8th Grade Science

 

8th Grade had a great time exploring Woodland Ecology at Wave Hill! After discussing biotic and abiotic factors, the students created a food web of the producers, consumers, and decomposers found in Wave Hill's woods. While constructing the food web, students quickly understood how interdependent living things are in an ecosystem. Our instructor also explained how the earthworm is an invasive species and showed what effect it had on the food web. 

 

Students then acted as citizen scientists, measuring and observing sample areas in the woods to compare the amount of "leaf litter" on top of the soil to the amount of earthworms found beneath. Our city students got their hands dirty, digging through the soil, finding not only the invasive earthworms, but also native decomposers, like pill bugs, millipedes, ants, mushrooms, and more. After collecting their data, the 8th Grade came together to share and discuss their findings.