KS3 SCIENCE
Curriculum link: Interactions and
Interdependencies (Relationships in an
ecosystem)
COLONISATION LESSON PLAN
Introduce students the concept of ecosystem interactions and interdependences with this section.
Using the concept of succession, illustrate how the environment influences the type of organisms
that are able to survive in any given area. It also shows how organisms are, in turn, able to shape their
environment.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Resources required: Paper for creating a timeline of succession.
1. FIRE STARTER
Pose to students the dilemma of a freshly formed volcanic
island with no life on it. How does a bare rock surface,
located 1,000 km from the nearest terrestrial organisms
come to be inhabited by a range of plants and animals?
Suggest that animals could swim or fly, but this would
take a very long time. Also explain the fact that once an
animal or seed arrived on the island, they wouldn’t have
the nutrition needed to survive. This lesson will explain
how life begins on a barren island.
Encourage them to think about the sequence of plants and
animals arriving on the island and what they require if they
are to live and support one another. For example, producers
had to arrive at the island before primary consumers, which
in turn had to arrive before secondary consumers, and so on.
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To recognise that ecosystems are
dynamic and organisms within them are
interdependent.
To understand how succession, over
time, transforms bare rock into a rich soil
able to support a complex ecosystem and
that this is an ongoing sequential process.
To appreciate the fact that the Galapagos
Islands have been transformed form bare
rock into a range of habitats, with rich
wildlife, over millions of years.
3.
MAKING WAVES
Encourage students to consider the interdependency of plant
and animal species. Ask them what animals and plants are
necessary to support particular species: Giant tortoises,
finches or insects.
2. GAINING GROUND
Students could create a timeline of succession. Using the
information presented in the lesson, they can create a
step-by-step guide showing how Isabela (the largest of
the Galapagos Islands) was transformed from bare rock
into a habitat capable of supporting wildlife and humans.
A RESOURCE BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE GALAPAGOS CONSERVATION TRUST (REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1043470) AND THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH IBG)
STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES
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To give examples of organisms that rely
on other organisms to live.
To explain the sequential process involved
in transforming bare rock into a complex
ecosystem.
To identify the relevant order in which
organisms had to arrive on the islands in
order to support one another.