Ecosystem Survival
SWAMPS
Do you hear that sound? The bzz and blurp, what is this place with the liquid dirt? We’ve made it through rainforests and deserts, but will we survive the swamp? Come tromp, tromp, tromp, through the [more than just] misty, murky, mysterious swamps. Learn how your step makes the wet and wild earth tremble, make a wetland in a pan, and reclaim your rights to play with bubbling ooze and choclatey goo. We’ll find out what bubbles beneath when it’s bedtime at the swamp, discover the secrets of cryptic cryptids, and wander the wilds with will-o’-the-wisps. Come follow the whispering blue lights that lead to cute and creepy creatures of our own creation and find out who wins when you play swamp tag, is that really a log? It’s a wet and wild time! Come on in! The swamp feels fine!
We’ve made it halfway through the swamp, but will we get bogged down in the middle? Of course not! It’s time to follow the figments of our imaginations (and we’re not talking about will-o’-the-wisps or fata morganas) and tell a tale or two worth telling. It all began with a strange, mysterious correspondence…an unfinished tome filled with eyewitness accounts and images of mysterious creatures otherwise thought to be the stuff of legend…legendary writing that is. Those tales lead us to the masters of the swamp, the ones who have traveled this non-existent road before and we learn from them before traveling the treacherous paths of sand, quicksand that is. For such quick stuff we’ll need to move nice and slow! Especially if it begins to glow. So, just what grows in the mud between our toes? It’s a towering kind of mystery, but the key to our solution lies in history…and once we’ve unlocked the coils of questions we’ll follow the slithering to the solutions we long for. And perhaps in the end we’ll end up on dry land…or perhaps we’ll just be another mystery in the heart of the swamp.
Key Links and Resources for Part One
BBC’s Planet Earth: Swamplands https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49cQ747WT0U One of Earth’s best kept secrets is unveiled through captivating footage. Narration by the Horrocks.
The10 Most Beautiful Swamps on Earth, http://scribol.com/environment/10-most-beautiful-swamps-on-earth
http://www.wonderville.ca/asset/rebuildingwetlands Here is students’ chance to explore wetlands in whatever way they want. There are 5 sections that will give you heaps of facts about wetlands and reclamation as well as the about the impacts of land use on wetlands as we try to rebuild them.
Xanthan slimes in action in a video at http://epicfunforkids.com/lego-star-wars-yodas-swamp-slime-activity/
Miniscule: The Monster Of The Haunted Swamp) Букашки (2 сезон) 14. Монстр заколдованного болота http://vk.com/video225451863_166210850
Website/video: http://www.history.com/shows/cryptid-the-swamp-beast/videos/legend-of-the-rougarou. In this scene, the team is told the legend of the Rougarou. [NOTE: Watch before you show your students to make sure that it’s appropriate for them!]
The wisps scene from Pixar’s Brave https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymcen0EjmiU
Key Links and Resources for Part Two
Additional sources for flash-fiction inspiration:
- Previous Scholastic award-winners in Flash Fiction
- 100 Word Story, which also has written and photo prompts for writing
- NPR’s Three Minute Fiction contests
- Flash Fiction Online
- The Guardian | Flash Fiction By Kids, For Kids
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trying to escape quicksand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boAoDQHJUo8
Princess Bride 59 second quicksand scenehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8Fsyld7YD0
Bear Grylls actually escaping from quicksand and explaining how to do it! http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/28993-man-vs-wild-moab-desert-quicksand-video.htm
List of Hollywood movies with quicksand
http://www.quicksandmovies.net/clips.html
How to survive in a swamp:
http://www.wikihow.com/Walk-in-a-Swamp
More to explore: Winogradsky
More to explore
Building a Winogradsky Column Video Demonstration, from NASA Quest
The Winogradsky Column, from Microbial Life
Winogradsky Columns, from The Pennsylvania State University
Growing a Soil Menagerie, from Science Buddies
Venomous snakes in Louisiana
http://1079ishot.com/venomous-snakes-louisiana/
TN Snakes
http://www.tennsnakes.org/
Ecosystem Survival
RainForest
Surviving the Rainforest- Part One
Take your students on a wild adventure as they learn how to develop tribal unity. They will learn of tribes who live in the rainforest now and use mapping coordinates to determine exactly where they are. They will use their artistic abilities and create their own tribal banners. Their very own tiny rainforest will come to life. Fruit loops will come in handy as they recreate how life can be in the rainforest jungle. They will learn of the Great Kapok tree and through an engineering project create their very own forest floor and walkway. Only the brave will survive!
