Login to watch

It’s quick and easy to sign in.

If you don’t have an account join for free to enjoy STEM Live all year round!

Chester Zoo Ecosystem Engineers

This Live Lesson takes students on a journey into the world of ecosystem engineers - wildlife that can shape, change and even transform the environments they live in.

Lesson Info

Thu 19 November, 2026 • 2:00 pm - 2:50 pm
In this interactive session, students will meet zoo keepers who care for species that play a vital role in their ecosystems - from vultures acting as the clean-up crew of the savannah, to aardvarks whose digging creates opportunities for a whole host of other species, students will discover how the actions of individual animals can have a much wider impact on the natural world. Students will also explore the concept of 'keystone species', looking at what happened when wolves were deliberately removed from Yellowstone National Park - and the dramatic effect this had across the ecosystem. Along the way, they’ll investigate how species are connected through food chains and food webs, and why the loss of one species can sometimes affect many others.

Learning Objectives

  • Discover the important roles different species play within an ecosystem.
  • Learn what a keystone species is and why some species have an especially important influence on their environment.
  • Explore how food chains and food webs connect species within an ecosystem.
  • Understand how the removal of one species can have knock-on effects across an entire ecosystem.

Q&A

We will have experts from the zoo answering your questions via our interactive app Slido during the live lesson and our presenter will be answering some specially chosen questions LIVE in the Q&A at the end of the lesson!

You can find the links to Slido here on this page and it will also be embedded to the side of the live stream window.

Resources to support this live lesson can be found here!

Don’t forget to share your photos with us on social media using the hashtag #STEMLive and remember to tag @STEMLiveLessons so we can share them!

Interact

You can help your pupils engage and interact with leading STEM experts, by using our live app, Slido!

Either use the Slido window to the right of the stream, or if you prefer, scan the QR code and access Slido on your phone or tablet - enabling you to watch the Live Lesson in full screen.

QR Code

Need Help?

For tech support, please click the relevant button.