Youth Education Program

of San Francisco Botanical Garden Society

Web of Life

Walk Outline

The lives of all plants and animals are interwoven in a delicate web of life. All living things depend on each other and their environment for the food and materials they need to survive. The Web of Life walk introduces children to this complex balance of life by focusing on ecology the study of interrelationships between living things and their environment. The word ecology comes from the Greek work oikos meaning home or household. As children explore the gardens they will be able to visit many different kinds of homes or habitats a grassy lawn, pond, a meadow, perhaps a redwood forest or even a desertlike succulent garden. Use all your senses to observe and describe the differences and similarities in habitats. On your walk you may see squirrels, pill bugs, butterflies, dragonflies, birds, turtles, fish, ducks, and more. Incorporate them into your walk and explore their roles in the web of life. Observe how the members of these ecosystems interact with and depend on each other. For example, animals need plants for shelter, building materials and food. In return, plants rely on animals for pollination, seed dispersal and decomposition. By studying ecology we can begin to understand the amazing balance of life on our planet, and to understand how all living things are affected by changes in the environment. Concepts: 1. Plants and animals living together in their habitats create a complex web of life. 2. Because they are able to make their own food using the energy of the sun, plants are the base of all food chains and food webs. 3. In every natural habitat, living things depend on each other in many different ways for survival. 4. People are part of the web of life and can affect the natural world in positive and negative ways. Some suggested materials: A folder, tape, pen for collecting samples; post-its or sticky labels for making food chains; a piece of white paper to observe decomposers; jar to collect pond water; magnifying glasses or bug boxes, scoop net.

Web of Life Walk Outline

Suggested Stops and Concepts pick 2-4 depending on grade level, your and their interest, concepts they are working on that you can reinforce, even weather! Also, though only one or two of the key concepts are highlighted at each stop in this outline, remember that all four concepts can be woven in at any point.

Main Lawn
WHO LIVES HERE? Look around you, what do you see? Do you think there are any animals here? Why do you think so? Could any of the things you see survive all alone on this planet? All of the life you see around you works together to survive and grow. What are the things we need for survival? What do other living things need? (air, water, food, shelter, space) HABITAT/COMMUNITY Ecology comes from a Greek word meaning home. What things do you have in your home to help you live and to make you comfortable? The home of a plant or animal is its habitat. A habitat is where a living thing finds all of the things it needs to live. What is a community? You live in a community that helps you get all of the things you need to live. In your community, different people have different jobs. All living things have their own communities, and every living thing has a job in the community. We call these communities ecosystems. PHOTOSYNTHESIS Take a look around - what color do you see all around you? The green plants around us make the world a place we can live. Take a deep breath. One of the things we need to live is air. Plants make oxygen, which is part of the air we animals need to live. Why do plants make oxygen? They dont make it because we need it oxygen is just a leftover when they make their own food! The green part of the plant, the chlorophyll, uses energy from the sun to turn water, air and nutrients into food for the plant. If plants didnt make food for themselves (through photosynthesis) we wouldnt have good air to breathe or food to eat Activities: Be a plant; Share your air

Small Pond
WHO LIVES HERE? Water is the most important thing about this habitat. What do you think might be living here? In the water? Above the water? Look carefully! FOOD CHAIN A plant uses some of its energy to grow, but it also stores some of this energy in its roots, leaves, stems, and fruit. We get part of this energy when we eat plants. No matter what you eat, you become part of a food chain that goes back to the energy that comes from the sun. What did you eat for breakfast? Can you follow that
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Web of Life Walk Outline

food chain back to the sun? Lets see if we can find some food chains in this pond. What are some of the living things in this habitat? Activity: Make a food chain; collect/observe pond water and algae

