Grade 7 Nutrient Cycling Lesson Plan
Grade 7 Nutrient Cycling Lesson Plan
Grade 7 Nutrient Cycling Lesson Plan
A Guide to Small Prairie Restoration - How to Grow Your Own Patch of Native Prairie
Saskatchewan's Native Prairie: Taking Stock of a Vanishing Ecosystem and Dwindling Resource (Also
available in print)
On the Prairie - A webpage on our site with a "Build a Prairie" game, field guide to prairie plants and
animals, curriculum goodies like a English-Dakota language guide, and virtual reality panoramas of
prairie places
How do plants and bacteria work together to take N gas from the air and put it in the soil as food?
Thermopsis rhombifolia
Buffalo Bean or Golden
Bean. Found in the prairie
and aspen parkland.
(Photo by Keith Barr)
Line drawing from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States,
Canada and the British Possessions.
Line drawing from Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States,
Canada and the British Possessions.
http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/ecozones_and_ecoregions.html
ASSIGNMENT:
Once their plant is properly identified ask your students to write a story, poem, essay to accompany a
poster or diagram of the Carbon, Nitrogen, and H2O cycles based on the legume and its habitat. Follow
the inquiry questions below to aid in the study.
INQUIRY
Explore, observe, investigate, acknowledge sources, interpret, plan, and create.
Questions: (These are not the essential questions to be answered; they are to help the teacher and
students to explore the possibilities of what can be learned about their plant).
Is this legume a native plant? (White and yellow sweet clover, red clover, alfalfa and any other crop or
garden species are not native).
How prevalent are legumes in this habitat?
Is this plant dry loving, sun loving, or moist and shade loving? Which animals might use this plant?
How?
What other creatures did you see near this plant? What other roles could this plant have in the
ecosystem?
What role does this plant play in the N cycle? The C cycle? The O cycle?
How much of the air is made up of N2? How much is made up of O2? CO2?
What is the role of solar energy in these cycles?
How do other cultures view the elemental systems and cycles?
ASSESSMENT
Have the students share their research with each other in small groups. Invite community members to
be involved in the presentations. Display the student research in a location where other students from
your school can learn from it.
RESOURCES
Books:
Aikenhead, G. and H. Michell. 2011. Bridging Cultures: Indigenous and Scientific Ways of Knowing
Nature. Pearson Canada. Toronto.
Grant, T. and Littlejohn, G. 2010. Greening School Grounds: Creating Habitats for Learning. New
Society Publishers. Gabriola Island.
Hammermeister, A., D. Gauthier and K. McGovern. 2001. Saskatchewans Native Prairie: Taking Stock
of a Vanishing Ecosystem and Dwindling Resource. Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon.
Keane, K. and D. Howarth. 2003. The Standing People: Field Guide of Medicinal Plants of the Prairie
Provinces. Root Woman and Dave. Saskatoon.
Kershaw, L. 2003. Saskatchewan Wayside Wildflowers. Lone Pine Publishing. Edmonton.
Johnson, D., L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon, and J. Pojar. 1995. Plants of the Western Forest: Alberta,
Saskatchewan & Manitoba Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine Publishing and the Canadian
Forest Service. Edmonton.
Savage, C. 2011. Prairie: A Natural History. Greystone Books. Vancouver.
Vance, F.R. et al. 1999. Wildflowers Across the Prairies. Greystone Books. Vancouver.
Wruck, G. and K. Gerein. 2003. Native Plants, Water and Us! Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan.
Saskatoon.
Websites:
Center for Ecoliteracy
http://www.ecoliteracy.org/essays/systems-thinking
The Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan
http://www.npss.sk.ca/
University of Saskatchewan Herbarium Rare Plants Index
http://www.usask.ca/biology/rareplants_sk/root/htm/en/index.php/
References:
Johnson, D., L. Kershaw, A. MacKinnon, and J. Pojar. 1995. Plants of the Western Forest: Alberta,
Saskatchewan & Manitoba Boreal Forest & Aspen Parkland. Lone Pine Publishing and the Canadian
Forest Service. Edmonton.
Wruck, G. and K. Gerein. 2003. Native Plants, Water and Us! Native Plant Society of Saskatchewan.
Saskatoon.