Title: Food Chain and Web Games

(6)

Grade: 4th

Subject: Science-Ecosystems

Designer: Sara Cummings

Stage 1 Desired Results

Established Goals: SOL 4.5: The students will investigate and understand how
plants and animals, including humans, in an ecosystem interact with one another
and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Key concepts include:
(b) organization of populations, communities, and ecosystems and how the
interrelate;
(c ) flow of energy though food webs
Understandings:
Essential Understanding: Food webs
play a major role in an ecosystem in order
-The difference between a food web
for biotic organisms to survive.
and a food chain.
Essential Questions:
-How food webs are important to help
an ecosystem thrive.

-What is the difference between a food web

and a food chain?

-How a food web looks

-Why are food webs important for an

ecosystem to thrive?
Students will be able to

Materials
-Dry-erase markers
-Food web cards
-Plastic bags
-Food web and Food chain sheets
-String
-Paper with ecosystem components
on it for a food web and food chain
(for demonstration)
Performance Tasks:

-Explain the difference between a food web

and a food chain.
-Model what a food chain as well as a food
web.

-Explain why both a food web and food

chain are important to an ecosystem.
Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Other Evidence:

-The class will help but the selected

students in the order of a food web
and a food chain.
-The table groups will move to
different tables and complete food
webs from different ecosystems
teacher will have to be called on in
order for the groups to move on.
Stage 3
Learning Activities:

-Teacher will check each groups food web

before they move on.
-Teacher will scaffold the students that are
modeling to try to help them figure out the
difference between a food web and a food
chain.
Learning Plan

1) Before the lesson, the teacher will use a dry-erase marker to write the names of 5
ecosystems food webs on the tables (one for each table). Along with the name, the
teacher will place the corresponding components of that ecosystems food web in a
plastic bag.
2) Students will stay seated at the table and pull out their science journals along
with their pencils. The teacher will ask the students to please not touch or play with
the tools in the middle at the table.

3) The teacher will pick 3-4 random students from a stick jar and call them up to the
front to review what a food chain is. The teacher will hand these students a neck
sign and an arrow and the students will model one part of the food chain; Ex: one
student would be the grass, another, a grasshopper, etc. The teacher will then ask
the rest of the class where the students should stand in the food chain. After the
class has thought it out correctly, she will put a model of a food chain on the
Document Camera as well as pass one out for the rest of the class to glue into their
notebooks.
4) After the food chain worksheet has been glued into interactive notebooks, the
teacher will ask those who are already modeling the food chain to stay and then call
3-4 more random students to demonstrate a food web. She will give these students
neck sign and ask the class where they believe the new people should stand. The
teacher will encourage them to be creative but use their thinking as well. The
teacher will also scaffold the class as much as possible. The teacher will give them 3
educated guesses.
5) The teacher will then put up a model of a food web and pass one out to each
student to put in their interactive notebooks. The teacher will then pull up an
example the class can interact with:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorer/ecosystems/be_an_explorer/map/lin
e_experiment14.swf
6) When the interaction is completed, the teacher will emphasize that a food chain
and web is different. She will explain that a food chain is very simple and goes in
one direction however a food web is more closely related to how an ecosystem
operates because there are several different food chains interacting. She will also
discuss how a food web can go in many different directions because there are many
types of biotic organisms who eat a variety of things and all these variations
resemble a spiders web!
7) In order to practice some more on food webs and to make sure the students fully
understand the difference between a food web and a food chain, the teacher will
put a different food web on each table from a different ecosystem. The students will
work with their table as a group to figure out the webs that are on each table. The
groups will begin at their table and then move to the other tables after 5-10
minutes. Once at their own or another table, they will first lay out the pieces of the
food web they have been given. They will then work with their group to figure out
the correct order of the food web by using a dry-erase marker
8) In order to move on to the next table, the group needs to raise their hands and
have their food web checked in order to move on to the next table.
9) After the groups have been to at least 3 tables, the students will clean up and
move on to the next activity.
Reflection