Grade 4 Science Unit: 08 Lesson: 02 Suggested Duration: 8 days Science Grade 04 Unit 08 Exemplar Lesson 02: Food Webs Science Grade 04 Unit 08 Exemplar Lesson 02: Food Webs This lesson is one approach to teaching the State Standards associated with this unit. Districts are encouraged to customize this lesson by supplementing with district-approved resources, materials, and activities to best meet the needs of learners. The duration for this lesson is only a recommendation, and districts may modify the time frame to meet students’ needs. To better understand how your district may be implementing CSCOPE lessons, please contact your child’s teacher. (For your convenience, please find linked the TEA Commissioner’s List of State Board of Education Approved Instructional Resources and Midcycle State Adopted Instructional Materials.) Lesson Synopsis Students will develop food webs and food chains and discover how interactions between living organisms and nonliving components impact an ecosystem. TEKS The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) listed below are the standards adopted by the State Board of Education, which are required by Texas law. Any standard that has a strike-through (e.g. sample phrase ) indicates that portion of the standard is taught in a previous or subsequent unit. The TEKS are available on the Texas Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148. 4.9 Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to: 4.9B Describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the food web such as a fire in a forest. Scientific Process TEKS 4.2 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during laboratory and outdoor investigations. The student is expected to: 4.2F Communicate valid, oral, and written results supported by data. 4.3 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make informed decisions. The student is expected to: 4.3C Represent the natural world using models such as rivers, stream tables, or fossils and identify their limitations, including accuracy and size. 4.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools, materials, equipment, and models to conduct science inquiry. The student is expected to: 4.4A Collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including calculators, microscopes, cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers, Celsius thermometers, mirrors, spring scales, pan balances, triple beam balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, hot plates, meter sticks, compasses, magnets, collecting nets, and notebooks timing devices, including clocks and stopwatches materials to support observation of habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums. GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION Performance Indicators Grade 04 Science Unit 08 PI 02 Using the diorama of the ecosystem created earlier, select a member to remove from the ecosystem. Write a mock interview with one of the remaining members about how this has affected its life and its home. Write a news report based on the interview. Standard(s): 4.2F , 4.9B ELPS ELPS.c.3E , ELPS.c.4G , ELPS.c.5F Key Understandings Changes to an ecosystem can affect the flow of energy through food webs. — How do nonliving elements of an ecosystem interact with living organisms? — How do nonliving elements of an ecosystem interact with other nonliving objects? — What is being passed on in a food chain or food web? Vocabulary of Instruction energy photosynthesis food chain food web producer consumer primary consumer secondary consumer Sun niche change Last Updated 05/28/13 page 1 of 20
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Grade 4
Science
Unit: 08
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 8 days
Science Grade 04 Unit 08 Exemplar Lesson 02: Food WebsScience Grade 04 Unit 08 Exemplar Lesson 02: Food Webs
This lesson is one approach to teaching the State Standards associated with this unit. Districts are encouraged to customize this lesson by
supplementing with district-approved resources, materials, and activities to best meet the needs of learners. The duration for this lesson is only a
recommendation, and districts may modify the time frame to meet students’ needs. To better understand how your district may be implementing CSCOPElessons, please contact your child’s teacher. (For your convenience, please find linked the TEA Commissioner’s List of State Board of Education
Approved Instructional Resources and Midcycle State Adopted Instructional Materials.)
Lesson Synopsis
Students will develop food webs and food chains and discover how interactions between living organisms and nonliving components impact an
ecosystem.
TEKS
The Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) listed below are the standards adopted by the State Board of Education, which are required by Texas
law. Any standard that has a strike-through (e.g. sample phrase) indicates that portion of the standard is taught in a previous or subsequent unit. The
TEKS are available on the Texas Education Agency website at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148.
4.9 Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem interact
with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to:
4.9B Describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in the ecosystem
affect the food web such as a fire in a forest.
Scientific Process TEKS
4.2 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses scientific inquiry methods during laboratory and outdoor
investigations. The student is expected to:
4.2F Communicate valid, oral, and written results supported by data.
