Trophic Interaction Game
Author: Melissa Mara
Time Frame: One class period
Grade level: 7-12
Goals: The student will be able to identify the interactions and the effects of those interactions between
various organisms in an ecosystem. They will also be able to explain the effect of the environment on
various organisms in the ecosystem.
Learning objectives:
S4 C3 PO 1. Identify the relationships among organisms within populations, communities, ecosystems,
and biomes
S4 C3 *PO 2. Describe how organisms are influenced by a particular combination of biotic
(living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors in an environment.
Prior teacher preparation:
The students need to be familiar with the vocabulary words below. The should understand the different
trophic levels of an ecosystem.
Materials/ resources:
Ecosystem cards
Interaction cards
Coins
Large open area
Introduction:
This activity is an introduction for students to modeling of an ecosystem. By experiencing the
interactions they see that an ecosystem is more complex than simply who eats what. Each part of the
ecosystem is affected or affects some other component of the ecosystem. For students to see this they
need to go beyond the food pyramids and food webs.
Exploration:
Parts of the Ecosystem
Detritivore-fungi, bacteria
Herbivore- mammals, arthropods, birds, reptiles
Omnivores-arthropods, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles
Temperature
Rain
Wind
Carnivore- mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles
Soil
Producers-plants
1. Each student gets a card with one of the above features of an ecosystem.
2. Each of the cards (on the back) gives a detailed description of temperature tolerances, what it eats,
what eats it, optimal seasons (for growth, reproduction etc.) and where it lives.
3. The students will get an interaction card. They will write down which feature they interacted with
and the result of the interaction. For example: a hare – lynx interaction the hare and lynx would
flip a coin heads the hare escapes and tails the hare is eaten.
4. How the game is played
a. The following cards are stationary: soil, temperature, detritivores, or plants
b. The following cards are not stationary: animals, wind and rain.
c. The students are told to move about (if they can see above) randomly and not to tell others
what their card is.
d. When the teacher says go they have 10sec. to approach another student.
e. Following the instructions on the back of the card the student writes down the result of the
interaction. Use a coin to decide the outcome of the interactions.
i. Predator – prey: heads prey lives, tails prey dies.
ii. Temperature: heads the temperature increases above the norm, tails the temperature
decreases below the norm.
iii. Rain: heads no rain, tails rain
iv. Wind: heads no wind, tails heavy wind.
f. The game is played for 10 cycles.
Application: The student will be able to apply the concepts learned in this lesson to making models of
ecosystems and models of investigations they will conduct.
Assessment:
The explanations of the interactions they completed will serve as an assessment.