Science
SCI.III.5.1
Grade: 2
Strand:
Using Scientific Knowledge in Life Science
- Ecosystems
Recommended that this strand be done in the spring.
(5.1, 5.3 and 5.4)
Standard:
All students will explain how parts of an ecosystem are related and how they
interact
Benchmark:
Identify familiar organisms as part of a food chain or a food web and
describe their feeding relationships within the web.
Constructing and Reflecting:
SCI.I.1.1 - Generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation.
SCI.I.1.2 - Develop solutions to problems through reasoning, observation, and investigation.
SCI.I.1.3 - Manipulate simple devices that aid observation and data collection.
SCI.I.1.5 - Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving.
SCI.I.1.6 - Construct charts and graphs and prepare summaries of observations.
SCI.II.1.1 - In the scientific world, decisions must be based on factual evidence that can be replicated.
SCI.II.1.2 - Show how science concepts can be illustrated through creative expression such as language arts and
fine arts.
SCI.II.1.4 - Develop an awareness of and sensitivity to the natural world.
Vocabulary / Key Concept
Context
Words describing parts of a food web:
• producer
• consumer
• predator
• prey
• decomposer
• habitat
• community
Food chains and food webs involving these
common organisms:
• rabbits
• birds
• snakes
• grasshoppers
• plants
Knowledge and Skills
Resources
All living things depend on each other to survive.
Coloma Resources:
The parts of a food chain or food web have special
names that describe the feeding relationships with “The Web of Life” Teaching Manual and Big
the web.
Book
Students will:
• Identify and categorize producers – they
make their own food (plants)
• Identify and categorize consumers – they
depend on producers or consumers for their
food
• Identify and categorize decomposers – they
break down dead plants and animals and
return nutrients to the soil
• Identify and categorize predators – they
hunt other animals and devour their prey
• Identify and categorize prey – they are
animals that are hunted for food
• Define food chain
• Define food web.
Habitats
Pond Habitat-model
Gets Eaten-video
Rain Forest-video
Hops Home-video
Ant Anatomy-chart
Holiday Special-video
Frog Cycle-chart
Butterfly
Butterfly Pavilion-habitat
Butterflies-ordered by bldg in the spring
A Butterfly is Born-Big Book
Planet Frog-habitat cage
Butterflies-book
Other Resources:
Quicktime video – What sounds do Animals
Make? http://www.teachersdomain.org/35/sci/life/colt/sound/index.html
Teacher Domain – Characteristics of Living
Things – lots of clips and images of various
animals and adaptations! AWESOME http://www.teachersdomain.org/35/sci/life/colt/index.html
Instruction
Benchmark Question: How are parts of an
ecosystem related and how do they interact?
Focus Question: How are organisms linked
together in a food chain or food web and what is the
flow of energy in the chain or web?
Have each student make (draw) separate pictures of
each member of a four-member food chain beginning
with a plant. (For example: grains, mouse, snake, hawk)
Children will name and explain the roles of the members
of the food chain to the class. Once done, the food
chains will be stapled to a bulletin board, as spokes on a
wheel with the plant as the hub. Students then use yarn
to connect the predators within their chains to the prey in
other chains. The resulting web demonstrates the
dependence of living things on one another for survival
and that the interrelationship of food chains forms a food
web.
Next, have students attach paper triangles (pointing
AWAY from the plant) to the pieces of yarn to show the
direction of the flow of energy. Paper triangles closest to
the plant should be larger and than the triangles further
away from the plant to show the decrease in the amount
of usable energy.
Simple food chain example (direction of arrow shows flow of
energy; size of arrow shows amount of energy):
Simple food web example:
Assessment
Required assessment attached
Each student is assigned an organism from a
complex food web. As the teacher names
trophic levels and food web roles, students
determine who gets eaten by whom. The
teacher rolls a ball of string to the first
organism. That student rolls the string to the
organism next on the food chain –or another
organism at the same trophic level– including
all of the students / organisms within the web.
Teacher will determine understanding as the
activity progresses.
Teacher Notes:
Explain how parts of an ecosystem are related and how they interact.
It is important for students to learn about many ecosystems, but they need to begin with those that have
the closest connection to them. Very young children think in terms of organisms that are around them such as
pets, animals in zoos, and houseplants. At a young age, many children think humans help to feed wild
animals. As they mature, children begin to understand the concept of populations of organisms in the wild. The
concept of populations is most clearly understood in terms of food chains and food webs.
In elementary school, students should be introduced to food chains and learn about some of the organisms
involved. Early in this time, students may only be able to understand the relationship between two organisms.
Later, students should be able to identify the organisms involved in both food chains and food webs and the
feeding relationships that occur. Interestingly, children in elementary school may not believe that food can be a
scarce resource in a food web. They think that all animals are more like people in that animals can change
what they need to eat whenever they want according to what is available. Students in these grades should be
able to describe all of the basic requirements needed for all living things to exist.
As students progress through the upper elementary grades and go into middle school they should become
more aware of different interactions between organisms, besides food. For example, there are mutually
beneficial relationships like plants depending on animals for pollination. There are also competitive
relationships in which different animals with similar environmental requirements compete for the same
resources. In the middle school, students should be made aware of the relationships between organisms in
which neither could survive without the other. By high school, students should be able to describe common
ecological relationships between and among species and their environments. They should understand the
difficult concepts of competition, territory, and carrying capacity among others.