Lesson 40 of 84 · Structure and Function
Simulation⭐ 30 XPSuccession: How Ecosystems Change
Structure and Function.
🎯 Your mission
Push the limits. See what changes.
⚡ The twist
Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.
Mind = Blown
🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.
Make a hypothesis first
Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.
What You'll Learn
All living things share basic characteristics: they grow, reproduce, respond to their environment, and need energy to survive. Plants make their own food through photosynthesis, while animals must eat other organisms.
Key Words
- prey
- ecosystem
- producer
Steps
Study the diagram and label the parts you recognize.
Model natural selection: scatter colored paper scraps on grass. Time how long it takes a partner to pick up each color. Which color survived longest? Why?
Draw a detailed diagram of what you observe.
Write a conclusion: what did your results show? Did they match your prediction?
Check Your Understanding
Question 1
1 of 3What is a habitat?
Where you see this in real life
This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.
Stretch Challenge
Try this in real life this week.
Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.
For the dinner table
“What's the most surprising thing you learned 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 Structure and Function for 4th Grade
Get the full Structure and Function track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.