Download - 6th Food Chains
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