Ryan Breen Number of Learners: 23

November 2017 Estimated Length of Session: ~65 min

th
5 Grade Curriculum Area: SCI
Mason Rice Elementary School, Newton MA

Food Chain v.s. Food Web

I. PRIOR KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND UNDERSTANDINGS

Before this lesson, students will be very comfortable working together in science groups

and will understand the teamwork we expect when they are working with others. In

addition to this, students know that we are trying to figure out what characteristics

organisms in ponds have to meet their needs. There will have already been a lesson about

microorganisms eating, and students may use knowledge from that during this lesson. In

addition to this, students understand what living things need to survive and will already

know many (if not all) of the animals that we talk about in this lesson.

II. CONTENT TO BE TAUGHT

Students will be learning about 2 new words: Food chain and food web. Though some

students may have prior knowledge about these words, this is the new learning for this

lesson. Students will be creating a food web during this lesson, and the skill of doing so

will also be a new concept to them. The organisms we discuss might also include some

that are new to students as well.

III. RATIONALE
 This lesson will be important to students understanding of how organisms interact within

the pond habitat. It will take more commonly known animals (like lions and hyenas) and

explain what food chains and food webs are based on what students will see in videos. An

important skill that has been emphasized throughout this lesson is for students to be able to

back up their reasoning. Students have to be able to say why they think something, and

work together with a larger group. In addition to this, this lesson provides students with

exposure to partially answering the unit question of what characteristics do pond

organisms have to meet their needs. Though the characteristics of how each organism eats

is not the major focus of the lesson, students will be taking in important information that

does in fact show certain characteristics of organisms meeting their needs (ex. A heron has

to carefully hunt frogs to eat, a turtle needs to be quick to strike at fish). These are all

providing students with a deeper understanding of how the animal lives. This lesson

directly links to the Massachusetts Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum

Framework, by having students learn about how pond organisms eat other organisms in the

pond, and how to show the movement of food within the habitat (MA. SCI. 5-LS2- 1).

IV. GOALS

1. Students will understand what a food chain and a food web are.

2. Students will think critically about where organisms belong on a food chain/web.

V. PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES

1. Given a blank food web, students will place their organism on it based on what they eat.

2. Given a scrap sheet of paper at the end of the lesson, students will write the definitions of

what a food web and what a food chain are.

VI. MATERIALS
Youtube.com (All videos of animals eating: See Appendices A-O)
Links written on paper for students
12 Copies of What is Eats cheat sheet (See Appendix P)
Whiteboard and markers
Large poster paper
Markers
12 pieces of white paper
12 computers
Tape
Pencils

VII. PROCEDURE

OPENER 30 min

1. Students will sit at the rug, and the teacher will have the goals and objectives displayed for

them on the board. Volunteer students will read these aloud for the class.

2. The teacher will ask students to remind them of some of the things we discussed in prior

lessons about what organisms need to survive that we talked about. The students will be

given a quiet 30 second think time before volunteers begin sharing. (Expected Responses:

Food, need water, need energy, need organs, need to respond to things).

3. The teacher will agree with the students and say: Yes these are all things that organisms

need to survive, but today we are going to focus on eating and talk about food chains and

food webs. Now we have talked a lot about how some microorganisms eat, and keep those

ideas we came up with in mind. But does anyone have any idea of what either of those

words mean? (Expected responses: Who eats who, What an organism eats, Where the

food comes from, Who is a predator, Who is prey.)

4. The teacher will agree and say: great so some of you already have some ideas about what

these are. Dont worry if you dont, because we are going to be working with these words

today and try to understand them when thinking about organisms living in a pond.

5. The teacher will then write on the corner of a board, Food Chain and say: We are going

to watch 2 videos now and see an example of a food chain. This food chain is not from a

pond ecosystem, but they will follow the rules of what a food chain is. Try to think about

what a food chain might mean as we watch, I will write down the organisms we see on the

board.

6. The teacher will play the Youtube.com video of a lion hunting a wildebeest (See

Appendix A). The teacher will stop the video at 30 seconds, and ask the students what

they saw (Expected Responses: The lion was hunting the wildebeest.) The teacher will

write down lion and wildebeest on the board, and draw an arrow connecting them.

