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Symbiosis and Other Relationships

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Module Overview

This one- to two-week module is framed around the anchoring phenomenon of a three-part symbiotic relationship involving a parasitic wasp, its caterpillar host, and a virus. Designed for middle school and packed with examples, this NGSS-friendly module covers the basics of ecological relationships. It also includes opportunities for students to analyze and interpret data.

The resources linked below were designed to be used in any order, with or without outside lessons. But we hope you’ll consider using them together, in the suggested sequence. This sequence interweaves the story of wasp parasitoids with more general information, pulling the resources together in a way that builds a deeper understanding of ecological relationships.

Suggested Lesson Sequence

Class TimeActivityDescription
5 min Meet the Soybean Looper (video)This video introduces the organism featured in the next lesson in the sequence.
90 min over 7 days Caterpillars! (pdf)In this simulated experiment, students begin working with the anchoring phenomenon. They observe and measure paper caterpillars over 7 days, then analyze the results.
10 min Meet the Parasitic Wasp (video)This video begins to explain to students what they just observed in the Caterpillars! experiment.
60 min What's the Relationship? (pdf)Through examples, this lesson helps students learn about different types of ecological relationships, including competition, predation, parasitism, commensalism, and mutualism.
40 min Interwoven Life Cycles (explore)Students explore an interactive life cycle diagram to learn more about the relationship between the soybean looper, wasp parasitoid, and a virus.
20 minOptional: Examples of Symbiosis (video)This animated video describes to students several examples of symbiotic relationships, two of which are used in the next activity.
40 min EcoTrios & Symbiotic Strategies (pdf)Students learn about the strategies organisms use in symbiotic relationships. Then they learn about specific three-part relationships and decide which strategies they employ.

About this Unit

This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, Award no. 1748862. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the funders.