This activity is intended to guide you in searching the school­yard for good teaching resources. By resources we mean habitats, environments, organisms, communities, or other features of the schoolyard landscape that can be used to teach ecology. If you have questions or comments, please post them in our Resource Forum. In searching for useful teaching resources, remember:

• There must be adequate room for an entire class broken into small groups to work.
• There must be enough of the resource so that it can be sustained indefinitely with the kind of use you envision.

The list is drawn from many ecology curriculum and activity guides. Earlier versions were tested by ecologists and teachers in the Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary School Teachers (SYEFEST) project over the past 3 years.

What to do: See how many items you can check off. Make sure you explain or describe what you find next to each item.

A. Neat Natural Patterns

___ 1. A plant species that grows in clumps rather than spread out.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 2. A plant species that grows along an environmental gradient (e.g., a slope).

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 3. Signs of an animal that might be territorial.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 4. Signs of an animal species with an interesting distribution.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 5. Two plants with different branching patterns.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 6. A spot that will change a lot with the seasons.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 7. An organism with easy-to-study life cycles.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 8. One other natural pattern that's neat. Describe:

               ____________________________________________________________________

               ____________________________________________________________________

B. Dazzlingly Different Places

___ 1. Two (or more) areas where the same plant species are growing.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 2. Two areas where plant diversity might be different.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 3. Two areas were soil organisms might be different.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 4. Two areas where insect diversity might be different.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 5. Two areas where baits might disappear at different rates.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 6. A tree or shrub species some growing alone and others in clumps.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 7. Slopes or sides of the building with northern versus southern exposure.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 8. One other dazzlingly different pair of places. Describe:

               ____________________________________________________________________

C. Scintillating Sampling Subjects.

___ 1. A promising spot for insect sweeping.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 2. An area to sample using pitfall traps (for sampling soil surface beetles, etc.).

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 3. A source of litter for decomposers.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 4. A place for a bird feeder.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 5. A live tree to core to look at tree rings.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 6. A dead tree to cut to look at tree rings.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 7. A tree or shrub with clear end-bud scars on the twigs for studying growth.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 8. A tree or shrub with branches within reach to shake over a sheet to collect insects.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 9. A damp area for finding animal tracks.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 10. A good spot to study the effects of mowing.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 11. A spot for placing out boards or carpet strips on the ground.

               ____________________________________________________________________

D. Charismatic Creatures for Schoolyard Ecology Studies.

___ 1. Ants

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 2. Grasshoppers

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 3. Leafhoppers

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 4. Gnats

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 5. Spiders

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 6. Plants with burred seeds

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 7. Plants with sun & shade leaves

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 8. Plants on walls

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 9. Lichens

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 10. Milkweeds

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 11. Spittle bugs

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 12. Dandelions

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 13. Robins

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 14. Worms

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 15. Oaks and acorns

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 16. Bees

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 17. Goldenrod

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 18. Galls

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 19. Nests

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 20. One other charismatic creature:

               ____________________________________________________________________

Environmental Issues Teaching Resources.

___ 1. A sign of air pollution.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 2. The parts of the schoolyard with the lowest and highest biodiversity.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 3. The densest population of an easy-to-study species.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 4. A place to study recycling in nature.

               ____________________________________________________________________

___ 5. Exotic plant species (e.g., Ailanthus, honeysuckle, barberry, purple loosestrife, dandelion, etc.).

               ____________________________________________________________________