Lesson 69 of 84 · Ecosystems
Experiment⭐ 30 XP🌿 Wild JungleHow Seeds Travel (Part 2)
Ecosystems.
🎯 Your mission
Predict it first. Then prove yourself right (or wrong).
⚡ The twist
Living things break the rules of non-living things — find the rule they break.
Mind = Blown
🌳 Trees can talk to each other through underground fungus networks.
Make a hypothesis first
Predict: what will happen to the plant if you change the water?
What You'll Learn
Succession is the gradual change of an ecosystem over time. Primary succession begins on bare rock, while secondary succession occurs after a disturbance like a fire.
Key Words
- adaptation
- fossil record
Materials Needed
- soil
- cups
- water
- plastic wrap
- ruler
- magnifying glass
Safety First
- Be careful with scissors — ask an adult for help if needed.
- Do not look directly at the sun or bright lights.
Steps
Read the introduction and identify the main idea of this lesson.
Set up a composting experiment: place food scraps in one sealed bag and leaves in another. Observe decomposition over two weeks and record changes.
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 3What is the function of chloroplasts in plant cells?
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 Ecosystems for 7th Grade
Get the full Ecosystems track as a printable PDF — all lessons, worksheets, and answer keys.