Title of Lesson

Survival and What's eating you?

Grade

6th grade (life science)

Time

30 minutes

Standards/Core
Content

L.EC.06.32 Identify the factors in an ecosystem that influence changes in

population size
L.EC.06.21 Describe common patterns of relationships between and among
populations (competition, parasitism, symbiosis, predator/prey)
L.EC.06.23 Predict how changes in one population might affect other
populations based upon their relationships in the food web

Objectives

To teach the students that the ecosystem can and will influence the changes in
the population of certain organisms
To teach the students the relationship between predator and prey and what
effects it has on an organism and with that predict and show how changes in
one population could affect another population based upon their relationship
within the food web

Prerequisite
Knowledge:

Know what a habitat is

Recognize that all animals need certain things to survive
Understand how to plot points on a coordinate plane

Needed Materials

Four gym cones

A space of about 30 by 30 to play the game
Graph paper for the students after the game to track their findings
A white board or something to keep track of the game and the stats

Activity Setup

Activity should be performed in a relatively large rectangular area (marked off

by cones.) Size may vary depending on number of students. 30 by 30 is a
good area to start out with.

Procedure
1. Mark out an area that is about 30 by 30.
2. Ask students to gather into groups of five and have them count off from 1-5.
The number ones become the deer and line up on one side of the squared
off area and the rest of the students will line up on the opposite side of the
squared area and become habitat components necessary to survive (food,
water, and shelter)
3. Explain that the deer need to find food, water, and shelter in order to survive
in their environment. If they do not then they will die.
4. In this activity when the deer is looking for food, it should clamp its hands
over its stomach. When a deer is looking for water, it should put its hand over
its mouth. When a deer is looking for shelter, it holds its hands together over
its head.
5. A deer can choose to look for any one of its needs during each round of
the activity. Emphasize that the deer cannot change what it is looking for
during a round. It can only change what is looking for at the beginning of each
round.
6. The other students are the food, water, and shelter. Students get to choose
what they want to be at the beginning of the round. They show their choice in
the same way as the deer have. Emphasize to these students that they
cannot change what component they are during a round. They can only
change at the beginning of each round.

7. Have both sides turn their backs on each other to start the game.
8. The teacher should begin the first round by asking all students to make their
signshand over stomach, mouth, or head. Emphasize that students should
choose one of these symbols before turning around to face the other group.
9. When the students are ready tell them to GO!. At this time each deer and
each habitat component turns to face the opposite group continuing to hold
their sign clearly.
10. When the deer see the habitat component that matches what they
need, they are to run to it. Each deer must hold the sign of what it is looking
for until getting to the matching habitat component.
11. Once the deer find their correct component they should take it back to
their line, and the habitat component becomes a deer. Any deer who fails
to find its habitat component dies becomes a habitat component on the
other side and becomes available as food, water, or shelter to the deer who
are still alive.
12. Habitat components not taken by a deer continue to be habitat
components.
13. The activity should consist of 8-10 rounds. The teacher records the
number of deer at the beginning of the activity and at the end of each round
so that students can graph the results in the classroom.
14. After the 8-10 rounds the teacher will take one student who volunteers and
bring them to the one of the sides and directly in the middle of the two groups.
they will become a predator of the deer.
15. Continue playing the game as before for 8-10 rounds except every round
now the predator can run in and take ( by tagging) one prey (deer) as food
per round. This deer now becomes a predator. If a predator does not get a
deer before they all reach the other side they die and become a habitat
component
16. As these rounds are played the teacher will record the deer population as
well as the predator population so the students will be able to graph the results
in the classroom and should be able to show the relationship and pattern
between the predator and prey.
Activity Setup

Adaptations/
modifications/
Extensions

Assessment(s)

The students will be assessed by participating in the game and showing their
knowledge through the graphs they create.