Fourth Grade Life Science Unit

S4L1. Students will describe the roles of organisms and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Identify the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a community.
Demonstrate the flow of energy through a food web/food chain beginning with sunlight and including producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Predict how changes in the environment would affect a community (ecosystem) of organisms.
Predict effects on a population if some of the plants or animals in the community are scarce or if there are too many.

 Ecosystem
 Roles

S4L2. Students will identify factors that affect the survival or extinction of organisms such as adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation) and external features (camouflage and protection).
a.
Identify factors that may have lead to the extinction of some organisms.

S4CS3. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating objects in scientific activities utilizing safe laboratory procedures.
a.
Use computers, cameras and recording devices for capturing information.
S4CS4. Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.
a.
b.
Observe and describe how parts influence one another in things with many parts.
Identify patterns of change in things —such as steady, repetitive, or irregular change —using records, tables, or graphs of measurements where appropriate.
S4CS5. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.
c.
Make sketches to aid in explaining scientific procedures or ideas.
d.
Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events.
S3CS8. Students will understand important features of the process of scientific inquiry.
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Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices:
Scientific investigations may take many different forms, including observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for analysis, and doing experiments.
Clear and active communication is an essential part of doing science. It enables scientists to inform others about their work, expose their ideas to criticism by other scientists, and stay informed about scientific discoveries around the world.

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Ecosystems include living and nonliving things.
Living things depend on each other for food and protection.
Living things add to and take away from an ecosystem.
Almost all kinds of animals’ food can be traced back to plants.
Some source of “energy” is needed for all organisms to stay alive and grow.
Over the whole earth, organisms are growing, dying, and decaying, and new organisms are being produced by the old ones.
Conditions of a particular habitat can limit what kinds of living things survive.
All living things are eventually food to other living things. (Even predators are “eaten” by decomposers when they die.)
Nature recycles materials in an ecosystem through growth, death, and decay.

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Take a common lunch menu: cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milkshake.
On chart paper write down each of the meal items across the top.
Describe what is in each part of the meal and where it came from.
Trace all food items back as far as you can.
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For example, the bun is made of flour, flour is made of wheat, and wheat is a plant.
Cheese is made from milk, milk is made by cows, cows eat grass, and grass is a plant.
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“Plants are producers—anything else is a consumer.”

 What do plants eat?
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How do organisms determine what to eat?
How would your daily actions make a difference in an ecosystem?
Are you a food producer or a food consumer?

 The correct vocabulary to use.
 The roles of organisms in a community.
 How to identify organisms for each role in a community.
 Recognize and identify what can affect the balance in an ecosystem.

 Observe a community over time.
 Keep a record of the number of organisms in the community over time.
 Make a model of a food chain.
 Make a model of a food web.

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Bird: Brown Thrasher
Butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
Fish: Largemouth Bass
Flower: Cherokee Rose
Fossil: Shark's Tooth
Insect: Honey Bee
Marine Mammal: Right Whale (endangered)
Reptile: Gopher Tortoise (threatened)
Tree: Live Oak

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Stage 2-- Evidence
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Day 2 – Focus on Balanced Assessment
 How do I know what students understand?
 How good is good enough?
Stage 3 – Unit Design
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Days 3 and 4 – Focus on Instructional Decisions and Unit Design
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How do I provide learning opportunities?
When do I revisit, reteach, and reinforce understanding?

Informal Assessment
 Observe students as they sort cards with organisms pictured on them and discuss their decisions.
 Have students keep an ecology journal about a plot on the playground.

