Standard 2, Objective 2

Utah Core, 3rd Grade Science

Standard 2, Objective 2 
Describe the interactions between living and nonliving things in a small environment.

1. Identify living and nonliving things in a small environment (e.g., terrarium, aquarium, flowerbed) composed of living and nonliving things. 
2. Predict the effects of changes in the environment (e.g., temperature, light, moisture) on a living organism. 
3. Observe and record the effect of changes (e.g., temperature, amount of water, light) upon the living organisms and nonliving things in a small-scale environment. 
4. Compare a small-scale environment to a larger environment (e.g., aquarium to a pond, terrarium to a forest). 
5. Pose a question about the interaction between living and nonliving things in the environment that could be investigated by observation. 

Demonstration:

Show the following video about how living and nonliving things depend on each other. Discuss the different organisms in the movie (grass, antelope, lion, vulture, lizard, ant, snake) and discuss the relationship and dependency between them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH3UwX3bPaM

Activity:

Lead students in a walking field trip to the nearby stream. Instruct students to look for living organisms and hints of how they might depend on each other.

Essential Questions:

1. What evidence did you see that organisms in the stream depend on each other?

2. What are some other organisms that you depend on to live?