How to Teach Abiotic and Biotic Factors in a Fun Way!

If you’re finding it a bit challenging to bring these concepts to life, an “imaginary walk” through different biomes might be the perfect answer.

It can be frustrating to teach abiotic and biotic factors in biomes because it sometimes feels like you’re just presenting a dry list of facts. We talk about rainforests, deserts, tundras, deciduous forests, and savannahs, but how do we make those places come alive? How do we help students imagine what it would be like to actually be in a place they’ve never seen?

I’ve had fun success by letting students pretend to walk through these biomes as if they were really there.

Why I Love to Use this Abiotic and Biotic Creative Writing in My Classroom

I absolutely love using this activity because it taps into the students’ natural creativity and imagination. When I ask them to step into the shoes of someone walking through a faraway biome, they get excited about the challenge of imagining what it would really feel like. I’m always amazed at how creative and detailed they get!

The best part is seeing the students bring their research to life instead of just recalling boring facts. It’s fun watching the students get excited with the information and apply it to their own stories.

Introduction to Teaching Abiotic and Biotic Factors

The concept of abiotic and biotic factors can be a little tricky for students. We first study the ecosystem outside of our school on a scavenger hunt.

It involves going for a walk and observing different signs of abiotic factors such as puddles, clouds, signs of moisture, types of soil, rocks, etc. Students then look for signs of biotic factors like trees, animals, or signs of animals eating. This post describes how we do it. Go Outdoors on an Exciting Schoolyard Ecosystem Scavenger Hunt!

I usually do this earlier in the school year so we can refer back to it. Sometimes I even do it twice a year so that students can observe changes.

How I Teach the Abiotic and Biotic Activity

I usually do this writing project after we have completed several food web activities and learned about food chains from specific biomes. I want students to be familiar with the plants and animals of each particular biome. However, I still want them to dive deeper into their research.

I ask students to research which kinds of animals live in their assigned biome, what plants grow there, and the environmental conditions they would experience. For example, they might look up what the soil feels like in a deciduous forest or what sounds birds make in the savannah. These little details make their stories really come alive.

After they’ve done their research, they write a narrative as if they are walking through that biome. They describe the environment around them using all of their senses.

What does the ground feel like under their feet? Is the soil dry and dusty, or is it soft and wet? What’s the air like? Is it cool and crisp, or hot and humid? They write about what they see, hear, and feel as if they are living it. I model this using my Teachers Pay Teachers activities such as my walk through the rainforest and savannah or the winter walk through a deciduous forest.

Making the Connections

As the students write, they can identify abiotic factors like temperature, moisture, and sunlight. They also describe biotic factors, such as plants and animals that exist in their biome.

I encourage students to listen for sounds that might be heard in their biome using YouTube videos. For example, if they are describing a tropical rainforest, they might search for recordings of bird calls or the sound of rain pouring down on the leaves during a thunderstorm. If they choose to do a winter forest, they could listen for the wind rustling through the trees or the crunch of snow under their feet.

Peer Collaboration

Once students have written their biome descriptions, I have them pair up to share their walks with each other. Their partner then fills out a chart identifying all of the abiotic and biotic factors described in the narrative.

Not only does this let students see their peers’ work, but it also gives them the chance to compare different biomes and how they are structured.

Bringing it All Together

Students can discuss how the abiotic and biotic factors depend on each other. We answer questions like: How do the abiotic factors, such as temperature and soil, affect the plants and animals in your biome? What happens if one of those factors changes, such as a drought or an extreme cold spell?

Conclusion

This “imaginary walk” activity is an effective way to bring the concept of abiotic and biotic factors to life. If you’re looking for more resources to bring biomes, food webs, and biodiversity into your classroom, check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Also, be sure to explore my other blog posts on topics like food webs(How to Make Food Webs Interactive and Fun!) and the interconnections between ecosystems.