Yakima WATERS Mini Lesson
Identifying Parts of an Ecosystem, a Field Trip
Targets and Assessment
WA Science Standards Addressed:
 Grades 6-8 LS2B: Energy flows through an
ecosystem from producers to consumers to
decomposers. These relationships can be shown
for specific populations on a food web.

Grades 6-8 LS2C: Producers transform the energy
of sunlight into chemical energy of food through
photosynthesis. Nearly all organisms depend on
this energy source.
Lesson Parameters
Content Area: Life Science/Ecology
Overview: We will learn about the four parts of an
ecosystem. The kids will design a food web to understand
the exchange of energy through all parts of the ecosystem.
Then, we will go outside and observe and record about all
four parts of the local ecosystem.
Grade Level: 7th grade
Suggested Time: 90 minute lesson in the classroom and 2
hours in the field
Assessments:

Students are graded by the teacher on their food
webs and what they record about each part of the
ecosystem on the field trip
Special Materials:
 Need suitable field trip site where students can
observe consumer, decomposers, abiotic factors
and producers
 Magnifying lens, shovel, drawing materials,
specimen jars
Learning Outcomes:
Knowledge: Students will be able to list the four parts of the ecosystem, describe the flow of energy throughout an
ecosystem, and provide examples of ecosystems.
Skill: Students will be able to identify the component of an ecosystem to which a certain organism belongs, analyze where
that organism gets its energy, and analyze what other component of the ecosystem derives organism. Students will be able to list
the different abiotic factors within one ecosystem.
Science Concept Background:
The ecosystem is made up of four parts, Producers, Consumer, Decomposers and Abiotic Factors. Producers are anything that
makes its own food, e.g. plants. Consumers do not make their own food and get their energy from what they ingest, e.g. birds,
snakes, sharks, some insects. Decomposers break down organic material and they include fungus and earthworms. Abiotic factors
are parts of the environment that are not living, e.g. climate, geology, soils. There are many different types of ecosystems but they
all have these four parts and all exchange energy throughout the system.
Materials:
Poster paper
Drawing materials
Magnifying lenses
Specimen jars
Shovel
Procedure:
I talked about the four parts of the ecosystem, Producers, Consumers, Decomposers and Abiotic Factors, and I drew an example
food web on the board. The students took notes during the presentation. I stressed the idea of a flow of energy throughout the
ecosystem and gave them a sample energy cycle throughout a shrub-steppe ecosystem. I put the students in groups of four and
they designed a poster on a food web. They had to have producers, consumers and decomposers on there as well as a list of abiotic
factors.
The next day we went to the local pond, a short walk from the school, and had four stations, on for each component of the
ecosystem. The students rotated through all stations. At the abiotic factors station, they collected temperature data (air and water)
and dissolved oxygen as well as an estimate of annual precipitation. At the decomposer station, they looked under rocks and dug up
some dirt to look for earthworms and fungi. At the producer station, they identified plants and determined if they were native or
invasive. At the consumer station, they searched for consumers including fish, insects and birds, and they drew a detailed picture of
one consumer.
Extension:
We have talked about parts of an ecosystem and the exchange of energy but the students have only been exposed to one type of
ecosystem in the classroom. We made sure to talk about other types of ecosystems in our discussion during class.
Teaching Tips:
We were able to walk to our site, you only need 1 ½ to 2 hours for observation so this lesson is most suitable for classes that have an
outdoor site they can walk to rather than renting buses and making a whole day field trip out of it.
Supplementary Materials:
Field Trip data sheet that each student had to fill out is below.
Species
Organisms at Kiwanis Pond
Number Found
Author: Holly Eagleston, Yakima WATERS Project, CWU, 2009-2010
Drawing