Virginia SOL 3.5.b

Science3rd GradeLiving Systems and Processes

The Standard

relationships exist among organisms in an ecosystem.

Virginia Standards of Learning for Science

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students identify how plants, animals, and other organisms depend on one another. They describe connections involving food, shelter, pollination, competition, and protection.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students can use an ecosystem picture to name two organisms and explain their connection. They can also predict how one organism might be affected if another disappeared.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think organisms only interact when one eats another. They may also believe removing one species has no effect on the rest of the ecosystem.
How to Assess It: Show a pond scene and ask: “Choose two organisms, explain their connection, and predict what happens if one disappears.”

Lesson moves

Give groups organism cards and yarn, then have them build a pond food web and explain each connection.
Ask students to write: “How might fewer bees affect flowers and the animals that eat seeds?”
Play a matching game where students pair organisms, such as owl and mouse, then name the relationship.
Observe a schoolyard tree and list the insects, birds, and plants that use or affect it.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 3.5.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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