To introduce the lesson, we will discuss and review food webs. We will briefly talk about how energy moves through the food web, starting with producers that get energy from the sun, then how the energy is passed on to the consumer who eats the plant. After the consumer dies, its energy is passed on to decomposers.
Learning Objectives
2. The student will describe how the flow of energy derived from the Sun, used by producers to create their own food, is transferred, through a food chain and food web to consumers and decomposers. 3. The student will predict the effects of changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms, including humans, such as the over population of grazers or the building of highways. First, I will post the following picture on the board and we will discuss how the energy pyramid on the right relates to the food chain on the left. For example, how both graphic organizers have four levels or how the colors are consistent and how that means each level in the food chain is actually the same as the level on the pyramid of the same color. I will not give other examples of similarities or differences because I want the students to come up with their own based on what they know. |
Next I will post the Choice Board with the
projector and allow the students to choose their activity. They will use one of the following ways to compare and contrast the
food chain and the energy pyramid: Venn diagram,
paragraph, poem, song, T-chart, or they can act out the two processes with one
partner.
The students will have approximately twenty minutes to construct their compare/contrast product. I will leave the image of the food chain and energy pyramid on the screen while they are working. For this activity, I am expecting them to come up with at least five similarities and five differences, but will not give them a number. If I notice during the activity that they reach those quantities easily I will take note of this so I can expect more the next time this lesson is done. I will collect their products for use as a summative assessment. The student who chose to act out the processes will perform in front of the class. When they have finished, we will have a whole group discussion about the different similarities and differences they thought of while making their products. I will write these on the board and allow them to take notes for future reference. |
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I
will use the compare/contrast product the students create as a summative
assessment. Because each student has choice in deciding what activity they will
create, I will be able to get an accurate assessment of what they know about
energy pyramids and food chains. The students will make the products during the
lesson time and then I will collect them and look over each one carefully.
There will be a generic rating scale for the products. The students will be
graded on the depth of their similarities and differences. I am looking for
creative answers that show critical thinking.
The closing of the lesson will be our group discussion.
The students will each have an opportunity to share one of their similarities or differences or ask a classmate a clarifying question about one of their responses. We will then begin talking about objective 3 and will discuss the changes in ecosystems caused by humans. We will watch the following advertisement and then talk about different ways man can negatively and positively affect the environment. |
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The students will predict the effects of
changes in ecosystems caused by living organisms, including humans.
Examples of human effects I am expecting to hear from the students are pollution from vehicles and factories, littering, accidental or intentional burning, land development (commercial and residential), and highway construction. The students will learn about this in depth tomorrow so this is just to get their minds thinking about the effects they could be having on the environment. |
If there is extra time after the lesson, the
students will have the opportunity to take an online quiz to see their own
ecological footprint.