Eco-Topple

Let’s Play!!!

Some of you may have played the game Topple before, so you will recognize what is in front of you. We are going to change the rules, just a little, so that we are modeling our ecosystem as we play.

You should have:

-One balancing game board

-One dice

-12 yellow pieces labeled with a “1” (primary producers, or plants)

-12 orange pieces labeled with a “2” (primary consumers, or herbivores)

-12 pink pieces labeled with a “3” (secondary consumers, or carnivores)

-12 purple pieces labeled with a “4”(tertiary consumers, or top predators)

Goal: To build a BALANCED Southwest Florida ecosystem, full of a variety of plants and animals. You don’t want to TOPPLE the ecosystem.

How to play:

  1. Each person or pair of people gets to be one of the trophic level (plants, herbivores, etc.), so pick your color and have those pieces in front of you.
  2. The “1”s go first, because you can’t start an ecosystem without the plants! Roll the dice and place that number of pieces in the ecosystem.
  3. Now the “2”s roll. In order to place your herbivore in the ecosystem, it must have food. Roll the dice, but only put as many herbivores in the ecosystem as there are plants to eat. If your dice number is great than the number of plants in the ecosystem, there isn’t enough food in the ecosystem for them to be “born.”
  4. Now the “3”s roll. Follow the same rule. They can only be placed in the ecosystem if there is enough food (“2”s are food for these guys). If your dice number is great than the number of plants in the ecosystem, there isn’t enough food in the ecosystem for them to be “born.”
  5. Now the “4”s roll. Follow the same rule. They can only be placed in the ecosystem if there is enough food (“3”s are food for these guys). If your dice number is great than the number of plants in the ecosystem, there isn’t enough food in the ecosystem for them to be “born.”

At the end of your first year (one round), how is your ecosystem doing? Is it balanced? Is it diverse? Did it collapse?

Continue taking turns, starting with the plants. Each round of play equals one year. See how many years your ecosystem can survive and thrive before it collapses!