Education Ecosystems

An aquatic ecosystem in the classroom is a versatile and interactive tool for studying whole systems and understanding nature.


Modeled after natural systems, such as wetlands, ponds, and rivers, these educational ecosystems are based on photosynthesis, nutrient recycling, and bio-diversity. Like nature, the classroom ecology contains a variety of habitat and will be capable of supporting itself by keeping all of its inhabitants alive, producing its own food and treating its own waste via complex food webs.

Pre-fabricated Educational Ecosystems designed by Ocean Arks
The Classroom Ecosystem
The Hexagonal Educational Ecosystem

You'll find many benefits to having an ecosystem in your classroom. Urban schools, for example, gain access to natural systems without having to travel long distances. Those of you in rural areas can access a wide variety of natural systems that are different from those in the surrounding region.

As a living laboratory, these manipulative ecosystems are very useful for student-based research, eliminating the problems associated with doing potentially destructive research in natural areas.

Students can also safely vary both spatial and temporal conditions within the ecosystem to test hypotheses to all kinds of questions. "What happens to carbon dioxide levels in the water if we cover the plants? How do aquatic invertebrates, like dragonflies, behave during different times in their life cycle? How can we modify the hydraulics of our system to get the water to flow faster?"

To map current conditions and predict future changes, students can use dynamic modeling software, like STELLA, to identify and monitor relationships within the system. Furthermore, exploration with complex ecosystems is inherently interdisciplinary. A sample of the curriculum areas that relate to the study of an ecosystem in your classroom include:

• Physics (hydraulics, water properties, thermodynamic)
• Organic Chemistry and water chemistry
• Biology (competition studies, natural selection, territoriality, population studies, taxonomy, acclimation and adaptation, biotic and abiotic interactions, and ecotones)
• Environmental Studies

To learn more, see the K-12 School and University section of our website.

Design and build your own ecosystem
A Manual for "Building an Educational Ecosystem": by Marc Companion, Ocean Arks.

Phillip Bogdonof's web page (external link): imagery, information, and resources
Technical information

Applications: What other folks have been doing
Gail Tuthill's virtual tour of Living Machines, Hawaii (external link)
Suppliers and resources

For more, see the Resources.