More Ecology Activities

Update: Good Will has dinosaurs!

 I like Hans-on activities.  Ecology is one of those units with loads of activities.  Two of my favorites are Lynx eats Hare and Mark Recapture with beans or with White Beans.  Hands-on labs take time to read over, print, and prep.  The time is an investment.  When I teach Mark and Recapture, I use a box of plastic dinosaurs and rubber bands.  The kids pull out a handful of dinosaurs, tag them with rubber bands, and return them to the box, releasing them into the general population of dinosaurs.  Then, kids grab a handful of dinosaurs and count the number of banded vs. unbanded three times.  We use these averages to compute  an estimate of the total dinosaur population.  We can even calculate the percent error.  After the dinosaur demo, the kids do the bean mark and recapture lab and make calculations.  The Lynx eats Hare demonstrates how predators and prey are interdependent.  Invest the time doing these labs.  The kids will come away with a greater understanding. Below is my box of dinosaurs. Dollar Tree, one of my favorite science stores, has dinosaurs.