Lesson 48 of 84 · Life Cycles
Lesson⭐ 30 XP🌿 Wild JungleDecomposers: Nature's Recyclers (Part 2)
Life Cycles.
🎯 Your mission
Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.
⚡ The twist
Every species solves the same problem differently.
Mind = Blown
🐙 An octopus has 9 brains and 3 hearts.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you watch: what do you think it'll do?
What You'll Learn
Decomposers like fungi and bacteria break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil. Without decomposers, dead material would pile up and nutrients would be locked away.
Key Words
- consumer
- decomposer
Steps
Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.
Collect and classify 10 organisms from your yard into kingdoms, phyla, or groups. Use a dichotomous key if available.
Note any unexpected results and think about why they happened.
Share your findings with the class or a partner and discuss what you learned.
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3Which stage comes after a caterpillar in metamorphosis?
Where you see this in real life
Your own body is doing this thousands of times every second.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Find one thing about your body that's different from a friend's. Wonder why.
For the dinner table
“Tell me something you noticed about your own body today.”
Next Smart Experiment
We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.
Share this experiment
Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.
Checkout complete lesson on Life Cycles for 3rd Grade
Get the full Life Cycles track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.