March 31

Ecological Succession Notes & Activity 🌱🔥🌳

📅 Completed: March 31

In this lesson, students learned about ecological succession—the natural, gradual changes that occur in ecosystems over time. Through direct instruction, guided notes, and a creative extension activity, students explored how life returns after a disturbance and how ecosystems rebuild themselves.

📝 What We Learned:

What is Succession?

• Ecological Succession is the process of gradual changes in the types of organisms in a community over time.

• It can happen with or without natural disasters, and it helps ecosystems recover, grow, and evolve.
  
  

Two Types of Succession:

🔹 Primary Succession

• Occurs in areas with no soil or organisms (e.g., lava flow, glacial retreat).

• Pioneer species like moss and lichen are the first to appear.

• Over time, these species break down rock into soil, allowing grasses, shrubs, and eventually trees to grow.
  
  

🔹 Secondary Succession

• Happens when an area is disturbed but soil remains intact (e.g., forest fire, farming, floods).

• Grasses and small plants return first, followed by shrubs and trees.

• This process is faster than primary succession.
  
  

Climax Community

• The final stage of succession.

• A stable, mature ecosystem with a balance of plant and animal species—unless disrupted again.
  
  

🎨 Activity & Extension:

• Students colored and labeled the stages of primary and secondary succession.

• Drew how a forest recovers after a natural disaster (like a fire).

• Completed an extension worksheet, identifying real-world examples of succession and analyzing how species return and dominate over time.

• Created graphs to show how the number of species increases during each type of succession.
  
  

🌍 Why This Matters:

Succession shows us that ecosystems are resilient. Even after devastation, life finds a way to return and rebuild. Understanding this process helps us better protect and restore environments after natural or human-caused disturbances.

✅ Great job exploring how nature regenerates itself through succession! 🌾🪵🔁