When you play an interactive and very tactile game like Jenga you run the risk of students simply playing and not necessarily learning what you would like for them to learn. But this activity was awesome. They had Jenga blocks, with pictures of various producers and consumers along the edges. Then they had to build the Jenga tower with the phyto-plankton at the bottom then, zoo-plankton, anchovies....etc, With sharks of course at the top being the apex predators. They found out very quickly the dispersal of biomass, with many producers and 1st level consumers and then fewer organisms in each row as the trophic levels increased.
They were given event cards with various invasive species, catastropic events, human impact. Each resulting in removing various blocks. Causing a balance issue both in the Peruvian Marine Food Chain and their Jenga tower. Until eventually their key stone species, anchovies, were depleted causing the tower to crash or a tropic cascade. We discussed sustainability, biodiversity, and energy in an ecosystem and this was the culminating activity and review for the test tomorrow. The kids had a blast and actually learned a lot. Making a model is very visual and the sounds and reactions of the towers crashing was priceless. It was a real world activity that made connections between ecosystems, energy transfer and the importance of every organism in a food chain.
You can find this activity on-line. But let me tell you it takes a long time to print, cut and glue all the blocks and cards etc. BUT very very much worth it.
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