<aside> ♻️ Happy Friday Ecowarriors! Today, we’re going to go a little further from yesterday's lesson on ecosystems and learn about ecosystem cycles!

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Overview

One example of an ecosystem cycle that you might be familiar with is when a forest fire burns all of the trees, but then after the fire, new plants start to grow.

This is called “secondary succession”. We’re going to be focused on “primary succession”: when there’s no life in an area at first, but it ends up blossoming into a full ecosystem! For our closing activity, you will make a comic so get your art supplies!!

Materials

• Printed images of species

  Mt St Helens Species Handout.pdf

  • Alternatively could be drawn by hand

• One sheet of paper for ecosystems book

• Art supplies for coloring (colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc.)

• Scissors

Mount St. Helens Story and Primary Succession

Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18th, 1980. To date, it’s been the most destructive volcanic eruption in the United States. The eruption devastated the surrounding forest leaving the area almost completely lifeless. But, slowly, the ecosystem began to recover.

Some living things such as willows, fish, and pocket gophers managed to survive the initial catastrophe and were protected by their environment. Along with these survivors, the wind blew seeds into the area, and birds and bugs unknowingly carried in others.

One of the important species carried in by the wind was the Prairie Lupine. Prairie Lupines, a small, purple plant, add a special chemical called nitrogen to the soil that makes it healthier for other plants. The plants can survive without animals - they get their food from the sun and the soil. With the Lupine’s arrival, bugs were able to return in larger numbers and feed on the plants. Once bugs had returned to the area, it allowed birds and other animals to return and feed on the bugs. With lots of things coming in, living, and dying, mushrooms started to grow. They broke down the dead animals and plants back into the soil.

• What was the order that the species returned? [click the arrow to find out!]
• What type of consumer (producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, decomposer) are each of the species and what does that say about the order of species returned? [click the arrow to find out!]

You can now demonstrate what you have learned about ecosystems!

Make your own Comic!

Now, let's make a comic showing what you've learned with the different species!

<aside> 💡 if you get stuck, look below for examples of the finished product!

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