Original Lesson Plan With Professor Bergey's Comments

Term III Assignment Science

Student teacher(s): Melina Varney and Catherine Brett Location: Penn Alexander School and Southwark School Grade: First grade Duration: 50-60 minutes

Core Decisions of Lesson Design

What This lesson will serve as an introduction to the concept of food chains and food webs. My goal in teaching this lesson is that students will understand that animals depend on plants and other animals in their habitats for food, and that living things are related to each other by the food that they eat. Students will have the opportunity to model food chains and webs by sorting organisms in the order of “What eats what?” and by “becoming” the organisms in a food web during a simulation activity. They will also be asked to consider the possible outcomes of the removal of an organism within a food chain. In terms of scientific practices, my goal for this lesson is that students gain experience in the processes of developing and using models, asking questions, and constructing explanations. As a result of this lesson, I specifically hope to see that students model food chains and food webs accurately, construct sensible explanations about the effects of alterations to a food chain, generate their own questions about food chains, and understand how an organism depends not only on its prey for food, but also on the plants and animals preceding the prey in the food web.

How This lesson is designed to engage students in “doing science” by providing lots of opportunities to interact meaningfully with the concept of food chains and food webs. To activate prior knowledge and immediately hook students into the lesson, we will begin by creating a sample human food web as a whole group, through which students provide the ideas for foods to include. Students will then model food chains themselves by sorting pictures of different organisms into the order “What eats what?” Following the picture sort, students will participate in a simulation activity in which they “become” the different organisms in a food chain by standing in a circle and tossing a ball of yarn between the links of the chain. This activity will model the interconnectedness of the organisms within a habitat and will hopefully push students to think about the relationships in a food web less linearly. These interactive activities are intended to generate student interest in the concept of food chains and food webs and encourage them to ask their own questions about the topic. Then, to elicit higher-order thinking, students will consider the question: What would happen if an organism within the food chain were removed? What would be the effect on the other organisms in the habitat? Hopefully, this question will encourage students to return to their earlier models to construct an explanation.

Comment [NRB1]: In my experience yarn does not unravel well in this activity. You might want to ask each child to unroll some before tossing. At least try tossing first - your yarn may unravel better than mine. Comment [NRB2]: I am also a little worried about how well this will work in a small group, as I said in my initial comments to you, but I will read on to see how you handle this.

TERM III SCIENCE -- LESSON PLAN ROUGH DRAFT

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Students will work collaboratively throughout the lesson in pairs and in the small group to encourage the sharing and communication of ideas. To support deeper conceptual understanding, the focus of this lesson will be on the relationships between plants and animals in a habitat by the foods they eat rather than on memorizing the terms ‘food chain’ and ‘food web.’ Throughout the lesson, I have built in several places to either challenge the students with more complex ideas or provide additional scaffolds, depending on students’ understanding of this new topic.

Why The students at Southwark already have some prior knowledge about animal habitats

and animal diets. They recently completed writing compositions about an animal of their choice, which required them to describe the foods that a particular animal eats. Many of them were very interested in the fact that some animals eat other animals. Following this unit, the students went on a field trip to the Natural Academy of the Sciences and actually saw exhibits displaying animals in their habitats killing and eating other animals. Therefore, I think that a lesson on the concept of food chains and food webs will draw on these experiences as well as on the students’ interests and push them to think more deeply about the interdependency of plants and animals on each other. The students at Penn Alexander have science class as a separate special. In that class, they’re talking about the different states of matter. However, in their regular classroom, the class has had multiple integrated units focusing on bats, spiders, pumpkins, and apples. There’s usually not enough time in the day to delve into the science concepts, but students have been exposed to the idea, through read alouds, of animals eating other animals to grow and plants depending on water and the sun for their survival. The students also took a field trip to a farm where they learned about the pollination process, another important way that plants and animals depend on each other to survive. I made the decision to connect my lesson to concepts from class to show kids that science isn’t a solitary subject that’s only experienced in another classroom.

Furthermore, we participated in an activity at the NSTA conference in which people represented different organisms in a habitat and tossed a ball of yarn between the links of the food web. This activity inspired me to create a lesson in which students can “do science” while learning about food chains and food webs, so that they have the opportunity to engage actively in the topic and generate their own questions. This interactive format is designed to allow students to engage in science content and process simultaneously as they gain experience with multiple scientific practices, including developing and using models, asking questions, and constructing explanations. While food chains and food webs are not explicitly prescribed in by NGSS for first grade, these concepts are important to several important ideas for this age group. Specifically, this content relates to LS1.C, Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms, which states that students should know that “All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow,” as well as to, LS2.A, Interdependent Relationships in Habitats, which contends that students should know that “Animals depend on their surroundings to get what they need, including food, water, shelter, and a favorable temperature. Animals depend on

Comment [NRB3]: There is no harm in using the terms - and even pointing out the web once you have one. It is good practice to use the words in context so the students hear them, just don’t hold the students responsible for them yet.

