Science Lesson Kit · Teacher Resource
Ecosystem Relationships: Competition, Predation & Mutualism — 5E Lesson Plan
Life Science · 55 minutes
Grade 6
5E lesson flow
01
Engage
7 min
Teacher Does
Project the three ecosystems side by side.
Students Do
Describe what they see, without guessing the relationship.
Ask
- What does each organism gain, lose or use?
Look For
Evidence before labels.
02
Explore
12 min
Teacher Does
Reveal the nest-cavity, sea-star and bee evidence cards.
Students Do
Sort examples and justify with a specific action.
Ask
- What makes the nest cavities a limited resource?
Look For
Competition, predation, mutualism accurately distinguished.
03
Explain
10 min
Teacher Does
Compare a woodland nest-cavity and a pond shelter case.
Students Do
Transfer the same mechanism to different species and habitats.
Ask
- How can different species show the same pattern?
Look For
Shared limited-resource mechanism.
04
Elaborate
13 min
Teacher Does
Introduce a new shelter-supply clue to test a prediction.
Students Do
Revise their claim and discuss model limitations.
Ask
- Could resource supply change the relationship?
Look For
Competition may become weaker.
05
Evaluate
13 min
Teacher Does
Provide new reef field notes, including a misleading simple photograph.
Students Do
Classify, explain and name needed evidence.
Ask
- What does the photo NOT tell us?
Look For
Mutual benefits require observation.
Student goal
I can explain and predict competition, predation and mutualism across different ecosystems using observations.
Learning objectives
- Identify competition, predation and mutualism from what each organism gains or loses, rather than from appearances alone.
- Construct an evidence-based prediction about a similar interaction in a different ecosystem.
- Recognize that interaction type can depend on context, available resources and observable evidence.
Materials
- Three ecosystem evidence cards
- Student interaction sorting cards
- Freshwater shelter scenario
- Independent coral reef worksheet
Before class
- Use balanced examples; avoid describing predators as villains.
- Keep the details about benefits or harm visible, not only an unlabeled image.
- Emphasize limited resources for competition.
- Keep the coral-reef case for the independent worksheet.
Prior knowledge
- Organisms depend on the environment for resources.
- An ecosystem has living and nonliving components.
- Claims need evidence.
Vocabulary
- ecosystem
- Living organisms and the nonliving surroundings with which they interact.
- interaction
- A way that organisms affect one another.
- competition
- An interaction in which organisms use the same limited resource, reducing access for at least one.
- predation
- An interaction in which a predator captures and consumes prey.
- mutualism
- An interaction between species in which both partners benefit.
- predator
- An organism that catches and eats prey.
- prey
- An organism caught and eaten by a predator.
- resource
- Something an organism needs, such as space, food, water or light.
- evidence
- Observations and measurements that can support or challenge a claim.
Differentiation
- Offer an evidence frame: 'I predict ___ because both organisms ___'.
- Use three distinct category cards and read the evidence aloud before sorting.
- Extension: consider two species that compete for food but also benefit one another in another circumstance.
Assessment
- Accurate interaction classification based on evidence.
- Predicts the same mechanism across ecosystems.
- Identifies a limitation of a photograph-only claim.
Exit ticket
Why is a photo of two organisms close together insufficient to prove mutualism?
Extension
Design a simple observational study to test whether two pond species compete when shelters become scarce.