4.3 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student uses critical thinking and scientific problem solving to make
informed decisions. The student is expected to:
4.3C Represent the natural world using models such as rivers, stream tables, or fossils and identify their limitations, including accuracy and size.
4.4 Scientific investigation and reasoning. The student knows how to use a variety of tools, materials, equipment, and
models to conduct science inquiry. The student is expected to:
4.4A Collect, record, and analyze information using tools, including calculators, microscopes, cameras, computers, hand lenses, metric rulers,
Celsius thermometers, mirrors, spring scales, pan balances, triple beam balances, graduated cylinders, beakers, hot plates, meter sticks,
compasses, magnets, collecting nets, and notebooks timing devices, including clocks and stopwatches materials to support observation of
habitats of organisms such as terrariums and aquariums.
GETTING READY FOR INSTRUCTION
Performance Indicators
Grade 04 Science Unit 08 PI 02
Using the diorama of the ecosystem created earlier, select a member to remove from the ecosystem. Write a mock interview with one of the remaining members about how
this has affected its life and its home. Write a news report based on the interview.
Standard(s): 4.2F , 4.9B
ELPS ELPS.c.3E , ELPS.c.4G , ELPS.c.5F
Key Understandings
Changes to an ecosystem can affect the flow of energy through food webs.
— How do nonliving elements of an ecosystem interact with living organisms?— How do nonliving elements of an ecosystem interact with other nonliving objects?— What is being passed on in a food chain or food web?
1. Write the name of organisms on index cards, or cut out the organisms from the Handout: Creating Food Chains from Lesson 01 and glue onto
index cards.
2. Preview the instructions on the Teacher Resource: Food Chains and Food Webs. Students will be engaged in a web building activity.
3. Locate and preview either a book or a video about change to an ecosystem.
4. Prepare attachment(s) as necessary.
Background Information
Within the living environment, students know and understand that living organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment. Students will
recognize that plants and animals have basic needs and that basic needs are met through a flow of energy known as food chains, food webs, or food pyramids.
This lesson bundles SEs that address food webs and the consequences of change in an ecosystem.
During this lesson, students will be investigating the distinctions between the basic needs of producers and consumers. Students will be looking more deeply into ecosystems
by extending their descriptions to include food webs. The content of this lesson directly provides the foundation for Readiness Standards in Grade 5 that addresses the way in
which organisms live and survive within an ecosystem, as well as describing the flow of energy derived from the Sun.
INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES
Instructional Procedures
ENGAGE – Food Chains and Food Webs
Notes for Teacher
NOTE: 1 Day = 50 minutes
Suggested Day 1
1. Remind students to make and record observations of the descriptive investigation that
the teacher set up for observation from the previous lesson. Additionally, studentsMaterials:
should make and record observations of their terrarium from Lesson 01.
2. Using the Teacher Resource: Food Chains and Food Webs as a guide, conduct the
activity on creating food webs.
3. When the food web is complete, ask the following guiding questions:
In what way is our model of an ecosystem realistic? It shows the interactions
between species, shows the interactions between plants and animals, and has
some diversity.
What are the limitations of our model? It does not represent the diversity of a
real ecosystem. It has living components, but no nonliving components. There is
only one or two of each organism; whereas in a real ecosystem, there would be
several of one species present.
What do you think would happen if one species was removed from the
web? Allow several students to answer.
How does the energy flow in this system? The energy flows from the Sun to
the producer (plants) and then to consumers (primary, secondary, and possibly
tertiary).
4. Instruct one student to release their strand of yarn (the grass, for example). Next,
instruct the organisms who were connected to the grass to let go of their piece of yarn
(for example, the deer or the grasshopper). Follow that with instructions for any
organism who was connected to the primary consumer to let go of their piece of yarn.
Continue to have students drop the yarn if they were directly connected to the
previous organism.
