Lesson Plans

Life Science

Author(s) Wendy Compton

Grade Level: 4th grade

Integrated disciplines: Reading, Writing, Science

NE Standards:

-Develop an understanding of living things and environments.

Objectives:

Students will be able to:

-Diagram a food chain.
-Explain how environmental changes affect behavior and survival of living things.
-To be able to create a food chain from producer to carnivore.

Assessment:

-Tests
-Worksheets
-Interactive Games

Materials:

- Notecards with vocabulary on it
- Half sheet with questions
- computers with internet access
- Optional: clay, materials for paper mache

Procedures

Anticipatory Set:

Ask 3 volunteers to stand in front of the class. Each student will receive a notecard with a word on it. (Examples: cow, human, grass = grass, cow, human) Volunteers will then have 30 seconds to arrange themselves in order from first to last in terms of growth and consumption. Have students determine if volunteers are in the correct order. This was an example of a food chain.

Learning Activities

Teacher:

1. Review and discuss terms: food chain, producer, consumer, herbivore, omnivore,
carnivore.
2. Teacher will direct students through inquiry process using the following questions:
Who is the producer of the food chain?
What herbivore would eat this producer?
What omnivore would eat the herbivore?
What carnivore would eat the omnivore?

Students:

Students will then arrange food chain using http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm website.
They will share their web generated food chains with the class.

Provision for special needs:

To allow for differentiation in instruction; students could create a 3-D food chain by making models of organisms in their food chain using mediums such as clay or paper mache. Each group will present their food chain in front of the whole group.

Closure:

Think, Pair, Share

What kinds of things do you need to know before creating a food chain? What is the order of a food chain? Is an omnivore always present in food chain?

References:

http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm
http://www.kidskonnect.com/FoodChain/FoodChainHome.html
http://www.scholastic.com/magicschoolbus/games/teacher/eaten.index.htm

Reflection:

I chose to use the \"Create a Food Chain\" from the vtaide website because I think that doing an activity hands-on is the best way to remember something. I want students to be able to place a plant or animal on the food chain. This activity will keep them involved in the lesson.

Send E-Mail to wcompton31@csm.edu

Last updated 05/13/2008