7. The teacher will then play the video of an antelope grazing (See Appendix B). Then they

will ask the students what they saw (Expected Response: It was eating the grass.) The

teacher will agree and write Grass on the board and rephrase what the students said

about the wildebeest eating the grass as they draw an arrow connecting it to the grass.

8. The teacher will then have students turn and talk to decide what a food chain is based on

what we came up with on the board. After a minute, the teacher will call on volunteers to

share (Expected Responses: It is when one organism eats another and then it shows what

they eat too, It connects animals and shows who eats who.) The teacher will agree and

say: Yes absolutely, a food chain shows a single path of how one organism eats another,
 and then what that organism eats too (Sciencebob.com). Now keep this in mind as we talk

about what a food web is.

9. The teacher will then write food web on the other side of the board, and then say: Im

going to show you another video now, and try to think again about what it might make you

think a food web is. Ill give you all a hint too, the food web we are going to talk about for

this example will include the lion, wildebeest, and grass too! The teacher will also write

Lion, Wildebeest, and grass under food web on the board.

10. The teacher will then play the video of a hyena hunting wildebeest (See Appendix C), and

will start it at 0:39 and end it at 1:12. The teacher will then ask students what they saw

(Expected Responses: The hyena was hunting the wildebeest, just like the lion.)

11. The teacher will agree and write hyena on the board next to lion, and then rephrase what

the student said: Yup, the hyena was hunting the wildebeest because they eat it as well. As

they do this, they will draw an arrow connecting hyena to wildebeest.

12. The teacher will then tell the students that they in fact have started a food web for the

African Savannah, and that we could continue to add organisms to it as we did and it

would still be a food web (model board See Appendix Q).

13. The teacher will ask the students about what they think a food web is based on what we

discussed and can see on the board. Students will be directed to turn and talk.

14. After 30 seconds, the teacher will take ideas (Expected Responses: It is when multiple

things can eat the same food and youre showing that, it connects animals in different food

paths, it shows who is a predator and who is prey.) The teacher will agree and say: Yes, a

food web shows interconnected paths of what organisms eat, and how multiple organisms
 can have the same food source (or be eaten by different things) It is also important to

remember that on a food web, not all things will be connected to each other.

(Sciencebob.com).

15. Now today, we are going to use the knowledge we just discussed and attempt to make a

huge food web for the pond ecosystem.

16. The teacher will explain that students will be in pairs and will be given an organism from

the pond habitat, a computer, and a video link to watch and see what the organism eats.

The teacher will tell students that after they do this, they will draw their organism and be

prepared to put it on our food web at the end of the lesson and explain what they eat. The

teacher will go over the expectations for the computers and will tell students once they

watch the short clips they will close the computers and bring them back to the computer

cart.

17. The teacher will then call students by pairs to the front of the room and give them their

organisms name, a computer, and the video link (and time) written on a piece of paper.

18. Students will then go to their seats to work.

DEVELOPMENT 15 min

19. After watching the video with their partner (See Appendices D-O), students will be given

a What it Eats cheat sheet (See Appendix P) and write down a script of what they will

tell the class about what their organism eats.

20. Students will also be given a piece of white paper and markers to draw their organism.

21. After 18 minutes have passed, the teacher will call the students to the rug with their

drawings and cheat sheets.

CLOSURE 20 min

22. The teacher will tell the students that they will 1. Place their organism on the poster paper

and 2. Explain what it eats. After this, the next volunteers will go and do the same thing.

The teacher will ask the Herron group to start.

23. After all students have shared, they will work as a group to tape the drawings in the correct

spots and decide where each organism belongs based on what it eats. The teacher will take

an active role in organizing students if this lesson becomes too unorganized by asking

each group to re-state what their organism eats and then move it near their food.

24. Once all organisms are in the right place and taped down, the teacher will draw all the

arrows based on the students directions.

25. After this, students will be asked to write down the definition of a food chain and a food

web on a piece of paper at their seat. The teacher will use this as assessment to see who

may need further instruction.

26. The next day, the teacher will have taken a picture of the food web the class created and

give each student a copy for reference.

VIII. ACCOMMODATIONS

I believe every student in the class should be able to accomplish all parts of this lesson. I

will however write What is a food chain? and What is a food web for some students

on scrap paper, as they might be unsure of what they are writing without directions.

