Apologia Biology: Ecology Module 3 and 10

 Module 3 in Apologia’s new Biology textbook and Module 10 in the 2nd edition are Ecology.  I like to teach Ecology early in Biology.  Kids are familiar with local species.  The first Ecology assignment is to creat a list of local species.  Kids start with about 25 species.  The next step is to look at what each species eats and add to the list.  The kids mark their species as producers, herbivores, or carnivores.  They add the scientific names, the genus and species names.  I encourage the kids to focus on the local ecosystem as opposed to the African Savannah.  Their lists become food webs.  This project takes several weeks.  I have kids work on their lists and food webs in addition to other assignments, such as vocabulary lists.  There are three  key labs we always do: the Owl Pellet Dissection, Mark and Recapture, and The Lynx Eats the Hare.  The 2nd and 3rd editions both have a greenhouse lab to do.  The 3rd edition has a bean lab teaching about competition.  Here is a similar lab.