Are you looking for fun ideas for teaching symbiotic relationships to middle school science students? This is one of my favorite topics to teach. It is full of opportunities to make real-life connections with students. There are varied approaches to allow students to explore the content. And, students bring their own background knowledge (and misconceptions!) to the classroom.
What do students need to know before learning symbiosis?
Two things. First, the vocabulary for types of consumers — herbivores eat producers, carnivores eat animals, omnivores eat both. Second, how adaptations help organisms survive. With those basics in place, students have the background they need to make sense of the interactions between organisms.
Before teaching symbiotic relationships to middle school science students, they will need to understand several concepts. First, they should know the vocabulary terms that define the types of consumers. Herbivores are animals that only eat producers. Carnivores are animals that only eat other animals. Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and animals.
Next, students will need to understand how adaptations help organisms survive. They are too numerous to list completely. However, they can be sorted into groups based on their purpose. For example, birds with sharp talons can use them for obtaining food and also to defend themselves. Roots help support plants and hold them up to the sunlight while also absorbing water and nutrients.
How can you teach symbiotic relationships using inquiry?
Let students define the five types for themselves. Print ten symbiotic relationships — two each of predation, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, and competition — and have students group them and explain their reasoning. Once they notice a pattern, like relationships that help both species, teach the matching term. They remember definitions they discover.
After understanding the basics listed above, students have the background information necessary to understand symbiotic relationships. However, this is a great opportunity to allow students to define the five types of symbiosis for themselves. They will be much more likely to remember the definition of each term if they discover it for themselves.
Here is an idea for how to teach symbiotic relationships allowing students to discover definitions for themselves. Print pictures and/or descriptions of ten different symbiotic relationships – two of each of the following: predation, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, and competition. I would include pictures with descriptions for less common examples (such as how green frogs camouflage amongst leaves for commensalism). I would not include a description for more common examples (such as a picture of a mosquito on a person’s skin). Next, ask students to make groups of the pictures and have them explain their reasoning.
After giving their reasoning, students can be taught the term after they come up with their own definition from the card sort. For example, once they notice that some relationships help both species, teach them the definition of mutualism. Highlight terms students use in their explanations that connect to relationships such as “parasites” or “predators”.
Students that are not used to an inquiry approach will need extra support. They are used to being told what they need to know – not discovering information for themselves. Some will come up with different ways of grouping the cards. As the teacher, you should guide students toward making observations about the interactions between the organisms.
If you are interested in a no-prep ecology and ecosystems unit that covers MS-LS2-1, MS-LS2-2, MS-LS2-3, MS-LS2-4, and MS-LS2-5, click here!
What are the five types of symbiotic relationships?
Symbiosis is any interaction between two organisms. The five types are predation (one animal hunts and eats another), mutualism (both benefit), commensalism (one benefits, the other is unaffected), parasitism (one benefits, the host is harmed), and competition (two organisms seek the same resources).
I teach my students about five kinds of symbiosis – defined as any relationship or interaction between two organisms (not just animals!).
- Predation: The act of hunting, killing, and eating of one animal by another
- Mutualism: An interaction in which both organisms benefit
- Commensalism: An interaction in which one organism benefits and the other is neither benefiting nor harmed
- Parasitism: An interaction in which one organism benefits (the parasite) and the other is harmed (the host)
- Competition: An interaction in which two organisms try to obtain the same resources
Here are a few interesting examples of each of these that students can research.
How do you apply the CER framework to symbiosis?
Give students a reading passage about a type of symbiosis without naming it. Have them make a claim ("fleas and dogs have a parasitic relationship"), cite evidence from the text, and connect it back with reasoning using a scientific concept. It takes practice, since many students haven't been asked to defend claims before.
Another great approach to use is the Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning (CER) Framework. This tool requires students to defend their claims, cite evidence, and make connections. It takes some time for students to become comfortable with this. They may not have been asked to do anything like this previously. Give students support if they are still learning this skill.
Here is a simple example of the CER framework applied to symbiosis:
- Give students a reading passage about a type of symbiosis. It should not tell students which type of symbiosis is involved.
- Have students make a claim about the type of interaction at work: “Fleas and dogs have a parasitic relationship.”
- Next, students should cite evidence from the text: “Fleas consume blood from the dog for their food which the dog must replace. Fleas bite into the dog’s skin to lay their eggs causing discomfort to the dog.”
- Lastly, students should connect their evidence to the claim in the reasoning step. Ideally, they should use a scientific concept to justify their reasoning. “Parasitism occurs when an organism benefits from a relationship while the other is harmed. Fleas harm dogs by stealing nutrients (blood) from them and causing dogs to itch when they bite to lay their eggs. These interactions cause harm to the dog.”
Quick Note: Students often ask why this example is not predation. Remind them that they have different purposes. Predators intend to kill their prey. Parasites do not necessarily want to kill their prey – only steal some kind of resource from them.
Click here to check out my Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning Digital Escape Room!
What are other strategies for teaching symbiosis?
Mix it up. Graphic organizers let students pair each definition with a memorable picture. A short-story writing task can require three kinds of symbiosis. Games like a student-made "Go Fish" work well, and a digital escape room full of examples asks students to identify each type after a quick reading.
Here are a few other ideas for teaching symbiotic relationships to your middle school science students.
- Graphic Organizers: These tools allow students to make visual connections between concepts. For symbiosis, consider having students record the definition with a picture representing how they think of it. It does not have to be a factual example of that type of symbiosis – just a way for them to remember it. They would repeat this process for each of the other four kinds of symbiosis.
- Writing: Ask students to write a short story about a day in the life of an animal. Their animal must experience at least three kinds of symbioses. The most common types would be predation (whether they are the predator or prey), competition (another animal they compete with for food), and one of the remaining three. They may need a resource to research an animal for this assignment.
- Game: This topic lends itself easily to playing a game (or even making up their own). If your students are very creative, ask them to come up with a card game. They could research many examples of symbioses. Then, make a card for each organism with a short description of the symbiosis. Finally, they could play “Go Fish” by asking other players for the matching organism. To get the pair, the student must make a claim about the kind of symbiosis and then defend it using evidence from the cards.
- Digital Escape Room: I love these kinds of challenges and so do my students. I’ve made an escape room with lots of examples of symbioses that they must find. After a quick reading, they must determine the kind of symbiosis. It is available in my TeachersPayTeachers store!
Students enjoy learning about symbiosis. There are so many interesting examples to explore. Plus, they usually have some background knowledge of these animals or connections to build upon. Utilize their interest to let them grow in their understanding of ecosystems.