The first graders worked in pairs to create ecosystems of their choice using blocks, pipe cleaners, Legos, construction paper, and craft sticks. Their assignment was to demonstrate how living and nonliving things co-exist in an ecosystem and to show how energy travels from the sun and through living things in a food chain. This work served as their summative assessment for our inquiry into biodiversity. I recorded them as they each used their self-made clothespin person to narrate their completed ecosystem. These videos I uploaded to YouTube and converted to QR codes so that each student could then use their iPads to scan and view their classmates explanations. These viewings served as their ticket to enter a friend's ecosystem along with their clothespin person so that they could explore and play with knowledge and understanding.