Ask:
What does the releasing of the yarn represent? It represents the chain
reaction in an ecosystem, if even one organism’s population is changed. The entirecommunity of organisms has been altered.
5. Instruct the producers to wind up their length(s) of yarn and return them to you. In
addition, students should return the organism name cards (or pictures) to you.
6. Display one of the food web charts that a student group created in the previous
lesson. Verify that energy flow arrows were included. If they were not, ask students to
add them to the chart.
Ask:
What do the arrows represent in a food chain or food web?They represent
the flow of energy from one source to the next. All food chains should start at the
Sun, flow to the producer, and then to the various consumer levels.
What are the consequences if _______________organism is removed from
the food chain? (Choose an organism to remove.) Students should
communicate the changes in terms of increasing or decreasing populations.
In the example above, if the rabbit was removed, the fox would rely on frogs as its only source of
energy. The frog population would decrease and eventually, the fox population would decrease
because of lack of food. The grass population would increase because there are fewer rabbits
relying on it as an energy source.
7. Ask:
What are the consequences if _______________organism is removed from
the food web? (Choose an organism to remove.)
In the example above, if the rabbit was removed, the fox would rely on frogs as its
only source of energy. The frog population would decrease and eventually, the fox
population would decrease because of lack of food. The grass population would
increase because there are fewer rabbits relying on it as an energy source.
Additionally, the hawk would have to rely on the snake for its source of energy. The
index cards (enough for 1 per student in the class)
yarn (1 skein per class)
scissors (1 pair per teacher)
charts created by students (from the Elaborate
section of Lesson 01)
Attachments:
Optional Handout: Creating Food Chains (see
Advance Preparation, 1 per teacher)
Teacher Resource: Food Chains and Food Webs
Instructional Note:
Students should be recognizing that the removal of an organism
from a food chain has many negative effects and the removal of the
same organism from a food web can be catastrophic for the
ecosystem.
Science Notebooks:
Students should add a reflection about the consequences of
removing one organism from an environment.
Grade 4
Science
Unit: 08
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 8 days
Last Updated 05/28/13 page 3 of 20
snake population would decrease. The decrease in the snake population would
lead to roadrunners needing to rely on frogs, lizards, and grasshoppers as food
sources. The frog population had already decreased, so the grasshopper and
lizard populations would now decrease. Since the frog, grasshopper, and lizard
populations have decreased, the ant population would increase. The grass
population would also increase because there are fewer animals relying on it as a
source of energy.
ENGAGE/ EXPLORE – Vocabulary Terms Suggested Day 2
1. Pair students with a work partner. The students are in pairs to collaborate and
communicate with each other about the terms.
2. Distribute the Handout: Vocabulary Flash Cards and a paper clip to each student.
Instruct students to carefully cut out the cards, and create verbal/visual cards for the
terms shown. The term is at the top of the page. Students should create a visual that
represents the term on the card.
3. Once all the visuals are completed, instruct students to clip their cards together. They
will be using them again during this class session.
4. Project the Handout: Vocabulary Flash Cards. Using a method compatible with your
students’ mode of learning, facilitate the development of a definition for each of thewords on the handout (see Instructional Notes). Record the definitions of each term as
they are developed by the students. The definitions could be recorded on chart paper
or another visual form for students to view.
5. Once all the terms have been defined, instruct students to unclip the verbal/visual
cards and write the appropriate definition on the back of each card (Write the
definition that corresponds to the term on the front.).
6. During the remainder of the lesson, students should have multiple opportunities to
review the terms.
Materials:
paper clip (to hold vocabulary cards, 1 per students
scissors (1 per pair of students)
colored pencils (1 pack per pair of students)
paper (chart, 1 piece per class) – Optional
Attachments:
Handout: Vocabulary Flash Cards (1 per student
and 1 for projection)
Check For Understanding:
This activity can be used as a formative assessment of student
understanding.
Instructional Notes:
There are many methods of vocabulary instruction to choose from,
such as the Frayer model and six-step process by Robert Marzano
and using meaningful word parts, brainstorming, or vocabulary
discussions.
