Curriculum Resources for the Alaskan Environment
Subject Areas: science,
biology, ecology
Timeline: one to two
months
Grade Levels:
7-12
Purpose: to study an
animal used for subsistence; to understand life
cycles, food webs, and the concept of
interdependence
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Sharon Moore
Study of a
Food
Resource
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Activities
- Have students make a list of all animals they
use for food.
- Decide on one animal to study, referred to here
as SAM.
- Come up with a few more lists:
plants and/or animals eaten by SAM
animals that eat SAM, including parasites
organisms, animals, and plants that eat or
use SAM's dead carcass.
- Combine these lists and make a chart of SAM's
food web. Don't forget to include people.
- Chart SAM's life cycle, including changes in
diet as SAM matures.
- Discuss what would happen to SAM if one of the
plants of animals he uses for food disappears or suddenly decreases.
What happens if one of SAM's predators disappears? What would these
changes mean to a village depending on SAM for food?
- Use the information as a curriculum resource.
Resources
- village members, especially hunters
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game for pamphlets
on various Alaskan animals
- biology or ecology texts
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Variations
- Study more than one
animal.
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