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Lesson 2 of 84 ยท Ecosystems

Lessonโญ 30 XP๐ŸŒฟ Wild Jungle

What Makes Something Alive?

๐ŸงชLab Brief #2

Ecosystems.

๐ŸŽฏ Your mission

Understand the idea. Then look for it everywhere.

โšก The twist

Every species solves the same problem differently.

๐Ÿคฏ

Mind = Blown

๐Ÿ™ An octopus has 9 brains and 3 hearts.

๐Ÿ”ฎ

Make a hypothesis first

Before you watch: what do you think it'll do?

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

  • cell
  • nucleus

Steps

Step 1 โ€” Read

Look at the vocabulary words and write a definition for each in your own words.

Step 2 โ€” Do

Create a detailed food web for a local ecosystem. Include at least 8 organisms and use arrows to show energy flow from producers to top predators.

Step 3 โ€” Observe

Watch carefully for any changes and note the time.

Step 4 โ€” Record

Create a data table to organize your measurements.

Check Your Understanding

Question 1

1 of 3

What do plants need to make food through photosynthesis?

๐ŸŒ

Where you see this in real life

Your own body is doing this thousands of times every second.

๐Ÿ†

Stretch Challenge

Try this in real life this week.

Find one thing about your body that's different from a friend's. Wonder why.

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

For the dinner table

โ€œTell me something you noticed about your own body today.โ€

๐ŸŽฏ

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

๐ŸŒก๏ธShare card

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Send it to a parent who's looking for a 10-minute kitchen science win.

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Checkout complete lesson on Ecosystems for 7th Grade

Get the full Ecosystems track as a printable PDF โ€” all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.

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