Curriculum Notebook - Grades 2-Up
Interpretive Stops  1.  Pourroy's Picnic Area  2.  Along Aptos Creek  3.  Fern Grotto  4.  Twisted Grove  5.  Geologic Foundation  6.  Redwoods and Associates  7.  Marcel's "Tiger Lily" Colony  8.  Native Plants  9.  "Exotics" in the Forest 10. Fairy Rings & Smiley Faces 11. Animals of Marcel's Forest 12. Goosepen Tree 13. The "Advocate Tree" 14. The Ravine		Webbing Grades 2-Up Science Content Standards No. 6: Investigation and Experimentation Students will: i. Write a report of an investigation that includes conducting tests, collecting data or examining evidence, and drawing conclusions.   Objectives 1. To see the interrelationship between the members of an ecosystem.   Concept Background 1. An ecosystem is made up of interrelated members. 2. Taking away from or doing damage to any one of those members affects all others.   Materials Ball of String. Space large enough to accommodate students standing in a circle. Pourroy's Picnic Area, Stop No. 16 has a flat area and picnic table.   Instructions Here is a game that makes very clear the essential interrelationships among all the members of nature's community. Webbing vividly portrays how air, rocks, plants, and animals function together in a balanced web of life. The children form a circle. The leader stands inside the circle near the edge, with a ball of string "Who can name a plant that grows in this area?.... Brodiaea...Good. Here, Miss Brodiaea, you hold the end of the string. Is there an animal living around here that might eat the brodiaea? Rabbits!! Ah, a sumptuous meal. Mr. Rabbit you take hold of the string here, you are connected to Miss Brodiaea by your dependence on her flowers for your lunch. Now, who needs Mr. Rabbit for his lunch?" Continue connecting the children with string as their relationships to the rest of the group emerge. Bring in new elements and considerations, such as other animals, soil, water, and so on, until the entire circle of children is strung together in a symbol of the web of life. You have created your own ecosystem. To demonstrate how each individual is important to the whole community, take away by some plausible means one member of the web. For example, a fire or a logger kills a tree. When the tree falls, it tugs on the strings it holds; anyone who feels a tug in his string is in some way affected by the death of the tree. Now everyone who felt a tug from the tree gives a tug. The process continues until every individual is shown to be affected by the destruction of the tree. Used by Permission and Modified from Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Bharat Cornell, published by Dawn Publications	Reminders Glossary Curriculum Notebook Materials Drawer California Science Education Website   "Steelhead Fry" Swimming in Aptos Creek Just Below Advocates' Seasonal Bridge

 

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