Which list below best shows how energy moves in a food chain?
A.
Grass cows humans Sun
B.
C.
D.
Sun grass cows humans
Humans cows grass Sun
Cows grass Sun humans

 In a food chain, the green plants are
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Producers
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Predators
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Decomposers
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Prey

Green plants Insects Frogs Snakes
 Frogs in the above food chain get their energy directly from
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Eating insects
Being eaten by snakes
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Eating other frogs
Eating green plants

Sun Green plants Mice Snakes Hawks
Which population would most likely decrease if the number of mice greatly increased?
A.
Green plants
B.
C.
D.
Mice
Snakes
Hawks

 If all green plants died, would foxes survive?
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Yes, foxes do not eat green plants.
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Yes, foxes could still eat other animals.
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No, the animals that foxes eat need to eat green plants.
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No, they would have no more plants to eat.

11 Which picture represents a decomposer?
12 Which picture represents a producer?

The arrows show the source of energy for these living creatures. For example, the arrow pointing from the fish to the seal shows that the seals eat fish as a source of energy.
18 What do marine birds eat as a source of energy?
A. Berries B. Fish C. Leaves D. Mushrooms
19 According to this diagram, what do insects and fish eat as a source of energy?
A. Meat eaters B. Plant eaters C. Plants D. Decomposers
20 For a source of energy, arctic foxes eat
A. grass. B. flowers. C. insects. D. seals.

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Choose an organism and research its life cycle including how it gets energy and produces energy for other organisms.
Sketch an ecosystem and label the organisms as producers, consumers, or decomposers.
Finish a diagram of a food web in a pond. The food web shows what eats what in the pond system.
Draw arrows from each living thing to the things that eat it.
Tell why it is important for dead animals and plants in a pond system to be broken down.

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 Your group will plot a square meter in the school yard and record the living and non-living things that are found there. Keep a tally chart of the population information. (For example, use random sampling for ant colonies instead of counting all of the ants.)
Sort populations by roles.
Make a poster of a food chain or web in your plot.
Make a presentation of your findings
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Brochure
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Multimedia
Booklet
Share your findings with other groups.
Share your information with a group from another region who is doing the same project.

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Research a region and the organisms that live there. Create a visual food chain or food web showing the interrelationships of organisms in the selected ecosystem.
Choose one major producer, consumer, or decomposer in the ecosystem for focus on and organize their food chain or web so that it shows how this organism is connected to other organisms.
Imagine the selected organism has suddenly disappeared from the ecosystem:
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How might the other organisms be affected?
Do you think the food chain/ web can continue without this organism?
How would you describe the relationships among the organisms in food chains and food webs?
Present a visual, written, oral, or multimedia presentation to present to the class.

1 2 3 4
Engagement of
Learner
(Participation)
Cooperation
Refused/did not join in task
Science
Knowledge
Would not share with or listen to others
(caused a disturbance)
Did not show any concept of understanding
Science Language Did not use any science vocabulary
Productivity
Effective Use of
Time
Watched others work on task
Did not participate
Tried but did not show correct understanding
Used vocabulary incorrectly
Did not accomplish goal Barely accomplished
Time without purpose task
Got off track frequently
Worked on task part of the time
Shared/listened part of the time
Showed partial understanding of concept
Used some of the vocabulary correctly
Just did what he had to do
Did well once ideas were clear
Stayed on task until completion
Listened and shared with others
Demonstrated an understanding of concept
Used all vocabulary correctly
Was highly productive
No wasted effort— stayed on target

If I want students to know the roles of organisms in an ecosystem, what learning opportunities will I build into my unit plan?
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Resources and materials
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Time for students to learn (Calendar)
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Activities connected to the goal
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Different types of evidence showing student understanding

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Georgia Wildlife
Federation
 http://www.gwf.org
Georgia Museum of
Natural History Science
Box Program
 http://museum.nhm.uga.ed
u/htmldocs/scienceboxes/ scibox.asp
Georgia Science Links
 http://www.georgiasciencet
eacher.org/links.htm
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Georgia Wildlife Web
 http://museum.nhm.uga.e
du/gawildlife/gawwregion s.html
Georgia Learning
Connections
 http://www.glc.k12.ga.us
National Wildlife
Federation
 http://www.nwf.org
eNature
 http://www.enature.com