Ecosystem

This activity asks students to use their coding skills to develop a model of a system. Students might model ecosystems or interactions between the geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and/or atmosphere. This activity assumes students already have knowledge about predator-prey relationships and the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers in ecosystems. Students will read and write code that includes sprites, “say” blocks, “when clicked” events, and “change size” blocks. The primary learning goal is to develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment and to create programs that include sequences, events, loops, and conditionals. In this activity, teachers first prompt students to make predictions about what the code in the starter program will do, then students will write down their predictions on the printout or in journals. After the discussion, students will work independently and run/modify the program. Teacher will hold class discussion during the activity.

Discipline: Science

Language: AppLab

Programming Concept:

Grades: 3rd-5th

Cultural Features:

External link: Meadow Ecosystem