• In the first activity, students play a game to explore how competition and ecosystem changes affect the survival of animal populations.
  • In the second activity, students will explore how energy moves through a food chain using a card game. Through example ecosystems in the card game and the real life example of invasive feral hogs, students will learn how human actions and invasive species can disrupt the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

Additional activities are in development!

Hunger Games

Students play a game to explore how competition and ecosystem changes affect the survival of animal populations.

In this activity, students will:

  • analyze and interpret data to determine how changes to an ecosystem affect resource competition.
  • construct an argument to explain how changes to an ecosystem affect the survival of animal populations.
  • develop and propose solutions to minimize the impact of harmful changes on an ecosystem.

South Carolina Standards are below. NGSS Standards are included in the teacher version.

  • 7-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem. 
  • 7-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
Ecosystems Hunger Games Teacher Version
Ecosystems Hunger Games Student Version

Additional resources:

Balance of Life

In this activity, students will explore how energy moves through a food chain using a card game. Through example ecosystems in the card game and the real life example of invasive feral hogs, students will learn how human actions and invasive species can disrupt the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

In this activity, students will:

  • create a model to describe the flow of energy among living organisms in an ecosystem.
  • design a solution to monitor and reduce the impact of invasive species on an ecosystem.
  • construct a scientific argument based on evidence to evaluate the impacts of an invasive species and assess the effectiveness of strategies to minimize those impacts.

South Carolina Standards are below. NGSS Standards are included in the teacher version.

  • 7-ESS3-3 Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.
  • 7-LS2-4 Construct and argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations. 
  • 7-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
Ecosystems Balance of Life Teacher Version
Ecosystems Balance of Life Student Version

Additional resources: