick-a-Card/Discard Pile/How to Play
  • Action Cards
  • scissors

Planning for Two Sessions

If you want to do Part 1 and Part 2 on different days, you can keep materials organized by having each pair of students clip their cards, their Fish-O-Meter, their pointer, and their worksheets together with a binder clip at the end of Part 1.

When you are doing Part 2, start by giving each pair of students their materials from Part 1. Then have pairs get together to make groups of four and distribute the additional worksheets.

Exploration

22 mins

Hands-On Activity

45 mins

Wrap-Up

3 mins

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