Comment [NRB4]: My classic example of one of the two things any elementary teacher will do!

Comment [NRB5]: I am glad they took the trip, and you are right about those displays. I can think of at least 3 that show this.

Comment [NRB6]: Right. More typically fall/Halloween focus. L

Comment [NRB7]: Wow - I am impressed with the number of field trips.

Comment [NRB8]: Sounds perfect to me!


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plants or other animals for food.” It also draws on the Crosscutting Concepts of Patterns as well as Cause and Effect.

Lesson Plan

Goals & Objectives Content

1. Students will identify food chains and food webs as one way in which plants and animals are interconnected and dependent on one another in a habitat.

2. Students will demonstrate the relationship between plants and animals in Eastern Deciduous forests by constructing food chains and food webs that could occur in that habitat.

3. Students will explore cause and effect relationships as they relate to alterations in food chains and food webs.

Scientific Practice

1. Students will engage in a scientific discussion and formulate their own questions surrounding food chains and food webs.

2. Students will create models of food chains to help deepen their understanding and represent the dependence and interconnectedness of plants and animals in a habitat.

Standards

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms All animals need food in order to live and grow. They obtain their food from plants or from other animals. Plants need water and light to live and grow. (K-LS1-1) LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in habitats Plants depend on water and light to grow. (2-LS2-1) Cause and Effect Events have causes that generate observable patterns. (2-LS2-1) Patterns Patterns in the natural and human designed world can be observed, used to describe phenomena, and used as evidence. (1-LS1-2)

Comment [NRB9]: Please choose one and explain your rationale for using it.

Comment [NRB10]: AKA “around here”

Comment [NRB11]: Insert your “practices” standard, too. You explained them well above.

Comment [NRB12]: See above

Comment [NRB13]: Again, see above


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Materials and Preparation Instructor needs Behavior expectations anchor chart

Whiteboard Dry-erase markers & eraser Yarn Paper clips to create chain Students need Pencils & erasers Cards for food web activity Picture cards for sorts Exit slips Clipboards

Classroom Arrangement and Management Issues Melina: This lesson will take place in a small group learning room. There is one small circular table where the students will sit for whole group discussion. Behind the table is a counter where I will place the white board for recording. During the sorting, student pairs can spread out on the floor. For the yarn activity, the students will stand up around the table to form a circle. I don’t anticipate classroom management issues. However, students don’t have much experience engaging in discussions, so I’m going to spend time at the beginning of the lesson establishing norms to avoid students being disrespectful to their peers. Also, students may get excited to be out of their usual classroom and be a bit louder than they otherwise would. Again, I’ll talk explicitly beforehand about my expectations and give reminders to any students who get too loud. Catherine: This lesson will take place in the school library. Students will sit around a square table for the whole group discussions, and I will stand at the head of the table beside a white board. During the sorting, the students can spread out to other tables in the room to work in pairs. For the yarn activity, students will stand in a circle in an open space in the room. My biggest management concern is that students may get excited about being out of the classroom and doing “fun” activities, so they may become louder and sillier than usual. To avoid this possibility, I will give students explicit expectation for behavior at the beginning of the lesson and before transitioning to each new activity. If it really becomes a problem, I may ask disruptive students to sit out for a particular activity. Sending a student back to class early is the last resort, but I will make it clear to students that they must behave responsibly to participate. The students also do not have much experience with group discussions, so I will spend some time establishing norms for respectful talk.


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Plan Task (50-60 min total) Students will explore the relationship between animals and plants by identifying and modelling food chains and food webs involving humans and the organisms in Eastern Deciduous forest habitats. Hook (15 min) -- whole group

1. Establish norms and expectations 2. Discussion of where our food comes from

a. Pose question “What do humans depend on for food?” & brainstorm list of foods that kids recently ate

b. Select several foods (at least one plant, one animal byproduct, and one meat) c. Ask students what precedes each organism in the food chain (e.g., students say

chicken, I would ask “What does a chicken eat?”) d. Establish what plants “eat” (where plants get their nutrients) -- add soil, the sun,

and water to the board e. Record on the board using arrows to represent the relationships

3. First food chain picture sort (soil → tree leaves → worm → turkey → human) a. Show pictures of the five components b. Pose question: Does anyone know what this is called when we show who eats

what? Introduce term “food chain” and model with connected paper clips c. Explicitly talk about how the human depends on, not only the turkey for food, but

also the worm, leaves, and soil Body (25-35 min)

1. Establish that students understand the basic structure of the food chain ○ With partners -- simple picture sort (4 pictures) of animals found in Eastern

Deciduous forest habitats (repeat additional if needed) ○ Once groups feel comfortable with task, ask them to add additional pictures (like

sun, soil, and water) to their chain and ask them to think about where the soil gets its nutrients.

i. Possible extension: once group comes back together, students will be asked to share with the group where they think soil gets its nutrients. Establish the cyclic nature of a food chain

○ Provide books on food chains and food webs for students to look at if they are waiting for other groups to finish

2. Establish multiple relationships in one habitat ○ Groups receive pictures to sort with some shared organisms (e.g., one group

would have a rabbit eating grass, another would have grasshopper eating grass) ○ Whole group discussion -- ask students what eats grass, different groups would

have different answer, pose open question “Can there be more than one possible relationship in a habitat?”

