Birding Unit: Food Chain/Food Web Science Language Arts 4th, 5th, and 6th Two
to three weeks This
lesson includes five lessons. These lessons will serve
as a guide to organizing information for a final project, which is to produce a resource guide of a food web
in the community and to produce a movie of information found. Students will not only understand how animals and
plants interact, but they will gain an awareness of the living things around them and the conservation of these
living things.
Using the lessons, students should have enough information to begin putting their data into a book. Students can use
creative ideas such as poetry, watercolor, etc. The sky is the limit! Then, the students can use video from field
trips to make a movie based on their information. Another idea is to videotape students reading and/or narrating
their books. Then share the movies. Who is responsible for plants and animal
conservation?
Research Lesson and Useful Websites for Birding Unit: Food Chain/Food
Web
S.III.5.El1
S.II.2.El2
S.III.5.El5
The production of a
resource guide and production of a movie presenting their resource guide information will be assessed. When students are guided
to make discoveries, they own their discoveries.
This lesson guides students to learn about food chains as they explore food chains in their own environment -- this way,
students can make connections with their prior knowledge, since they have been living near the producers and consumers
of their food chains. When I present a lesson that is open-ended like this one, creativity abounds. Students take
risks and some fantastic final products are produced. Students can continue
to bird watch or explore other producers
and consumers at home. Students and parents can also head to
http://www.northbirding.com, where they can share their bird-spotting experiences,
read about others' bird-spotting experiences, and join in electronic conversations about bird watching. Another excellent
site for students and parents is http://www.dsisd.k12.mi.us/upbirdsweb.
This site was constructed particularly for this unit, with links to central Upper Peninsula bird data and national bird data.
Wendy Bruno,
DSISD (http://www.dsisd.k12.mi.us); Patti
Pierce, Bark River-Harris (http://www.dsisd.k12.mi.us/barkriver)
grade five teacher
Michelle M. Dykema;
Franklin Elementary (http://www.escanabaschools.com/franklin/frank.htm); mdykema@dsisd.k12.mi.us
unit title
subject area
secondary subject
grade
duration/time
overview
guiding questions
What are the feeding relationships within a food web of familiar organisms in your community?
Where does your food chain exist?
When is your food chain in "action?"
lesson plans/activities
and resources,
including key concepts
Letter Writing Lesson and Speakers
Lesson
Bird Feeder Lesson
Binocular Lesson and Field Trip Lesson
Migration Lesson
Download a blank data sheet Note that when you click on the download link,
you will be asked to save the file somewhere. Save the file to disk or somewhere on your computer. The file is saved as Rich-Text Format, so you should
be able to open the file in almost any word-processing program.
standards and benchmarks (mastery)
Identify familiar organisms as part of a food chain or food web and describe their feeding relationships within the web.
Key concepts: producer, consumer, predator, prey, decomposer, habitat. Real world contexts: food chains and food webs
involving organisms, such as rabbits, birds, snakes, grasshoppers, plants.
Show how science concepts can be interpreted through creative expression such as language arts and fine arts.
Describe positive and negative effects of humans on the environment.standards and benchmarks (secondary)
example student materials
assessment
reflection
home activities
credits