Links to the Sun

(adapted from Bretzfelder Park Naturalist Program for BES)

 

Objective: Students will understand that the energy in practically everything in an ecosystem comes originally from the sun.  “Everything is connected.”

 

Time:  Approx. 15 minutes

 

Materials:       Index cards

                        Markers

                        Poster board

                        Large drawing of sun

 

Procedure:

  1. Ask students to choose an object that they can see, hear, smell, or feel from where they are.  (This may work best in an outdoor setting.) 
  2. Have them write the name of the object on an index card and arrange in a semi-circle on the ground around the sun.
  3. Challenge each person to link their object to the sun.
  4. If the objects are living, ask them where the organism gets its energy to survive until you have followed the food chain back to a green plant and the sun.
  5. If the objects are non-living, help the student trace some aspect back to the sun.  Most man-made objects are made or transported with fossil fuels which derived their energy from ancient plants and the sun.  Many natural non-living objects are formed or transported by some part of the hydrologic cycle which is driven by the sun’s energy. (CHALLENGE: Find an object that is not linked to the sun.)
  6. Create index cards for each step in the link and place them on the floor to connect to the sun.
  7. When all have been linked, recreate your schematic on a poster board or bulletin board.  Cards may be colored and decorated for display.

 

 

 

Grain, sugar cane