At the end of this comprehensive food webs lesson plan, students will be able

to diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains
and food webs. Students will also be able to describe food webs within
marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems. Each lesson is designed using
the 5E method of instruction to ensure maximum comprehension by the
students.

The following post will walk you through each of the steps and activities from
the food webs lesson plan.

ENGAGEMENT
OBJECTIVE INTRODUCTION
At the beginning of the lesson, the class will do a Think-Pair-Share to discuss
the objective.

CLASS ACTIVITY
The teacher will pass out organism signs to students and select a producer,
primary secondary, tertiary, and sun card to come to the front of the room.
The teacher will ask the class to place students in order, diagramming a
whom eats whom situation. The teacher will then connect the chain by using
different color yarn. The different colors represent the energy transferring from
one level to the next. Continue this and create a second food chain.

STUDENT ACTIVITY
Students will combine the food chains to create a food web. Students will
scatter around the classroom. The person holding the sun card will hold one
end of a ball of yarn and transfer energy to all the primary consumers. Primary
consumers will then take a different color yarn and pass their energy to the
secondary consumers. Finally, the secondary consumers will take the third
color yarn and pass their energy to the tertiary consumers. Students will see
that they created a food web.
The teacher will help to clear any misconceptions about food webs. A major
misconception is that students don’t understand that a food chain or food web
is all about the transfer of energy. Students might also not understand that the
further up the food chain/web the less energy is available.

Estimated Class Time for the Engagement: 20-30 minutes

EXPLORATION
This student-centered station lab is set up so students can begin to explore
food webs. Four of the stations are considered input stations where students
are learning new information about food webs, and four of the stations are
output stations where students will be demonstrating their mastery of the input
stations. Each of the stations is differentiated to challenge students using a
different learning style. You can read more about how I set up the station labs
here.

EXPLORE IT!
Students will be working in pairs to recreate the engagement activity that they
went over at the beginning of the food webs lesson. Students will have 2
images that they will be looking at. The first image will require the students to
list 7 organisms that live within a desert ecosystem. Students will explain how
those organisms are related. The second image is the same as the first,
however, includes a desert ecosystem food web. Students will explain how
plants get their energy, the direction of the arrows, and what would the impact
be if the hawk was removed from the web.

WATCH IT!
At this station, students will be watching a 4-minute video describing how
wolves change rivers. Students will then answer questions related to the video
and record their answers on their lab station sheet. For example, name 2
impacts the wolves had on the deer population at Yellowstone, how did the re-
introduction impact tree populations, and how wolves impacted the flow of
rivers in Yellowstone.

RESEARCH IT!
The research station will allow students to get online and participate in an
interactive website about food webs. Students will read about food webs and
what a trophic level means. Students interact with a food web game where
they will drag and drop organisms within an Antarctic food web
template. Once students have placed cards, they can check their answers and
will be given opportunities to fix mistakes. With each concept, students will
answer a few questions to help make the research more concrete.
READ IT!
This station will provide students with a one page reading about food webs. In
the reading students will discover what the term ecology means and methods
of ecological interdependence. Students will also learn from the reading that
the many relationships that occur in an ecosystem that allows organisms to
thrive an survive. There are 4 follow-up questions that the students will
answer to show reading comprehension of the subject.

ASSESS IT!
The assess it station is where students will go to prove mastery over the
concepts they learned in the lab. The questions are set up in a standardized
format with multiple choice answers. Some questions include: what impact
would the food web have if one of its organisms is diseased? Students will
also be using a diagram to answer questions about other impacts to food
webs, what the arrow represents, how can you change the diagram to make it
more accurate?

WRITE IT!
Students who can answer open-ended questions about the lab truly
understand the concepts that are being taught. At this station, the students
will be answering three questions like describing the impact of removing an
organism from a food web, describe the flow of energy in a marine food web,
and explain the reason why humans are dependent on a healthy ecosystem.
ILLUSTRATE IT!
Your visual students will love this station. Students will be creating a sample
food web from an ecosystem they would find at a nearby park. Students will
include the Sun, at least 7 organisms and arrows depicting the flow of energy.

ORGANIZE IT!
The organize it station allows your students to place organisms on a food web
template. The marine food web contains 9 cards that students will place in the
correct order showing the correct flow of energy.
Estimated Class Time for the Exploration: 1-2, 45 minute class periods

EXPLANATION
The explanation activities will become much more engaging for the class once
they have completed the exploration station lab. During the explanation
piece, the teacher will be clearing up any misconceptions about food webs
with an interactive PowerPoint, anchor charts, and interactive notebook
activities. The food webs lesson includes a PowerPoint with activities
scattered throughout to keep the students engaged.
The students will also be interacting with their journals using INB templates for
food webs. Each INB activity is designed to help students compartmentalize
information for a greater understanding of the concept. The food webs INB
template will diagram the flow of energy that takes place in a terrestrial,
freshwater, and marine ecosystem.
Estimated Class Time for the Exploration: 2-3, 45 minute class periods

ELABORATION
The elaboration section of the 5E method of instruction is intended to give
students choice on how they can prove mastery of the concept. When
students are given choice the ‘buy-in’ is much greater than when the teacher
tells them the project they will have to create. Each of the food web projects
will allow students to show their understanding of the flow of energy transfer
from organism to organism.
Estimated Class Time for the Elaboration: 2-3, 45 minute class periods (can
also be used as an at-home project)

EVALUATION
The final piece of the 5E model is to evaluate student
comprehension. Included in every 5E lesson is a homework assignment,
assessment, and modified assessment. Research has shown that homework
needs to be meaningful and applicable to real-world activities in order to be
effective. When possible, I like to give open-ended assessments to truly
gauge the student’s comprehension.

Estimated Class Time for the Elaboration: 1, 45 minute class period

DOWNLOAD THE FULL

LESSON NOW
The full lesson is available for download from my TpT store. Save yourself a
ton of time and grab it now.

RELATED POSTS
EARTHQUAKES LESSON PLAN – A COMPLETE SCIENCE LESSO...

CELL THEORY LESSON PLAN – A COMPLETE SCIENCE LESSO...

PLANT AND ANIMAL CELLS LESSON PLAN – A COMPLETE SC...