Middle school science teachers?

Question 1: How many of you are certified in a science area? Just wondering. I am elementary ed, teaching 6th grade science but I am currently working on biology certification to give me more options.

Question 2: I will be beginning a new unit on populations and ecosystems. Any ideas are greatly appreciated. BTW: I would love to have students build ecosystems but I would have to do it on a small scale because I do not have my own classroom. I am a traveling science teacher.

TIA

Re: Middle school science teachers?

I am certified in biology 7-12 and general science 7-12. I could get the extension for 5-6, but I do not really want iit.

A few simple engaging things I do for ecosystems:

Topic: Intro to Ecology
Motivation: Video clip from finding Nemo "First Day of School"
I ask students to observe interactions between all the different animals, plants, and nonliving (abiotic) things. We then go over it as a class and then introduce the word ecosystems.

Topic: Niches (Role in the ecosystem)
Motivation: Video Clip from A Shark Tale- Opening Clip where "Katie Current" is reporting the news. Here I tell students to note different roles that different organisms play (ie cab driver, florist, garbage man, etc). We then talk about the different roles and introdicue the term niche and then go over the different niches animals possess (herbivore, carnivore, decomposer, etc)

Topic: Food Webs
Activity: Creating a classroom food web
Each student receives a magnet with a different organism on it (you could use pictures of the organism as well). I then have the students write what their organisms "niche" is in the ecosystem before we get started. Then as a class we make a food web. First, I (or a student) places the Sun on the board. Then the students who are producers place their organisms on the board and draw lines to show how the energy moves through the web and so on.

Topic: Energy Pyramids (Loss of Energy)
Activity: Every student who sits in the front row receives an entire Hershey bar. They are then instructed to break the bar in half and to pass one half back and to keep the other half. The second person is instructed to do the same, the third person is instructed to do the same.
So in the end you should have a break down like this:
Row 1: 4 Hershey squares
Row 2: 2 Hershey squares
Row 3: 1 Hershey Square
Row 4: 1/2 Hershey Square
(I usually buy some hershey kisses to give to the students in the back so they are not "jipped")
We then relate this to energy in the pyramid and how it is lost at each level. We then talk about why it is lost.

Re: Middle school science teachers?

Wow, thank you so much for the ideas!

I can't wait to use it.