Students find evidence of a food chain that exists within the school’s Habitat Lab and create a model to show the transfer of matter and energy within the environment between producers, consumers, and decomposers.
| Click on the maroon links to access free educational materials: |
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| Lesson Plans | ALSDE Standards Taught | |
| Activity Page #1: Find a Food Chain – General Plant or Animal (or as Word Doc) | |
| Activity Page #2: Find a Food Chain – Decomposer (or as Word Doc) with Answer Page #2 |
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| Outdoor Activity Materials: activity pages, clipboards, pencils, copies of field identification guides | |
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Step 1: Engage through Discussion
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| Engage the students and capture their interests with an Interactive Q&A (or as PDF) that allows you to click through the questions one at a time. You can gauge your students’ understanding of the topic as they answer the questions. Print and use the Q&A Info Sheet (or as Word Doc) to anticipate the next question in the Interactive Q&A and to guide the conversation with the students. (Note: For the PowerPoint (PPT), click “Slide Show” & “From Beginning” to display the questions and answers separately.) |
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Use these tools to continue the discussion:
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Step 2: Explore with Literature
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| As you read these books, you can further explore the topic and discuss your students’ experiences and knowledge around the topic:Pass the Energy, Please! by Barbara Shaw McKinney Laura Marsh ISBN: 978-10:1584690023Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfelds ISBN: 978-0385753647 OR Watch the Author Read it on YouTube |
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| Step 3: Explain with an Educational Video | |
| Use these educational videos to help explain the topic in more detail: | |
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| Step 4: Elaborate with a Field Investigation in the Habitat Lab | |
| Students apply what they have learned as they investigate the topic in your Habitat Lab and record their real-world observations on their activity page: | |
| Version #1: Find a Food Chain – General Plant or Animal |
Version #2: Find a Food Chain – Decomposer |
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Activity Tip
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| Version #1 – Find a Food Chain: General Plant or Animal Activity Page: PDF (as is) / Word Doc (editable)Procedure Indoor Discussion:
Outdoor Discovery:
Indoor Discussion:
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| Version #2 – Find a Food Chain: Decomposer Activity Page: PDF (as is) / Word Doc (editable)Procedure Indoor Discussion:
Outdoor Discovery:
Indoor Discussion:
Optional Extension:
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| Step 5: Evaluate with an Assessment Activity | ||
| Review and assess the students’ observations and answers on their observation pages:
Evaluate the students’ understanding of the topic with the following assessment tool:
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Questions? Contact us.
