5E Food Web Lesson

Lesson Objective(s):

The student will:

Identify the sun as the source of virtually all of the energy available to living
things on Earth;
Understand the direction of flow within an energy pyramid;
Understand that energy pyramids get smaller toward the top because
energy is inefficiently transferred from one level to the next;
Know that only about 10% of the energy available actually makes it to the
next level
Create food webs of their own in small groups;
Know that if one member of a food web is disrupted or altered, that
perturbation is felt throughout the entire web;
Compare their food webs in class;
Be able to draw a food web with arrows indicating the direction of flow of
energy.

Target Grade Level: 7th

TEKS:
Science:
5) Matter and energy. The student knows that interactions occur between
matter and energy. The student is expected to:
(A) recognize that radiant energy from the Sun is transformed into
chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis;
(B) demonstrate and explain the cycling of matter within living
systems such as in the decay of biomass in a compost bin; and
(C) diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food
chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.
Technology:
1) Creativity and innovation. The student uses creative thinking and
innovative processes to construct knowledge, generate new ideas, and
create products. The student is expected to:
(A) Identify, create, and use files in various formats such as text,
raster and vector graphics, video and audio files;
(B) Create and present original works as a means of personal or
group expression
Mathematics:
13) Underlying processes and mathematical tools. The student applies
Grade 7 mathematics to solve problems connected to everyday
experiences, investigations in other disciplines, and activities in and outside
of school. The student is expected to:

(A) Identify and apply mathematics to everyday experiences, to

activities in and outside of school, with other disciplines, and with
other mathematical topics;
(B) Use a problem solving model that incorporates understanding
the problem, making a plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluating
the solution for reasonableness;

Materials Needed:
String is needed for food webs to be constructed by each of the groups into
which the class is divided. Groups of 5 to 10 are recommended.

1. Engagement:
Describe how the teacher will capture students interest.
What kind of questions should the students ask themselves after the
engagement?

The teacher will capture students interest by asking thought provoking questions
as well as showing interesting pictures. The teacher is also gaining attention by
playing out a scenario through class discussion.
Start by asking the students if they have ever heard the word ecology. What does it
mean? Then, introduce the concept of an ecosystem. Tell them that theyre going to
learn about parts of an ecosystem interacting.
Ask students why do things eat? (Show a picture of a predator eating its prey or
short exciting clip.) The students should be guided to the conclusion: to gain
energy. Next, show a picture or have the students think of a field of grass. Ask
where the grass gets its energy. Now, have the students think about a bison that
comes along and eats the grass. Then tell them a human comes along and eats the
bison. Ask, which way is energy moving? (Energy moves from what is being eaten
to the eater.)
Now, tell the kids that one bison has 100 units of energy in it. Ask, how many bison
would a person need to eat to get all 100 Es? Allow some time for the students to
come up with their answers. They can discuss with their partner or group first and
then once share their hypothesis with the class. The answer is 10 and the teacher
should tell them that once they share their results. Now, show the students an
energy pyramid. The teacher should explain that the reason why the pyramid gets
smaller toward the top is because only a small amount of the energy available at
the level below is passed to the level above. The rate of energy exchange is about
10%, so if there are 1000 Es in the grass, the bison gets about 100 Es and the
person in turn gets about 10 Es. The remaining energy (90%) is either

1) lost as heat 2) not consumed 3) lost via excretion. Ask where all the Es are
coming from again. Emphasis is needed on the fact that energy comes from the
sun supplying everything.
Students should ask themselves, How does energy make its way from the Sun to
the muscle cells in a persons body? They should have a general idea now from
the engagement.

2. Exploration:
Describe what hands-on/minds-on activities students will be doing.
List at least 2 questions the teacher may use to encourage and/or focus
students exploration.
Students will be constructing a food web consisting of 5 or 6 organisms. The
students are to draw a food web using arrows to indicate the direction of energy
flow. If students are confusing the direction of the arrow, ask which way is the
energy flowing? to prompt them.
Students are broken into smaller groups, at least 5 per group. Have the students to
choose an ecosystem. Now, ask the group members to think of a plant or tree in
that ecosystem. Have the individual who thought of the plant first take one end of
the string.
Next, ask the remaining members of the groups to think of something that relies
upon that plant. Run the string from the first group member to the student who first
comes up with an organism. Continue this process until the string is connecting all
members of the group. This is to illustrate a food web.
Now, ask the students to think of some kind of a disturbance that would affect one
part of the food web. For example, a fire burns all of one of the plants. Have
whichever group that was affected pull on the string. In this case it was the student
that represented the plants. Then ask every group member who felt the tug to, in
turn, tug on the string themselves. This should be repeated until all group members
are tugging on the string.

3. Explanation:
List at least 2 higher order thinking questions which teachers may use
to solicit STUDENT explanations and help them to justify their
explanations
Student explanations should precede introduction of scientific terms or
explanations by the teacher. What questions or techniques will the
teacher use to help students connect their exploration to the scientific
concept under examination?
Bring students back as a group. Ask the students What have you learned from this
exercise, what was the point of it? Follow with, Why? and Can you justify your
response? The teacher also needs to ask What happened when a part of the food

web was disturbed? and What does this mean? Ask students to provide a real life
example of a disturbance in a food web that goes on to affect the rest of the web.
For instance, if a farmer kills all the insects in an area, all of the birds that eat the
insect will have to look for other food, the plants that rely on the insect for
pollination will be affected, etc. Ask students, What would happen if all
photosynthesis on the planet stopped? and Explain your reasoning please.

4. Elaboration:
Describe how students will develop a more sophisticated understanding
of the concept.
What terminology will be introduced and how will it connect to
students observations?
How is this knowledge applied or in our daily lives?
Students will develop a more sophisticated understanding by completing a research
project. They will choose an ecosystem and construct a food web involving at least
15 organisms from that particular ecosystem. How they present their food web will
be their choice. However, their presentation must include a visual, use of
technology, a summary over their ecosystem, key points for each organism on how
they provide/consume energy. Along with these necessities the students must
develop three different scenarios in which one part of the food web is disturbed in
each scenario. They will need to explain what would happen to the rest of the food
web because of this disturbance. This project will take course over two weeks. The
teacher will provide research time during class in the computer lab.
Terminology to be introduced includes: ecosystem, ecology, energy pyramid, and
food web.
Energy flows constantly. Humans receive energy from what they eat with all begins
from the energy from the sun. Students should know comprehend their energy
source as it is essential to their survival. Students also need to understand this
concept because if a part of the food web that they are involved in is disturbed or
altered then they will be affected. Human activities affect ecosystems all the time
and with this knowledge they will be able to make better choices and not potentially
affect an ecosystem.

5. Evaluation:
How will students demonstrate that they have achieved the
lesson objective?
This may be done throughout the lesson as well as at the end of
the lesson.
The teacher will evaluate students by their responses to questions and comments
during class discussions. The food web that the students created in class with their
group will be evaluated as well. Also the teacher will grade their research project
based on a rubric that was provided to the students.

References:
Morton, J. (n.d.). Energy Pyramids and Food Webs. Retrieved from Project
Extremes:
http://cires.colorado.edu/education/outreach/extremes/documents/Morton
%20Food%20Web.pdf