How to Explore Keystone Species with Young Children

Keystone species are nature's architects, shaping ecosystems with their presence and ensuring the balance of life thrives in their wake.

Exploring keystone species with young children can be a fun and educational experience that helps them understand that organisms play various roles in an ecosystem.  Keystone species such as alligators, sea otters and saguaro cacti, play a critical role in an ecosystem. These species may not be the most abundant or biggest, but without them, an ecosystem may not thrive and in some cases, a whole ecosystem may die if the keystone species is removed. No other species can take the keystone species' special place in the ecosystem. So an ecosystem would have to radically change if a keystone species disappeared or the number is reduced. 



New and possible invasive species would take over and populate the habitat, for example, sea urchins take over and destroy kelp forests when sea otters disappear. Another example is the role pollinators such as bees and hummingbirds play in pollinating crops. Pollination of wildflowers is another pollination service that bees and hummingbirds carry out. 

Start a project about keystone species by selecting a couple of keystone species that your students can explore such as bees or elephants. Keystone species can be found in a variety of habitats from deserts, savannas, oceans and forests. You can choose species that are easy to observe where you live. But it is also interesting to include animals from around the world. Students love selecting their keystone and you can mark where the selected animals live on a map. 



Talk about how keystone species play an important role in maintaining the balance and health of an ecosystem. Use hands-on activities related to the keystone species such as making an alligator, elephant or kangaroo craft. Role-playing games where each student represents a different species in an ecosystem and shows their impact is a fun way to teach students about keystone species. Drawing pictures, making collages, or writing stories about their chosen keystone species are ways to express their understanding of the important role they play. 



Have a group discussion after your students have finished their research into their chosen keystone species to reflect on the learning. Talk about why it is important to protect these species, this is a great critical thinking activity. Young students need to be able to develop skills to critically analyze and draw on their knowledge and experience to explain why things happen. For example, if the saguaro cacti disappear many animals such as the elf owl would lose their home. Introducing the idea of keystone species into the classroom for young children is a wonderful opportunity to help children draw conclusions and evaluate information.  You can link the discussion to changes in our climate. Research if a keystone species can adapt to the changes.  Some keystone species will adapt by changing their behavior, or physical characteristics while others do not change so easily. So changes in our climate could lead to some keystone species expansions, while others may struggle or even disappear. 



Encourage your students to come up with creative solutions to help protect keystone species. Restoration projects of habitats are one way to help keystone species. For example, planting wildflowers to provide bees with nectar and also making choices like buying only sustainable products can help to protect these vital species. 



Introducing the term keystone species into animal projects can ignite captivating discussion and challenge your students' critical thinking and creativity. 

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