XI. EVALUATION

Observation and student check-ins will serve as an important assessment for the teacher

during this lesson. The teacher will be walking around the room to make sure both
 students are contributing, they are able to explain why they think their organism belongs

where it does on the food chain, and that they are following the computer expectations. In

addition to this, the teacher will read through the scrap paper responses at the end of the

lesson, to make sure that all students know what a food chain and what a food web are. If

any students does not, the teacher will provide additional explanation, and may call the

students over during snack to discuss.

X. EXTENSION (Homework Assignment 2)

For homework, students will be challenged to write down 3 different food chains and one

food web from anywhere in the world. During morning meeting the next day, students will

share with their group. This will serve as additional practice and confirmation that all

students understand what these 2 terms mean.

XI. REFERENCES

[Awfulpayne]. (2016, August 3). War of the Tadpoles and Mosquito Larva - in a flower pot tray.

[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SsAZc3LT0g

[Childonias]. (2008, April 9). Frog Catching Fly. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRVr10-Wk

[Conservative New Media]. (2012, July 26). Wildebeests eating grass. [Video File]. Retrieved

from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kckj7__stZk

[FirefishingTV]. (2017, January 28). Amazing hawk catching fish! [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpyrQ69uFSI&t=17s

[grandchildren4ify]. (2011, August 13). Crayfish eating a worm. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtyatjvWQ_Q
[gr84play]. (2007, June 24). Fishing Coyote. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCd09VyQbE

[LeonCountyFL]. (2013, April 5). The Mosquito Fish in Action! [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yop2McysArs

[Luxe Adventure Traveller]. (2014, April 9). Hyenas Hunt Wildebeest in the Serengeti. [Video

File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEhXsJcin4

[Paul Lawrence]. (2105, April 21). Ducks eating fish in the bathtub. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MRlYJTrPk

[Petr Hustk]. (2014, August 14). Dragonfly Catching and Eating a Mosquito. [Video File].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eY0RBPKxM0

[Samanthugg]. (2013, May 28). Ninja the turtle eating goldfish. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVvsu2LHlc

[tnlgeefamily]. (2012, December 9). Snake Eating Fish in Pond. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LYLIoNcTg

[Uzoo]. (2012, March 1). Wild Animals: Lions Chase Wildebeest. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmv516y6s0w

[Wandering Sole Images]. (2013, April 26). Great Blue Heron Hunting and Eating a Large Frog ~

Not For The Squeamish. [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChjtPSm4wHo

[Zoologist2007]. (2007, August 12). Cane Toad (Bufo Marinus) eating Mouse. [Video File].

Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQv__Gd7Q

XII. APPENDIX

A. Lion hunting wildebeest video (stop at 0:30)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmv516y6s0w

B. Wildebeest grazing video (full video) \

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kckj7__stZk

C. Hyena hunting wildebeest video (start 0:39 end 1:12)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSEhXsJcin4

D. Turtle hunting fish video (Start 2:26 end 2:56)

-Remind students that even though this shows a fish tank, they eat fish in the wild too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxVvsu2LHlc

E. Mosquitofish eating mosquito larvae (full video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yop2McysArs

F. Frog catching a fly (Full video)

-remind students they can re-watch this, possibly point out where fly is if students cant see it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2KRVr10-Wk

G. Heron catching a frog (stop at 0:42)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChjtPSm4wHo

H. Dragonfly eating a mosquito (Full video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eY0RBPKxM0

I. Snake eating a fish (end at 0:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6LYLIoNcTg

J. Ducks eating fish (start 0:15 end 0:36)

-Remind students that even though this is in a bathtub, they also eat fish in the wild.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7MRlYJTrPk

K. Tadpoles eating mosquito larvae (end 0:50)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SsAZc3LT0g

L. Hawk catching fish (end 0:20)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpyrQ69uFSI&t=17s
M. Coyote catching fish (end at 0:23)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjCd09VyQbE

N. Toad eating mouse (end at 0:09)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DnQv__Gd7Q

O. Crayfish eating a worm (end 0:15)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtyatjvWQ_Q
P. What it Eats cheat sheet

What it Eats Cheat Sheet

Partner Names :______________________________& ___________________________________

Write down what your organism ate in the video. Be ready to share this
information with the class at the end of the lesson.
Q: Model food web and food chain drawn on board.

Food Chain Food Web

Lion Hyena Lion

Wildebeest Wildebeest

Grass Grass