Materials Included In Kit

Additional Materials Required

Prelab Preparation

Punch out all of the circular game cards prior to use. Keep the circular cards separated by color after they are punched out.

Safety Precautions

This activity is considered safe. Follow all normal laboratory safety guidelines.

Disposal

All materials in this activity can be reused many times.

Teacher Tips

• Five sets of color-coded cards are included in this kit. Organize your class teams to optimize the use of these card sets.

• Cards may be laminated to extend their useful life.
• The Relationships Games and subsequent discussions will likely require 2 to 3 class periods to complete.
• Familiarize yourself with the games, especially with the definitions of the relationships given under the rules of each game. Students may ask you to help settle disagreements when relationships are challenged. Relationships must be direct. For example, green plants depend directly upon the Sun for energy. Animals consume plants and other animals for direct sources of energy. Although animals cannot survive without the Sun, the relationship is indirect, that is, via the plants.

Further Extensions

1. Have students think about their environment and the relationships among different things in their environment. Have students make a diagram like the one formed during the game to show these relationships. Here is one example.

2. Have students design their own game to play using the circular and rectangular cards. Have students write out the rules so that other students can play their game. After students play another group’s version, have them tell the “inventors” how the game went. Have students discuss changes that they think would improve the new version of the game.

Answers to Questions

Relationships Rummy

1. Do you think all living things have a relationship with something else? Why?

Most students will respond that all living things are in some way related.

2. When playing Relationships Rummy, did you find that the Humans card seemed to end up with many arrows around it? Were the arrows pointing in or out? Do humans receive more than they give? What could this mean?

Humans card will most likely have many arrows pointing away from it. This shows how big an impact humans have on the environment.

Relationships Concentration

3. Can you think of a living thing that does not have a relationship with anything else? What?

Answers will vary. Students will have a hard time coming up with a living thing that is not related to another living thing.

4. Why is the Sun considered the source of all environmental relationships? Explain.

The Sun is the main source of energy and is the ultimate driving force behind all environmental relationships.

Introduction

Ecologists, who study relationships in ecosystems and the environment, always contend that “You cannot affect just one thing!” All things in the environment are interconnected and one change always leads to more than one other change. In this activity, the relationships between interconnected systems will be studied.

Concepts

• Ecosystems

• Food chains
• Food webs
• Interrelationships

Background

An ecosystem is an interacting system that consists of groups of living organisms (biotic factors) and various non-living items (abiotic factors). Biotic factors include living organisms, such as plants, people, birds and other animals. Abiotic factors include items, such as soil, rocks, water and light. Ecosystems are self-sustaining (able to support themselves) if three basic needs are met. First of all, there must be a source of energy such as sunlight. Secondly, this energy must be able to be stored and passed on through the ecosystem. This stored energy is generally found in chemical bonds such as those found in food. Lastly, substances, such as oxygen, water and carbon, must be recycled between organisms and their environment.

All ecosystems contain a community. A community consists of all living organisms in a certain area. An example of a community is a forest that contains birds, animals, trees and insects. In a community, different types of animals and plants live together and each organism has certain features that allow it to survive. Producers are organisms such as plants or bacteria that use energy from the Sun to produce their own food. Some organisms in a community feed upon others. Primary consumers are organisms that eat producers. Secondary consumers are those organisms that eat primary consumers. Other organisms may develop beneficial partnerships and may depend upon each other. Other members of a community known as decomposers break down other dead organisms.

Producers convert light energy into food energy. This food energy is then consumed and passed on through the rest of the ecosystem. The flow of energy from organism to organism is known as a food chain. An example of a food chain is a bird that fed upon a fish that feeds upon algae. In a community, very few consumers feed upon only one specific type of producer. Also, primary consumers are not usually eaten by only one type of secondary consumer. Because of these complex relationships, food chains usually overlap or combine to form food webs.

The environmental relationship games in this activity are played with a set of circular-shaped cards and a set of rectangular-shaped cards. The circular cards represent parts of an ecosystem. The rectangular cards represent relationships that exist between the parts of the ecosystem. These relationships include such things as: “lives in,” “eats,” “pollutes” and “conserves.” Survival of the plants and animals (circular cards) depends upon various relationships (rectangular cards).

Materials

Safety Precautions

This activity is considered safe. Follow all normal laboratory safety rules.

Procedure

Activity I. Building a Relationship

1. Sort through all of the relationship arrows. Find as many of the “eats” arrows as possible. Set the rest of the arrows aside.
2. Spread out all of the circular cards on a table or a desk.
3. Find the circular card with the snake on it. What do snakes eat? Try to find a circular card that shows something a snake would eat. Put this card next to the snake card.
4. Place one of the “eats” arrows between these two circular cards. Make sure the arrow is facing the right direction (see Figure 1).

