Science 6 - Living Systems Websites

Instead of just one resource, this is truly a multimedia combination of resources where your students learn about food chains and webs in a variety of means. As one goes down the web page there are short videos, questions, and definitions.

URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zjh4r2p#z9hdh4j

Using this simulation you are able to see the effects of increases and decreases in populations on a food chain. What you can also do is bring in diseases to see what a disease in one population can do to other populations. This integrates well with the scientific methods unit and math, as it includes both bar graphs and line graphs of your populations in the food chain. This simulation includes some questions of assessment for understanding as well.

Note: You will want to have both yourself and your students logged into the Gizmos website, or you will be limited to five minutes. 

URL: https://apps.explorelearning.com/gizmos/launch-gizmo/381

This collection of animations walks students through ten of the major biomes found around our planet, and presents them with some critical facts involved with each one. Though there are some interesting facts here, this is more of an animated slideshow than a simulation/interactive game.

URL: https://climatekids.nasa.gov/10-things-ecosystems/

This site has supporting materials for both students and teachers, and goes through some key biomes from around the world. What is nice here is that each biome is essentially given two pages: one with lots of written information about the biome (and a picture from it) and another page with an example of a location in this biome along with the average annual temperature and precipitation.

URL: https://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/ess05.sci.ess.watcyc.biomemap/biomes/

Though this simulation is created to teach the ideas of natural selection, the concepts of different biomes (which can be changed by clicking on the sun or the snowflake) and how each biome is more conducive for certain adaptations is shown in this simulation. 

There are also a number of worksheets that have been created and shared for a grade 5/6 level here, but you do need to sign up for the PhET website (for free) to access these worksheets under the "Teaching Resources" tab.

URL: https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/natural-selection

This is a great simulator not just for teaching students about photosynthesis, but just as important, teaching them about controlled and manipulated variables in a science experiment. In this simulation you are conducting an experiment where you change how close the light is to the plant, and then measuring the amount of oxygen produced (by counting the number of bubbles that rise).

URL: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvrrd2p/articles/zjqfsk7#zdr6fdm

While not exclusively about photosynthesis, this simulation lets students control factors that affect photosynthesis, like light levels and the amount of CO₂. They observe how different environmental conditions impact plant growth and energy production. 

URL: https://apps.explorelearning.com/gizmos/gizmo-detail/395