Surviving the Rainforest- Part Two
The rainforest is really a fitting name. Rainforests recieve nearly an inch of rain every day of the year. In this lesson, be prepared to take your students on quitean adventure. During the unit they will recreate the funnel naturally occuring in the rainforest from layer to layer. Learn which birds and animals are thriving and others are threatened. They will create their own decomposition chamber, and go on a search for water. As they create their own water filter they will learn about common practices of water filtration today. Their tongues will learn of the tastes of the rainforest while they some quick thinking in games of skill where they will need both brains and strength to compete.
Key Links and Resources for Part One
Set the tone by having students listen to a recording of the ambient sounds of a rainforest: http://www.exploratorium.edu/frogs/rainforest/
Visit the Wild Classroom for great tips and videos about the rainforest. Research the major biomes of the world here. The Wild Classroom
Use this link to view a program to see a map for any coordinates in the world.http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/?loc=tropical+rain+forest
Visit this website to learn more information about endangered animals.http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/
Resource for the Great Kapok Tree http://www.unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com/kapok-tree.html
Key Links and Resources for Part Two
Teachers: Visit these links for more information on the ecocolumn and a variation projects.
https://sites.google.com/site/ecocolumnproject2012/abiotic-and-biotic-factors-list
http://www.bottlebiology.org/investigations/
Decomposition column instructions can be found at this link. This is helpful for students to learn what happens on the rainforest floor. http://www.bottlebiology.org/investigations/decomp_main.html
Experimentation with the TerrAqua Column is practically unlimited. Learn how to make it here. http://www.bottlebiology.org/investigations/terraqua_main.html
Ecosystem Survival
Desert
Phew! We made it through the wet and wild rainforest! We’ve gathered data and learned and explored and now it’s time do some more! No sweat, right? It’s just…the desert! In the first of two units students get a chance to dry off and dry out, quench their parched throats, pull a vanishing act, watch the desert bloom, figure out just what happened at tower 37, and learn the answer to that crucial question. Live or die? Do we have the skills to survive?
Apparently we do because then we continue our desiccated desert adventures in part 2! Students figure out the dangers of the mysterious Fata Morgana, learn how to keep from getting 99.9% parched, make sure that lemons become lemonade, think like survivalist dieticians, give a few opinions, and shake down some rain before crossing the sea of sand. Then they rise to the sky for a windy perspective on this slow motion ocean before the sun sets and cool colors cover the landscape. Finally, students finish the journey by making their own desert dune buggy and putting it to the test on the shifting sands. Will theirs be the fastest to cross the wind carved lands?
Key Links and Resources for Part One
Watch:http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0115fds BBC: Living without water: Atacama fog catching nets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdyyw9fe3KI Fog Catchers of the Atacama
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX5kFsJaqak From Thin Air (clear and detailed explanation of how the fog catchers work)
Have students create their own cactus cupcakes or sugar cookies. Follow the tutorial found at this link to learn how. http://alanajonesmann.com/2013/04/diy-house-plant-cupcakes/#more-3106
Visit a website that sells traditional Desert wear here. http://desertdress.com/MensIndex.html
Going on a trip to Egypt- Don't forget the essentials- Learn More here http://all-about-egypt.com/egypt-sahara-desert-what-to-bring-on-your-trip/
Camping in Egypt http://all-about-egypt.com/egypt-sahara-desert-camping/
Watch the desert bloom in the following videos: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0037q88 Death Valley Bloom
Have students watch the award winning film (if the following links don’t work please google it- Tower 37, http://www.bitfilms.com/tower37.html
Adaptations: “Desert Biome” http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/tdc02.sci.life.eco.desert/desert-biome/ (Note: if the link doesn’t work for any reason, search for PBS Desert Biome on a search engine, like Google, and it should bring up the most updated link)
Ecosystem Survival
Mountains
Mountain Survival (The Trek's Begun)
We’ve ran through the rainforest, danced in the deserts, sloshed through the swamps, and now it’s time to master the mountains! We’ll learn about survival and see if actions speak louder than words, even when you’re telling a story. Then we’ll flip out and get board (nope, never bored, board!) before making sixword stories. It’s a good thing we’re going to have a lot of good stories to tell because we’re about to get stranded! It’s survival of the fittest out here in the mountains and we’ll need to work together to keep ahead of the game. But hey, yoo hoo!, there’s a big summer blowout happening in this mountain range, can students supply thedemand for an icy exchange? It’s time for adventure, it’s time for some fun, so grab your gear…come on everyone!
