Photo credit: Backyard with Fish. Extra Medium | Flickr (http://bit.ly/14k0svv)

Today we have a very special guest post by Anna Zuiker, a middle school student and daughter of a friend to Your Wild Life, Anton Zuiker. Anton recently shared Anna’s poem — an assignment for her science class — on his blog, and we enjoyed it so much that we are re-posting it here, with their permission, for your enjoyment. Thanks, Anna!

When you finish reading, drop us a note in the comments and tell us something cool about the ecology in your own backyard! And so, without further ado, we present…

There is ecology in my back yard!

There was once a world far, far away
a world that we now live in today
It had all these wonderful things
that made the world that we know
so sit back, relax and let it go

It had things like an Ecosystem that were out our door
and animals in their Habitats galore,
it had Carnivores, Herbivores, Omnivores and more
and animals that soar and soar

Things like Abiotic factors, Biotic factors, and trees
That were outside trying to say pretty please
Coniferous trees were out in my yard
And Detrivores were breaking down a card

When winter finally came,
Deciduous trees had
No more leaves on them
And birds went off away to try
and save the day

When all the Community had come back to stay
The Population wanted to play
And so then the animals were gone
Because of the Extinction song

The animals had come back home
To stay and see the Biomes dome
and watch the Consumers dig deep in the ground
until they didn’t make a sound

Many Organisms had come to produce
The things that now had gotten loose
And see the Photosynthesis grow
Into an area where it can flow

When I went outside to water plants,
I saw some Decomposers, which were ants
that were feeding on food on the ground
and a Producer was going round and round

The radio had been saying
that the Endangered Species were swaying
And the Food web
that was usually named Ted

The Species had been breeding and
Nibbling on many seedlings
to get ready for the long winter 
and go simmer

When I went back to school the next day,
I first went to the Energy Pyramid to play
and then go see how much the Food Chain
had gained and that is how Ecology got to be,
The story that we now can see and please!

— Anna Zuiker, May 2013