7th Grade · Week 1 of 36 · Science
Ecosystems and biotic/abiotic
1. Hook
- Read (or listen to) what you’re learning. Don’t jump to the quiz.
- Walk the worked example. Then use the interactive lab on this page.
- Guided set → independent set → mastery check → teach-back.
- If you write a paper, stay on campus: Citation Helper, Source Library, Paper Studio.
This is self-paced homeschool on Life Academy. Everything you need is on this page.
A pond has frogs, algae, sunlight, mud, and water. Which of these are "alive," and which still matter to the frogs?
Then: lab → guided → quiz → teach it back. The lab is the lesson, not a decoration.
2. Teach
Identify biotic and abiotic factors and explain how organisms depend on resources in an ecosystem (NGSS MS-LS2-1).
Standards alignment: NGSS MS-LS (domain-level; works with any state’s standards)
Ecosystem survey: count living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors in a 1 m × 1 m square plot. Record temperature, light, and moisture as data.
- Biotic factors are living or once-living parts (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria). Abiotic factors are nonliving (sunlight, water, temperature, soil, air).
- Levels: organism → population (same species) → community (all species) → ecosystem (community plus abiotic factors).
- Limited resources (food, water, space) limit how many organisms an area can support.
In a pond, algae need sunlight and nutrients; frogs need insects, water, and safe places to lay eggs. A drought (abiotic change) can shrink the pond and the frog population.
Organisms compete for limited resources, which affects growth and survival.
- Factor: water temperature in a trout stream.
- Nonliving → abiotic.
- Trout need cold, oxygen-rich water.
- If the water warms, the trout population may drop.
Observe a yard, park, or window view for 15 minutes. List 5 biotic and 5 abiotic factors and one way they interact.
Calling dead leaves abiotic (they were once living, so they are biotic) or forgetting abiotic factors matter.
Wildlife managers track both biotic and abiotic factors to protect species.
No classroom teacher today — this page is the lesson. Follow the how-to, then the lab, then the quiz. Follow Lesson Studio, then the lab, then the quiz.
Interactive lab (on this page)
Change one variable. Record what happened. This model is the lab — not an off-site sim.
Play & explore
Hands-on practice for this lesson. Your progress saves automatically.
Your work — type it here
Do the lab first. Then write what you noticed. Then a because-sentence. That is the assignment.
3. Guided practice
Try these with me — type the missing word, then check.
Reveal the thinking
Ask "is it living or was it ever living?"; then ask how it affects other parts.
4. Independent practice
Work the set. Check when finished — this is practice (mastery quiz is next).
5. Mastery check
Scored quiz — results save to your gradebook.
The lab is on this page
Do the experiment here. Change one thing. Read what happened. We do not send you to an outside simulation site. Today: Ecosystems and biotic/abiotic.
Classroom · Gradebook · Transcripts
Stay on this page. The studio, the lab, pictures, and Your work are the lesson.
6. Reflection / teach-back
Teach-back: Explain Ecosystems and biotic/abiotic in your own words. Give one example and name the usual mistake.