An educational adventure film called Building the Food Web: A Freshwater Voyage was made exclusively for our Schoolship classrooms that had their field trips disrupted in 2020. For schools who signed up but could not attend due to COVID-19, this three-part video takes students on a voyage under the surface of our freshwater treasure to learn about the producers, consumers, and decomposers of the Great Lakes food web. Discussion also centers around what it means to be a steward of this ecosystem. The following optional supplemental lessons were created to go along with the film that can be used to explore each of the concepts in a classroom or at home.
Video Segment 1: Producers
Building Your Own Food Web Lesson
Building Your Own Food Web Worksheet
Video Segment 2: Consumers
Ecosphere: Your Desktop Aquarium Lesson
Ecosphere: Your Desktop Aquarium Worksheet
Video Segment 3: Decomposers
What Conditions Encourage Leaf Litter Decomposition? Lesson
What Conditions Encourage Leaf Litter Decomposition? Worksheet