✅ Jump in any time!  Each week stands alone, you don't need to do it in any particular order.  

Why this is important:
* Humans actually live in ecosystems, even if we're inside and don't think we're part of it...we rely on a health ecosystem to stay healthy ourselves
* From microbes to apex predators, we're looking at how it all works together.
* Adaptation is the name of the game in nature. We'll explore how similar species adapt to different ecosystems. This allows for resource partitioning (dividing up who gets what) and survival in extreme environments.
* We'll see how energy, water, carbon, or other cycles flow through systems. 
* Everyone needs to understand how the specific climate impacts how the system works.

People get their degrees in these topics, so if you like biology and science, I think you'll love this class!

I am *so excited* about this beautiful coloring book and using it as a diving board into the world of science!  The book is The Wondrous Workings of Science and Nature Coloring Book: 40 Line Drawings to Color by Rachel Ignotofsky (you may know her as the author of  Women in Science).  

✨✨ This is no ordinary science coloring book!  It was created by a well known illustrator and is beautiful, complex, and thorough. ✨✨

What I love most about the book besides the illustrations themselves is the wide range of topics that are taught visually.  All of science is connected so learning science this way is a great way to explore. 

We will be focusing on the illustrations depicting an entire ecosystem. It goes far beyond what most people think about when studying ecosystems with learners this age. Each illustration depicts producers, decomposers, scavengers, consumers, omnivores, and apex predators. This allows us to explore everything from archaebacteria, zooplankton, lichen, and dung beetles to tapirs, sloths, narwhals, and flamingos to jaguars, polar bears, sharks, and alligators.

The overarching theme of the class will be how ecosystems work, how energy moves through ecosystems, and the various cycles (water cycle, carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle.)

Each page we color acts as a summary of the entire lesson.

As with all my classes, each session:
-Starts with a light, topic-related warm-up question 
-I teach using drawings, images, models, demonstrations, Socratic questioning, or other methods as appropriate
-We will color the page while discussing what we are learning, interspersed with more teaching.
-One to two short (2-4 minute) videos will show more about the topic in real life (note: I will never show carnivorous or scavenger activity--my goal is to inspire students, not distress them)
-For students who are interested, I'll provide video link(s) in the classroom for further exploration after class but this is optional.

You will need the coloring book. Here is the link to purchase it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/059323314X/

I look forward to seeing you in class!

Schedule 2024
Week of April 15: Rainforest Ecosystem
Week of April 22: Ecosystem of the Andes
Week of April 29: Ecosystem of the Arctic Circle
Week of May 5: Ecosystem of the Atacama Desert
Week of May 12: Ecosystem of the Congo Rainforest 
Week of May 19: Ecosystem of the Deep Ocean
Week of May 26: Ecosystem of a Rotting Log
Week of June 2: A Desert Ecosystem
Week of June 9: Ecosystem of the Great Plains
Week of June 16: Ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef
Week of June 23: The Layers of the Earth
Week of June 30: Ecosystem of the Mangrove Swamp
Week of July 7: Ecosystem of the Moorlands of the British Isles
Week of July 14: Ecosystem of the Open Ocean
Week of July 21: Ecosystem of the Sahara Desert
Week of July 28: Ecosystem of a Pond
Week of August 4: Ecosystem of the Redwood Forest 
Week of August 11: Ecosystem of Rivers
Week of August 18: Ecosystem of the Siberian Taiga
Week of August 25: Soil Ecosystem
Week of September 1: Plants
Week of September 8: Ecosystem of the Tasmanian Rainforest 
Week of September 15: Microscopic Ecosystems of a Water Drop
Week of September 22: The Big World
Week of September 29: Protecting Our Planet 

The class will continue through the Fall of 2024, I'll update the topics as we get closer!