Compare/Contrast Essays

Sixth grade science students worked in the outdoor classroom and on the playground as they completed a field investigation to see which environment contained more evidence of life.   The outdoor classroom was subdivided into a prairie upland, a woodland, and the wetland area.  

Students observed and compared the air temperature, cloud cover, wind speed and direction as abiotic, or nonliving, factors of the ecosystems. Next, they observed  the biotic, living, factors that could be found in each environment.

Students concluded the activity by writing a four-paragraph compare/contrast essay to describe what they had seen.   The conclusion that was drawn by most of the students at the end of their essays was that the outdoor classroom had more evidence of life and greater biodiversity than the playground because more habitats were available.