ALEX Lesson Plan Resources

ALEX Lesson Plans  
Subject: Science (7)
Title: Patterns of Interactions: What Relationships Exist Between Organisms in an Ecosystem?
Description: Students will begin by brainstorming a list of ways that organisms may interact within an ecosystem. Then students will have an opportunity to share their list with a peer and with the class. Next, students will create a jot chart that will detail the five relationships that may exist between organisms in an ecosystem: competition, predation, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. At the conclusion of the lesson, students will examine food webs and predict the patterns of interactions that may exist between and among organisms in an ecosystem. This lesson results from a collaboration between the Alabama State Department of Education and ASTA.