Evaluating Ecosystems in “Lion King” 

Authors: Philip Durkin and Susanne Coleman
Grade Level: 5

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Summary: 
Students will view the first scene from the “The Lion King” during which baby Simba is introduced. They will analyze the interactions or relationships they observe between the living things in each environment and infer which relationships are realistic and which are fictional and explain their reasoning.

Key terms: ecology, biotic factors, abiotic factors, population, community, ecosystem, symbiosis, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, predator-prey

Objectives:

• Students will review the terms biotic and abiotic by identifying the biotic and abiotic factors they observe in the savanna and reef ecosystems in multiple media forms.
• Students will describe some of the interactions or relationships they observe between the living things in each environment and will infer whether each interaction represents an example of mutualism, commensalism, parasitism or a predator-prey relationship and offer evidence that supports their inference.
• Students will infer which relationships (in media represt