Students investigate how Earth sustains life by studying food chains, food webs, decomposers, plant growth, and the interactions among land, water, air, and living things, then apply that learning to design a balanced Mars habitat. Through a Biosphere 2 mystery launch, a zoo educator partnership, species-card modeling, and repeated critique and revision, they figure out what organisms must get from one another and from their environment to survive in an enclosed system. The work builds toward a revised dome prototype, a food web model showing matter and energy flow, and a short claim-evidence-reasoning presentation arguing whether the proposed organisms can form a stable ecosystem. Along the way, students reflect with partners, use peer feedback from gallery walks, and compare first and final designs to name what they learned, what problem they solved, and what they would improve next.

Students learn to model how matter moves among plants, animals, decomposers, water, air, and soil in a Mars habitat, and to explain that energy in food starts with the sun. They use observations, species cards, and habitat needs to investigate how plants get what they need from air and water, how decomposers recycle nutrients, and how Earth’s land, water, air, and living things work together to sustain life. Students build skill in arguing from evidence by deciding whether a proposed group of organisms can form a balanced ecosystem and recommending changes based on feedback and revision. They also strengthen collaboration, communication, reflection, and self-direction through partner debriefs, gallery walks, checklist reflections, and public sharing with families and community partners.

Students create a sequence of public-facing products: a shared notice-and-wonder chart from the Biosphere 2 Mystery Lab, partner habitat-card reflections after the zoo educator visit, and team food chain and food web models that are revised across the unit with species cards, arrows, and labels showing matter and energy flow. As they investigate plant growth, decomposers, worms, and environmental protection, teams add evidence to a Mars habitat design folder that includes sketches, annotations, checklist reflections, and sticky-note feedback from gallery walks. By the end, each team produces a revised dome or Mars habitat prototype with plants, animals, decomposers, water, air, and habitat needs clearly connected, plus a short oral or visual claim-evidence-reasoning presentation arguing whether the proposed organisms can form a balanced ecosystem. These products are displayed in a Balanced Ecosystem Showcase or Living Systems Museum where families and community partners can examine models, species cards, and reflection checklists and leave comments and questions.

Kick off with a Biosphere 2 Mystery Lab where students examine photos, short video clips, and simple data from an enclosed ecosystem, then add observations and questions to a class notice-and-wonder chart about how food can be grown inside a dome for two years. End the launch with teams creating a quick first-draft Mars dome model that includes plants, animals, decomposers, water, and air, and a partner debrief using habitat cards to name one connection they noticed and one question they still have. This shared start sets up the driving questions about how Earth sustains life and what keeps an ecosystem balanced.

Students can share their work in a Balanced Ecosystem Showcase where families, classmates, and the zoo or animal science center educator visit table displays of each team’s revised Mars habitat prototype, food web model, and labeled species cards. Each group gives a short claim-evidence-reasoning oral or visual presentation defending whether the proposed organisms can form a balanced ecosystem and explains how matter and energy move through the system. The exhibition can also function as a Living Systems Museum, with reflection checklists, first-and-final design comparisons, and sticky notes so visitors can leave questions and feedback. This format lets students celebrate revisions from the Biosphere 2 Mystery Lab and zoo visit while showing how Earth’s systems and living things work together to sustain life.