Mountain Survival (Rising Higher)
Mountains Part 2, Rising Higher: We’ve ran through the rainforest, danced in the deserts, sloshed through the swamps, meandered up the mountains and now it’s time to put our webbed feet forward for the final climb where we walk on frozen water, and put our feet in flux! We’re sure to have some close encounters of the abominable kinds as we follow (and taste) yeti tracks while hearing wild tales of Mountain Men and learn the secrets of the invisible men of Everest and determine what’s fact and what’s fiction. Then students get to traverse the crevasse as they try to keep up with the world’s greatest mountain climber, a goat!, as they play predator and prey. Is there an obstacle? Of course! Finally when we’re tired at the top of the trail it’s time to build ourselves the perfect home, our own dome, sweet dome. And we get the final answer to…Ae you up to the challenge? Can you survive the ecosystems?
Close Encounters of the Abominable Kind- powerpoint to accompany the stories in part two Mountain Survival. This is used Day Two when the students make their Yeti ice cream!
Key Links and Resources for Part One
The Girl and the Fox "A hauntingly beautiful [very] short film..." http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2012/06/06/the-girl-and-the-fox/
Au sommet du monde, le Roi a Froid [At the Top of the World, the King is Cold] https://vimeo.com/29412675 orat http://www.maudebbreton.com/#!/8/
‘Animatic’ or storyboarded version of Le Roi a Froid https://vimeo.com/29976775.
‘Big Summer Blowout’ clip from Frozenhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_w105aWPNY
Olaf’s summer song from Frozen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFatVn1hP3o
Key Links and Resources for Part Two
Watch Bear Grylls of Discovery Channel’s Man Vs. Wild make snowshoes out of branches and string to help him survive. http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/29585-man-vs-wild-making-snow-shoes-video.htm
Watch some Xtreme Snowshoeing, (yep, it’s a joke. J ) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7b96bQfnjE
View a gallery of homemade snowshoes: https://diy.org/skills/yeti/challenges/684/make-snowshoes
Watch the how to make traditional snowshoes with branches and string instructional video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1bd6sxJ6tg
The Flux:
http://www.core77.com/blog/footwear/eric_brunts_flux_snowshoes_transform_with_each_step_27333.asp (Students can watch the video for the flux snowshoe and check out the designer’s amazing thought and engineering process) https://plus.google.com/photos/114598814468200695655/albums/5742443921780379089
http://www.bruntdesigns.com/images/eric_brunt_flux_process.pdf
Listen to audio clips of Ressner actually speaking of his experience as well as his interview here: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0005/q_n_a.html Note: To listen to the audio clips, you'll need RealPlayer.
The film Au sommet du monde, le Roi a Froid https://vimeo.com/29412675 If that link doesn’t work at your site, please use a search engine such as Google to find an alternative website.
Amazing footage of Mountain Goat vs Snow Leopard and/or here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSGikymKFlc http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00378k9
Building a Snow Cave - Ray Mears Extreme Survival – BBC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOJQPz1s-1c
Ecosystem Survival
Wander Games
Welcome to the Bonus part of our series of Ecosystem Survival. This should be completed after students have participated in the other four parts of Ecosystem Survival. Can you help your students survive?
It takes more than just strength, or smarts, or stealth. In this fun series we’ll put students through the Trials to see their likelihood of survival – then they’ll try to discover how they might improve their chances. Remember, there is only one path to survival through the ecosystems full of boobie traps, lethal animals, and hidden secrets. Get ready for the games!