I then began my lesson about food webs and interactions between species in an ecosystem. For the first and second graders, I went over the concept of a food chain and what different animals eat. The students then role-played different species in a food chain. For the older students, I discussed how energy is transferred through animals consuming plants and other animals. I also emphasized the interconnectivity between different components of an ecosystem. If one part of an ecosystem faces a disturbance, the other parts will be affected. The students applied this knowledge by arranging plants and animals on cards into a food web based on what the plants and animals eat or are eaten by. The 1-2 and 3-4 graders completed a food chain craft. Their goal was to make a food chain. They each received strips of paper. On each paper they had to write and draw a plant or animal. Each strip of paper contained a plant and animal in a food chain. They then tapped the strips of paper into circles and connected them to create a food chain. The 3-4 and 5-6 graders played the food web string game. Each student received a card that contained a plant, animal, or the sun. Every food chain started with the sun. The student who was the sun held onto the end of a string and passed the ball of string to a student that was an organism that uses sunlight to grow, such as a plant. That student would grab hold of the string and then pass it to another student whose card contained an animal that ate it, and so on, until they reached the end of the food chain. The string created a food web, consisting of multiple food chains, which provided students with a visual representation of interactions in an ecosystem. For the 5-6 graders, the string also represented the transfer of energy through an ecosystem. I then simulated different disturbances. For example, if there were a disturbance that eliminated an entire species, the student who was that species would tug on the string, and many other students would feel it. This allowed students to see how different components of an ecosystem are connected.
I really enjoyed seeing many of the students that I worked with last year again. My favorite part of my lesson was playing the food web string game with the students because they were able to see how complex food webs are. They were also able to feel how different components of an ecosystem are interconnected when the string was tugged. Their surprised reactions to this part of the activity stimulated thinking and conversation about what would happen to an environment if a stressor affected even one species. My hope is that they will be able to continue drawing these types of connections in the future. Teaching the students also allowed me to learn about my strengths in teaching and areas that can be improved, such as explaining definitions in multiple ways, which I will continue to build on in the future.
Both the school and the community in La Push welcomed us warmly and were very open to sharing their culture and traditions with us, which provided us with many opportunities to learn. We visited the cultural center, where we learned about the history of the Quileute tribe and saw paintings and artifacts that belong to the tribe. There were beautiful carvings of whales and thunderbirds on the walls on the tribal council room. We also went to the drum circle Wednesday evening, where members of the community shared news with the group, danced, and made music together. We participated in several dances. For the elk dance, the females were the elk and the males were the hunters. When a hunter “caught” an elk, they carried the elk out of the circle. Just like last year, I was “hunted” and carried out of the circle. My perception of what a community is was expanded after learning about and observing the tribe’s close-knit community at the drum circle. Participating in the drum circle was a fun and enriching experience that I will cherish.
-Emily Chan