As biology teachers, we often spend a lot of time talking about producers and consumers during ecology. They are easy to see and understand! We often overlook decomposers even though they play a crucial role within ecosystems.
If you are looking for an activity to supplement your ecology curriculum, I encourage you to check out this FREE decomposition webquest from Research Quest. Research Quest was created by the Natural History Museum of Utah, and has a series of free online investigations for science teachers and students. You simply give students a login URL and access code and they can work at their own pace. I would estimate that this webquest would take students 2 class periods to complete.
Students begin by meeting Dr. Bryn Dentinger, a biology professor and curator of mycology at the Natural History Museum of Utah. There are 4 short introductory videos for students to watch about fungi, matter cycling, and what they will complete during the upcoming investigation.
The investigation on decomposers is broken into 3 parts:
- Ready, set rotten! How long does decomposition take? In this part of the investigation, students get to play a game where they guess how long it takes an object to decompose in a xeric (dry) vs mesic (moist) environment. By the end of this portion of the investigation, students should have learned that decomposition occurs much faster in mesic habitats.
2. Hidden soil heroes: Why is matter cycling faster in some ecosystems than others? Students have learned matter cycles quicker in moist environments, but now the question is why? In part 2, students learn about fungal species abundance and richness. They will have the opportunity to sort through fungal remains and categorize them based on their cell shape. By the end of this portion of the investigation, students will learn why mesic environments have much higher species abundance and richness.
3. Human help or harm? How do human activities affect decomposition and matter cycling?
In the third section of the investigation, students examine the impact of humans on fungi and matter cycling within soil. They look at soil color and learn how color is used to indicate fungal abundance and richness. Lastly, students choose human activities from a checklist that could reduce the amount of fungi living in the soil.
I think students will not only learn a lot from this online investigation, but it will also hold their interest. All of the investigations from Research Quest are very well done, and I encourage you to check them all out!
Rock on,
