Ecosystem Services is a common, yet tricky, concept covered in most environmental science courses. I have witnessed and participated in countless discussions with other educators about their thoughts on the topic. I use the following graphic organizer/coloring sheet to help student understanding. This is one of the concepts you should pause and review because it tends to be a hot spot for misconceptions.
Link to Download Coloring Sheet
Implementation
I always include a filled-in version of the notes I create. Sometimes I use the template I created to look at and just throw a blank copy under the documentary camera and lecture while filling in a blank copy in front of the class. Alternatively, if you do not want to lecture, this short youtube video could serve as a good source to take notes from.
Even though many students don’t find coloring a page interesting, many students find it cathartic. I sometimes use this activity when it seems like I am trying to get water from a stone as we get closer to exam day and the students are getting more exhausted.
Avoid These Common Misconceptions
1. Students may focus only on tangible or measurable benefits (like food or timber) and underestimate the importance of recreational, spiritual, and educational values that ecosystems provide. Don’t avoid this topic just because you have to bring up ‘spirituality’. That holds different meaning for everyone – religion is just one small interpretation.
2. Students often fail to grasp the interconnectedness of these services—for example, how supporting services like nutrient cycling enable provisioning services like food production or how regulating services like water filtration influence cultural services like recreation. Students want these services to fit into nice little separated categories and that is not always the case. Context matters.
3. Students may associate regulating services solely with climate regulation, ignoring other critical functions such as water purification, pest control, pollination, and disease regulation.
4. Almost all students (and teachers) often confuse regulating vs. supporting services. The context of the service does matter and so does the wording of specific questions. Many modern resources will make sure that test questions are asked in a way that does not purposefully pit a regulating vs supporting service to avoid this confusion. Be careful to read questions you provide to students ahead of time and consider NOT providing both regulating and supporting service as an answer choice in the same question if it can be avoided.