Science Notebooks:
Students can store the terms in their science notebooks by creating
a pocket directly in the notebook.
EXPLORE/EXPLAIN – Changes in an Ecosystem Suggested Days 3 and 4
1. Remind students to continue to make and record observations of the descriptive
investigation that the teacher set up for observation. Additionally, students should
make and record observations of their terrarium from Lesson 01.
2. Say:
We have been learning about food chains in different ecosystems.
As a review, let’s recall the different ecosystems that you have learnedabout and could describe.
Before we discuss this as a class, I want you to record in your science
notebooks as many different ecosystems as you can recall.
3. Allow 3–5 minutes for students to create a list. If students need an example to get them
Materials:
chart paper (to record information about different
ecosystems, per class)
Attachments:
Handout: Ecosystem Elaboration (1 per group)
Teacher Resource: Ecosystem Elaboration
Model KEY
Teacher Resource: Ecosystem Elaboration
Grade 4
Science
Unit: 08
Lesson: 02
Suggested Duration: 8 days
Last Updated 05/28/13 page 4 of 20
started, you could remind them of the ecosystems they discussed in the last lesson,
such as desert and pond ecosystems.
4. After students have created their lists, choose several students to identify and
describe one feature of an ecosystem. As students provide the information, record the
information on the chart paper. A 2-column T-chart would be an appropriate organizer
for this information. The name of the ecosystem should be on the left. More
information will be added as the EXPLORE/EXPLAIN progresses.
5. Ask:
What events would cause change in an ecosystem? Student answers will
vary, depending on background knowledge and experiences. Some events may
include fires, floods, volcanic eruptions, climate changes (warmer or cooler), and
What organism did you remove? ___________________________________ KEY
X Does not apply
D Decrease
I Increase
U Unchanged
Using the KEY above, predict what your group thinks will happen to each of the organisms in the food web when your organism is removed. In the space below, explain why you made those predictions. Also, predict what you think will happen to the nonliving components of the ecosystem.
owl X rabbit D X D I I I mouse X cricket X wheat X grass X
What organism did you remove? rabbit KEY
X Does not apply
D Decrease
I Increase
U Unchanged
Using the KEY above, predict what your group thinks will happen to each of the organisms in the food web when your organism is removed. In the space below, explain why you made those predictions. Also, predict what you think will happen to the nonliving components of the ecosystem.
Owls would decrease because they eat rabbits. Mice would decrease because the owls would eat more of them. Crickets may increase because there are not as many mice. (Remember, the mice are now the owl’s main and only dish.) Wheat and grass may increase because they are not being eaten by rabbits anymore. The additional crickets will eat more wheat and grass. There may be less erosion of the soil because there will be more wheat and other grasses to hold the soil in place.
Using the diorama of the ecosystem created earlier; select a member to remove from the ecosystem. Write a mock interview with one of the remaining members about how this has affected its life and its home. Write a news report based on the interview. (4.2F; 4.9B)
3E; 4G; 5F
Materials:
prepared diorama (from previous Performance Indicator) paper (lined, 2–3 sheets per student)
Instructional Procedures:
1. Allow students to access the diorama they created in the previous Performance Indicator (Unit 08 Lesson 01).
2. Instruct students to choose one organism to remove from their ecosystem and another organism to mock interview. Students should write a series of questions and answers explaining how the removal of the one organism has affected the entire ecosystem, from the perspective of the organism being interviewed.
3. Students should then prepare a news report based on the interview to share with the class.
4. Share Performance Indicator rubric or expectations with students prior to students beginning the assessment.
5. Answer any questions students may have regarding the assessment.
Instructional Notes:
The writing in this Performance Indicator supports the Grade 4 ELAR TEKS: (4.18) Students write expository and procedural or work-related texts to communicate ideas and information to specific audiences for specific purposes. Students are expected to: (A) Create brief compositions that: (i) establish a central idea in a topic sentence (ii) include supporting sentences with simple facts, details, and explanations (iii) contain a concluding statement