Activity/Project Title: Food Chains                            

Subject Area:  Science                Grade Level:  6th    

Lesson Length/Number of Sessions: 4 one-hour sessions                

Content (Concept/Understanding or Skill/Ability):  Food chains and the

order of organisms in a food chain; food is fuel/energy                        

Prerequisites:    Basics of Google Search and Google Docs Presentation

Google Earth Tutorials http://earth.google.com/intl/en/userguide/v4/tutorials/index.html                                                          State Standards addressed:  5. Organisms in ecosystems exchange energy and

nutrients among themselves and with the environment. As a basis for understanding

this concept: a. Students know energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by

producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis and then from organism to

organism through food webs.  b.  Students know matter is transferred over time from one

organism to others in the food web and between organisms and the physical environment.

c.  Students know populations of organisms can be categorized by the functions they

serve in an ecosystem. d.  Students know different kinds of organisms may play similar

ecological roles in similar biomes. e.  Students know the number and types of organisms an

ecosystem can support depends on the resources available and on abiotic factors, such as

quantities of light and water, a range of temperatures, and soil composition.              

NETS*S (National Educational Technology Standards*Students): 1b, 2a, 2b, 2d, 3a, 3b, 3d, 4b                            

Instructional Goals & Objectives:•Construct a Google Docs Spreadsheet with the headers: habitat, producers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, decomposers.•Research the plants and animals (their diets) of a specific habitat and place them in the correct cell of the spreadsheet.•Placemark your habitat on Google Earth and include a description of your habitat.•Create a Habitat Food Chain Game for each of the animals/habitats studied.•Demonstrate an understanding of food chains by assembling the cards in the Habitat Food Chain Game in the correct order.•Build a food pyramid with descriptions/explanations of the various levels.

Description of Activity/Procedure (Introduction – Direct Instruction – Guided Practice/Check for Understanding – Independent Practice – Closure):•Show one of the videos that gives the definition of a food chain. Ask the question, “What did you have for breakfast/lunch/dinner?”•Create a Google Docs Spreadsheet to share with the groups. Discuss what the headers should be and the students will collaboratively fill in the spreadsheet.•Let groups decide which habitat they would like to research. Allow at least one class period for this. Placemark their habitat on Google Earth.•When research is complete, each group will make a four food chain game (see sample).•Individually each student will create a food pyramid from their specific habitat.•All the students will play all the Habitat Food Chain Games.

Materials/Equipment Needed:•Computers with Internet access and Google Earth downloaded.•Laptop computer hooked up to a projector and a computer lab.

Research Links:

Arctic Animalshttp://library.thinkquest.org/3500/animals.htm

Is There Life in the Arctic?http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.arcticice.org/images/fox.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.arcticice.org/landanim.htm&h=269&w=327&sz=13&hl=en&start=53&sig2=XYiKfPJV0q_P95ESFBEGLg&tbnid=eFslUVO-DtoBbM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=118&ei=lYiTSJuqJIe6iwGM2LzACg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DArctic%2BFox%26start%3D36%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

Arctic Food Webhttp://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/forams/images/arctic_marine_food_web_90.jpg&imgrefurl=http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/forams/forams_marine_food_web.htm&h=453&w=494&sz=171&hl=en&start=11&sig2=asgfkG-2Ve3tkGc410IU-w&um=1&tbnid=9R9QbTnnAOOddM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=130&ei=qVSPSL6oJYqaoQTlg93DBw&prev=/images%3Fq%3DArctic%2Bfish%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

World Wildlife Foundationhttp://www.panda.org/news_facts/education/middle_school/habitats/index.cfm

ThinkQuesthttp://library.thinkquest.org/3500/

Food Chain Checkershttp://www.windows.ucar.edu/teacher_resources/checkers_20march.pdf

Food Chains and Webshttp://www.lalc.k12.ca.us/uclasp/urban_science/food_chains/breeding.htmhttp://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/articles/education/resources/curriculum/foodchains/

Video Links:

First 60 seconds have a good intro into what a food chain is.http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Project%20WILD%E2%80%99s%20book%20Alaska%20Ecology&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&q=Food%20Chain&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&start=50