5. A food relationship chain is now being built. Can more cards be added to this chain? Does any animal use a snake for food? If so, add another “eats” arrow and that animal’s card (see Figure 2).

6. See how many circular cards can be added to the food relationship chain. See who can make the longest chain in the classroom. Choose another animal and start a new chain.

Activity II. Relationships Rummy

1. Find one or more lab partners to play this game. The game can be played by two, three or four players.
2. Read through the rules. Select a dealer and a scorekeeper.
3. Play the game as many times as indicated by the teacher.

Setting Up

1. 1. Remove the “Sun” from the deck of circular cards. Place it face-up near the center of the playing area. The Sun is the beginning of all relationships that will be built.
   2. Shuffle the rest of the circular cards.
   3. Deal five to each player.
   4. Place the extra circular cards in a stack face down.
   5. Turn all the rectangular cards face down and mix them up. Each player should take five rectangular cards.

Order of Play

Dealer plays first. Players then take turns, going clockwise. If a player does not have a play, then move on to the next player. If no one has a play, then everyone must draw one circular card.

What Is a Turn?

During the turn, a player plays any number of the circular and rectangular cards from his or her hand. All cards played must be connected to cards already played. (The first player must make a connection to the Sun.) The only rule is that all relationships must be real or reasonable. At the end of the turn, the player draws as many new circular and rectangular cards as were played. As the player draws replacement cards, the scorekeeper records the number of points earned.

Scoring

Points are scored by placing a rectangular card between two circular cards to show a real or reasonable relationship between the circular cards.

1. 1. One point is earned for each card played. The first player must begin by connecting cards to the Sun. In the example in Figure 3, the player would get two points.

• 2. Two more points are earned by adding two more cards, one rectangular and one circular card (see Figure 4).

• 3. Here is an example of a player getting six points (Figure 5).

Challenges

Players may disagree with any relationship made. All arrows must show direct relationships. For example, “fish depends upon Sun” is not a direct relationship. “Plants depend upon Sun” is a direct relationship. Disagreements may be settled by majority vote or by asking the teacher.

Definitions of Relationships

Breaks down: Physically tears apart or decomposes (e.g., rain breaks down the soil, bacteria and fungi break down animals and plants).

Conserves: Saves or prevents from being damaged or used up (e.g., conserving the forests, conserving or protecting endangered species).

Depends upon: Cannot do without. (This is not a substitute for “eats” or “lives in.”)

Eats: Consumes, as food (e.g., Hawk eats the snake).

Lives in: Sleeps in or spends most of its time in (e.g., Birds live in trees).

Pollutes: Makes dirty or unclean (e.g., Automobiles pollute the air).

Ending the Game

The game is over when all circular or rectangular cards are played, or when no player can form any more relationships. The player with the most points wins.

After the Game

Use what has been learned about relationships to answer the questions on the Relationships Game Worksheet for Relationships Rummy.

Activity III. Relationships Concentration

1. Each player should obtain one each of the following relationship arrow cards (see Figure 6).

2. Each person should set the rectangular cards down in front of them on a table (see Figure 7).

3. Spread out all of the circular cards in front of the players. The cards should be face down (Figure 7).

Order of Play

Players should take turns going clockwise.

Starting the Game

1. 1. The first player should select any two circular cards and turn them face up. The player must show both cards to all of the players.
   2. The player then tries to use one of the relationship arrow cards to make a relationship between the two circular cards just turned over. If the player can, remove the circular cards from the playing area by placing the circular cards on each side of the relationship arrow (see Figure 8).

• 3. If the player cannot find a reasonable relationship, both circular cards should be turned face down again. The next player then takes a turn.

Continuing the Game

The object is to try to remember where each circular card is located. Try to make matches with the remaining relationship cards.

Ending the Game

The game ends when one player has used all of their relationship arrows. The person who is the first to use all of the relationship arrows is the winner.

Definitions of Relationships

Breaks down: Physically tears apart or decomposes (e.g., rain breaks down the soil, bacteria and fungi break down animals and plants).

Conserves: Saves or prevents from being damaged or used up (e.g., conserving the forests, conserving or protecting endangered species).

Depends upon: Cannot do without. (This is not a substitute for “eats” or “lives in.”)

Eats: Consumes, as food (e.g., Hawk eats the snake).

Lives in: Sleeps in or spends most of its time in (e.g., Birds live in trees).

Pollutes: Makes dirty or unclean (e.g., Automobiles pollute the air).

After the Game

Use what was learned about relationships to answer the questions on the Relationships Game Worksheet for Relationships Concentration.

Student Worksheet PDF

10575_Student1.pdf