Students also design an animal with characteristics that help it to survive in a specific ecosystem. Students conduct some investigations about plants. They design plants and their seeds and include characteristics that help these plants survive in a specific ecosystem. Ecosystems change because of natural causes and human alterations. Students categorize pictures from magazines according to natural changes and human-caused changes and design a group collage.
Students observe areas on or near their school grounds to locate evidence of change.
Once There Was a Tree , by Natalia Romanova, and The Mountain That Loved a Bird , by Alice McLerran, and then the class identifies the changes described. They create a work of art of the actions people can take to help endangered species. They simulate an oil spill and observe the results. Students read a play to determine ways people have influenced the Monterey Bay and the surrounding water. They write a conversation between Rachel and themselves, giving her advice about her career.