Middle School Science

Exploring Keystone Species
in Southern Colorado

Interview the Residents of America’s Serengeti

Welcome to your gateway for exploring the vital, yet often overlooked, shortgrass prairie of Southern Colorado. Once a landscape defined by millions of roaming bison and sprawling prairie dog colonies, this "American Serengeti" is now one of the most threatened biomes in North America. This resource page, developed by the Southern Plains Land Trust, invites your students to go beyond the textbook through the lens of Rewilding. By integrating historical ecological data with interactive AI spaces, students can engage in direct "conversations" with keystone species to understand their roles in habitat restoration.

A Choose Your Own Adventure Learning Activity

1) Have Students select and research a species of the Colorado Plains

2) Then have students use SchoolAI to interview that species to learn more

Key Concepts for Your Students

To help frame their exploration, you might want to highlight these three pillars of the Southern Plains Land Trust mission:

Biodiversity Restoration: Moving from degraded land back to a vibrant, multi-species ecosystem.
Keystone Species: Understanding how specific animals (like bison or prairie dogs) act as "ecosystem engineers." A keystone species is a plant or animal that plays a critical role in its ecosystem. If removed, the ecosystem would change drastically, leading to habitat degradation and even ecosystem collapse.
The Rewilding Philosophy: Shifting from "managing" nature to "enabling" natural processes to heal the land and waterways.

This exploration is a perfect enhancement for the following St Vrain Science Courses and Units

Middle School Connections

High School Connections

Have students explore the Southern Plains Resources below, then use SchoolAI to meet the prairie residents

The mission is to protect and restore the Southern Plains: America’s Serengeti.

Despite being one of the largest and most unique biomes in the world, shortgrass prairie is also among the most threatened habitats in North America, with 50% already lost due to human development.

Just 150 years ago, immense herds of bison millions-strong roamed the Southern Plains, prairie dog colonies spanned hundreds of square miles, and pronghorn and elk teemed across the shortgrass prairie. We want this biodiversity and abundant wildlife back.

Virtual Field Trips

If you are interested in having a member of the Southern Land Trust Science Team virtually join your classroom, contact Dr Judith Westveer at judith@southernplains.org. Presentations can be adjusted for grade level and specific science content.

Rewilding

The Southern Plains Land Trust is working hard to restore the prairie to its original state. Native grasses get a chance to flourish and wildlife gets space to roam. They believe in the concept of ‘Rewilding’ - a progressive approach to conservation where it's all about letting nature take care of itself. Enabling natural processes to shape the plains and the streams and repair degraded landscapes. Through rewilding, wildlife's natural rhythms create wilder, more biodiverse habitats.

Southern Plains - Meet the Residents Resource Page

To make the AI interactions effective for middle and high schoolers, the prompts should move beyond simple "What do you eat?" questions. These suggestions focus on systems thinking—encouraging students to see how one species affects the entire landscape. These prompts are designed to spark a deeper dialogue with each animal about the ecosystem and their role in it.

School AI Connections

Below are SchoolAI Spaces built using our science standards, created to bring science to life. Use them as is, or "Remix" the space and make it your own, and tailor content to fit your students' specific needs and learning styles.

What are SchoolAI Spaces - School AI spaces are interactive, personalized learning environments where students can engage with artificial intelligence for various academic tasks. These spaces can act as personalized tutors, generate customizable activities, and provide tools like "choose your own adventure" tasks. Teachers can use these spaces to offer support, gather formative assessments, or provide dynamic lessons, while monitoring student progress through a dashboard. Learn More about SchoolAI Spaces

Examples of Remix Ideas

Put a time limit on the space to fit with your day's schedule
Include an exit ticket of 3 questions based on misconceptions by students
Virtual Lab Assistant: Combine an image-generating Space with science concepts (e.g., "show me a volcano erupting with lava types") to visualize experiments.