Food Chainhttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Project%20WILD%E2%80%99s%20book%20Alaska%20Ecology&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#q=Food%20Chain&hl=en

Definition of Food Chainhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1253957508128705227&q=Food%20Chain&hl=en

Africahttp://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=Project%20WILD%E2%80%99s%20book%20Alaska%20Ecology&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#hl=en&q=Food%20Chain&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv&start=20

Wetlands (Lakes and Ponds) Food Chainhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4576501172396624008&q=Food+Chain&ei=pK2PSLg5lJ6sA_yO4bII&hl=en

Assessment/Evaluation:•Facts on Google Docs Spreadsheet – correctness of information•Accuracy of Google Earth placemarks; completeness of habitat description•Correctness of information on their original Habitat Food Chain Game•Play all the habitat games and score 80% or better•Oral presentation to class

Follow-up Activities/Next Steps/Future Lessons:•Expand to Food Webs

Contributor:Donna AxelsonCupertino, CA

Additional Resources:

Create a Habitat Template using Google Docs Spreadsheet.

Example of complete information for one habitat.

Create a food pyramid for your habitat. The sun then lots of organisms at the bottom and one organism at the top. Example: Polar Region - North

Polar Bears are the most carnivorous member of the bear family. Their diet consists mainly of ringed and bearded seals.

 

Bearded Seals feed on clams, squid, fish, and on a variety of small prey found on the ocean floor.

Fish (herring) - Adult herring feed on various types of plankton as well as small fish and fish larvae.

                                        

                                                                           

Plankton makes its own food through the process of photosynthesis.

   Sun

Polar Regions – North: Food Chain Game

A food chain is the connection between who eats whom.Assemble the 4 food chains in this game.

AnswersNarwhal Whale ==> Squid ==> Shrimp ==> Plankton ==> Sun

Polar Bear ==> Bearded Seals ==> Herring ==> Plankton ==> SunBrown Bear ==> Salmon ==> Copepods ==> Diatoms ==> SunArctic Fox ==> Arctic Tern ==> Krill ==> Phytoplankton ==> Sun

Image Credits for Food PyramidPolar Bearhttp://www.motherjones.com/blue_marble_blog/archives/2007/10/5977_wtf_exxonmobil.htmlBearded Sealshttp://www.dkimages.com/discover/Home/Animals/Mammals/Seals-and-Sea-Lions/Families/True-Seals/Bearded-Seal/Bearded-Seal-1.htmlHerringhttp://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries/res/imp/99-01her.htmPlanktonhttp://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/fisheries/fisheries2.htmSunhttp://www.clothestree.net/blog/?m=200706

Image Credits for Food Chain GameSunhttp://www.clothestree.net/blog/?m=200706Bearded Sealhttp://www.gutenberg.org/files/24365/24365-h/24365-h.htmNarwhalhttp://www.12ozprophet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=92113&page=86Phytoplanktonhttp://www.sherpaguides.com/georgia/barrier_islands/natural_history/Brown bearhttp://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/animals/bears/2.shtmlDiatomshttp://steel.ced.berkeley.edu/research/hidden_ecologies/Arctic Foxhttp://www.arcticice.org/landanim.htmArctic Ternhttp://thecoloringspot.com/birds/bird-species-coloring-pages-1.htmlPolar Bearhttp://www.gingerwadsworth.com/New%20Web%20Files/Books/tundra1.htmCopepodhttp://www.iayork.com/Images/2007/10-24-07/Copepod.jpgPlanktonhttp://oceanworld.tamu.edu/students/fisheries/fisheries2.htmSquidhttp://www.whaletimes.org/squid.htmShrimphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Shrimp.svgHerringhttp://www.mar.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fisheries/res/imp/99-01her.htmPlanktonhttp://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=6569&rendTypeId=4Salmonhttp://pond.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Salmonidae/salmonidae.htmlKrillhttp://www.le.ac.uk/bl/gat/krill.html

Polar Region - NorthPlacemark on Google Earth