Third Grade Cocos Island Ecosystem

Environment, ecosystem, population, community, habitat; important concepts that can be confusing to understand and use properly.  Third graders attentively engaged in an assortment of video, interactive and hands-on activities to help us wield these large concepts through a discussion of the interaction of various living organisms in the marine environment off the coast of Cocos Island, CR.
Enjoy our classroom activities at home: 

Cocos Island video (2.5 min.) from Teacher Domain:

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/tdc02_vid_cocos/

This is a nice interactive from Sheppard Software (check out the whole site!)

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/lsps07_int_ecosystem/

Here's a photo of us constructing the topography and interactive populations (let's call it 'ecosystem') of the marine life off the coast of Cocos Island. 

 

Our work draws us very close to the life a world away from our classroom.