Intro to Ecology article
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Overview
Students will be able to determine the difference between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem, recognize be factors for what they are, and demonstrate the relationship between them.
Learning the difference between Biotic and Abiotic factors and how they are connected
To learn the difference between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem and how they are related, students will watch the short video that explains the difference and the relationships between them.
After the video, the class will read the article about the introduction to ecology which goes over some more aspects of biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. Teacher will pull up this article on a smart board so everyone can see it together and it can be annotated.
Students will then have the opportunity to draw out and explain the relationship between an abiotic and biotic factor like they learned about in the video. They will do this on a piece of paper, simply drawing out the relationship they are describing and writing what it is above it. This can include animals drinking out of a watering hole for hydration, a small animal burrowing into the soil for shelter, or any relationship between biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem.
Now that students have successfully demonstrated their knowledge of the factors in an ecosystem on their own, they will do another similar activity that involves the whole class. On a large banner like sheet of paper, the students will be separated into groups and split the paper into four sections to represent four biomes that we have previously learned about. The students will draw on their section of the paper in their groups to represent what their biome would look like, as well as labeling some biotic and abiotic factors in their Biome. Biomes can include tundra, grassland, forest, and desert.