• A rotting log on the forest floor plays an important role in the forest ecosystem providing an ever-changing habitat for a variety of creatures big, small, and microscopic
• As a log decays it passes through a series of stages as it progresses from a tree to soil. During each stage standing snags, dead trees, and logs are home to a community of plants, animals and other organisms.
•  
•  
•  
•  
•  
• Bark Beetles are organisms that help start the process of decay in a dead tree.
• 
• 

Vocabulary: Habitat, Decomposers, Decomposition, Stages of Decomposition, Forest Ecosystem, Community, Frass, Humus, Fungi, Spores, Hyphae,

Skills:

• Active listening to learn about the stages of a log's decomposition and to learn that a rotting log can provide a home for many different animals
• Exploring and examining a rotting log using light, a probe and hand lens.
• Recording and identifying organisms found in a rotting log using diagrams and field guides.
• Examining patterns on a section of log and hypothesizing ideas about how the patterns were created to learn the story they tell about an insect's life cycle.

Grade Expectations:
Grades PK-K (S30, S38) A rotting log is “home” for a variety of animals and plants. Plants and animals that live in a rotting log need water, food and air to live. Bark beetles are one kind of animal that lives in decaying logs.

Grades 1-2 (S30, S31, S36) A rotting log provides food, shelter and space for a variety of animals and plants. Some animals and plants depend on decaying materials and dead organisms for food. Bark beetles use decaying wood as habitat and undergo developmental life stages under tree bark.

Grades 3-4 (S30, S31, S36) A rotting log serves as habitat for plants and animals whose needs are met there. Plants and animals that live in/on a rotting log interact in various ways in addition to providing/obtaining food. Bark beetles have physical and behavioral characteristics that help them to live and grow in decaying logs.

Grades 5-6 (S30, S34-S37) Many of the inhabitants of a rotting log are decomposers; organisms that use waste material and dead organisms for food. Organisms that live in, on or near rotting logs engage in interdependent relationships as they acquire their food to meet energy needs.