In this fun ecological succession activity, students draw the stages of primary and secondary succession to create a flip book. Flipping through the pages allows them to watch ecological succession happen before their eyes! Students will use important terms such as pioneer species and climax community, as well as become familiar with several of the plants involved at each stage.
There are only 10 pages in the flip book, so it doesn’t make a big book, but kids enjoy seeing the predictable progression of ecosystems flash through the pages!
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In this activity, students will:
- DRAW: Follow clear, step-by-step instructions to draw the stages of primary succession and secondary succession. Students will create 10 small drawings. Instructions for adding labels are included as well.
- CREATE THE FLIP BOOK: Cut out and assemble the drawings into a flip-book-type craft by putting them in order and stapling the edges. Flipping through the pages shows the predictable changes in ecosystems!
- DISCUSS: When the project is complete, the teacher leads the whole class through a discussion using 10 provided discussion questions (answers provided).
Included in this resource:
- Helpful teacher notes
- Step-by-step instructions for students to follow to create the flip book
- Reference pictures for students to look at, including pictures of lichens, mosses, ferns, grasses, shrubs, and trees. Not all students know what these look like!
- Comprehensive discussion guide to conclude the activity
Also includes a simpler worksheet version for students who are unable to participate in the creation of the flip book craft!
Teacher Notes:
- IMPORTANT: Please understand that this project doesn’t make a perfect flip book like you might buy in a store, but it’s FUN and the kids get the idea of ecological succession. It works better on thicker cardstock or index cards, but in my classes, I use regular copy paper and find the kids still have a lot of fun with it.
- IMPORTANT: This document does NOT include boxes to color or cut. THE STUDENTS WILL MAKE THEIR OWN PAGES FOR THE BOOK. You can use index cards to eliminate this step, but if you use regular copy paper, the students will be cutting and creating their own pages for the book.
- This ecological succession activity is NOT editable.
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Related Standards:
- NGSSMS-LS2-2: Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems. Emphasis is on predicting consistent patterns of interactions in different ecosystems in terms of the relationships among and between organisms and abiotic components of ecosystems.
- NGSSMS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