Meso-American Cloud Forest

WHO LIVES HERE? The trees are what make this habitat a forest, but there are many other living things here. What kinds of animals need trees? HABITAT How is this area different from the last area you visited? Use all of your senses to explore this area. Temperature, wind, light, moisture, types of plants. PLANT/ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPS POLLINATION Notice the many red tubular flowers. Many plants need help from animals to move their pollen from one flower to another, so that they can make new seeds. These flowers are well-adapted to attract hummingbirds, who visit the flowers to get nectar and end up with pollen stuck to their foreheads! PLANT/ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPS DECOMPOSITION What happens to a tree when it dies? It slowly rots away with the help of special animals, plants, and fungi called decomposers. The bigger decomposers, like pill bugs, worms and snails, break down larger pieces of dead plants and animals too. Then smaller decomposers including fungi and bacteria break things down even further. As things decompose, nutrients and other materials are released back into the air, soil and water. All living things decompose after they die, and their bodies are broken back down. Activity: Explore the duff; search for ghost leaves; update food chains with decomposers

California Native Meadow

scheduled for the same day)

(please avoid this area if a Native People, Native Plant walk is

WHO LIVES HERE? Here is a different kind of habitat, but the plants and animals need each other here too! Can you make a food chain for this habitat? Plants and animals need each other in many ways, not just for food. Can you think of some ways animals need plants? How about ways plants need animals? HABITAT How is this area different from the last area you visited? Use all of your senses to explore this area. Temperature, wind, light, moisture, types of plants. Activity: I am a camera; explore weather, time of year and the native area

Web of Life Walk Outline

PLANT/ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPS - SEED DISPERSAL Look for different kinds of seeds and fruits. In order to grow well, seeds have to get somewhere where they have enough space, water, and sun to grow. Many times animals help the seeds travel. How? Activity: Draw new relationships between food chain elements.

Redwood Forest
WHO LIVES HERE? How is this habitat different from the last one we visited? How would you describe this place? It is named after the largest living thing in the habitat, the redwood. Can you think of a food chain for this habitat? Think about the food chains weve made what happens when the last link in the food chain dies? PLANT/ANIMAL RELATIONSHIPS DECOMPOSITION Redwoods are the largest living things on the earth, and they are also among the oldest. But even redwoods die someday. What happens to a redwood it dies? It slowly rots away with the help of special animals, plants, and fungi called decomposers. The bigger decomposers, like pill bugs, worms and snails, break down larger pieces of dead plants and animals too. Then smaller decomposers including fungi and bacteria break things down even further. As things decompose, nutrients and other materials are released back into the air, soil and water. All living things decompose after they die, and their bodies are broken back down. Activity: Roll a log; Explore the duff; Update food chains with decomposers; Sense poem; alternative site for decomposers is the Cloud Forest. HUMANS IN THE WEB Animals like birds and squirrels arent the only ones who use the redwoods as a home. People have used the wood and bark of the redwoods to make their homes for many years. In fact, people have cut down so many redwoods to use for building that most redwood forest communities have been damaged or destroyed. What are some things that people can do to help protect the redwoods and the plants and animals that live with them? How do you think people can get the wood they need for their homes without destroying the redwood forests? Do you think redwood forests are important to people for other reasons besides cutting wood?

Duck Pond
WHO LIVES HERE? This pond was created by people, not by nature. But by now, many different animals live in or visit this pond. What can you see living around the pond? HUMANS IN THE WEB Since we share the world with all other living things, we have to understand how our actions affect the environment. Do you think people can live without being a part of the web of life? What are some things that people do that change the
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Web of Life Walk Outline

way other animals and plants live? What are some things that make it harder for plants and animals to live? What can we do that helps plants and animals live? Activity: Look for signs of human impact in and around this pond (people feeding birds, litter, gardening or construction around the pond)

Succulents
WHO LIVES HERE? The succulent garden is home to some unusual plants. What do you notice about the plants here? They store water in their leaves and stems, which makes them look plump. They usually grow in dry places where there isnt much water. Animals would like to get to their water, so some of these plants have to protect themselves. Some animals make their homes and get food from these plants look for hummingbirds sipping from the aloe and bird nest holes in the agave stalks.

Remember! If the group is really involved in one location or activity, thats great! Decide which concepts and ideas you are most comfortable with and focus on them long enough to convey your enthusiasm and excitement. Reinforce concepts after introducing them and remember that everything children observe in the garden can be connected.