3. Introduce concept of food web through modelling activity

Comment [NRB14]: Modeling

Comment [NRB15]: And be prepared that they may not know.

Comment [NRB16]: OK, but I am picturing kids thinking about the worms having mouths and teeth of the sort needed to eat leaves. So you will need to either: stick with the worms, but then point out that the leaves fall from the trees and are broken down by tiny organisms in the soil, making them into dirt that the worms can eat (which is adds even more steps to your food chain, and makes it more accurate) or simply use blueberries in place of tree leaves and worms. Comment [NRB17]: You could add that the tiny organisms are called decomposers for the job that they do in breaking down dead material into soil so it can be reused. Some teachers say recyclers.

Comment [NRB18]: Very nice step


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○ Each student assigned 2-3 organisms (given pictures) in an Eastern Deciduous forest habitat, stand in circle

Teacher -- Soil “Who do I give my nutrients to?” Student 1 -- Grass! throw yarn to student 1

Student 1 “I get my nutrients from the soil. Who eats grass?” Student 2 -- Deer!

Student 3 -- Rabbit! Student 1 decides who to throw yarn to

Student 3 “I’m a rabbit and I eat grass. Who eats me?” Activity proceeds until we reach the top predator who throws the yarn back to soil

(depending on how students do with previous tasks, I will either tell them to throw yarn to soil and explain that plants and animals decompose into the soil or ask them to figure out where the yarn goes on their own)

○ Continue until multiple pathways have been formed and web is appropriately complex

4. Come back as a whole group, create poster to which students add their pictures that reflects connections. Establish definition of food web (ask students what all the strings looked like) and return to previous question “Can there be more than one possible relationship in a habitat?”

5. Ask students to develop questions about food chains and food webs 6. Discussion of cause and effect relationships in a habitat (turn and talk and then full

group share) ○ What would happen to the food web if we got rid of the (primary consumer)?

Students would argue either the predator would have nothing to eat or the predator would begin eating another animal in the food web

○ What would happen to the food web if we got rid of (predator)? Students would probably argue that there would be more of the primary

consumer that the predator usually eats 7. Stress the importance of balance in a habitat

○ Present students with the case of grasshoppers (with visuals) -- when there are a lot of grasshoppers in one place, they become locusts that swarm and can ruin farmers’ crops

Closure (10 min)

1. Address unanswered student questions that followed the food web modelling 2. Give students exit slip: What does a (predator) depend on for food?

○ If students understand interconnectedness of animals in a habitat, they will list not only the prey, but also those organisms that the prey eats

Assessment Food chain & food web sorts

Comment [NRB19]: And if they really get this, they could throw to the soil (or the decomposers) at any stage.

Comment [NRB20]: OK - if you are going to do the yarn toss, you should probably skip this. I am just worried about how complex your tossed web can be if you only have 4 students. Comment [NRB21]: Yes or no question. Please revise. Comment [NRB22]: You should write these out.

Comment [NRB23]: And often there is not enough food for all of them.

Comment [NRB24]: I think this is confusing. How about saying that there is one form of grasshopper called locusts who….


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Participation in whole group food web model Engagement in discussion and ability to justify responses to questions Exit slip Informal assessment will be conducted throughout the lesson. While students sort food chains with their partners, I’ll be assessing their knowledge by asking each group to justify their decision making. I’ll be using this information to decide whether I should give students more complex scenarios (with more decision making involved), or give them additional simple sorts. I’ll also be conducting informal assessments during the whole group discussions, noting whether students can apply what they learned from the model to respond to the question of “Can there be more than one possible relationship in a habitat?” I will also be able to assess the students’ ability to apply what they’ve learned by asking them to justify what they believe would happen if the food web were altered. Finally, students will be given a final exit slip that asks them to answer the question “What does a (predator) depend on for food?” to determine whether or not students met the initial objective of understanding plant and animal relationships in an Eastern Deciduous forest habitat. The food web that we created together will still be on display for students to reference so that the cognitive load of the task is thinking about relationships rather than remembering the exact progression we used in the activity.

Anticipating Student Responses and My Possible Responses Management issues Scenario 1: Students finish sorts before other groups and start talking or playing around while they wait for me to check their work. Response: I will provide books about food chains for students to read while they are waiting for me or for other groups to finish. S2: Time management. There won’t be enough time to talk in depth about everything I want to cover. R: I tried to plan more time than I’ll need for each part of the lesson. I also planned the lesson for a time that won’t interfere with the students’ lunch, recess, or special subjects if it goes slightly over the 50 minute plan. Additionally, I tried to vary the activities enough so that if it is long, students won’t be sitting in their seats the entire time. S3: Students don’t engage in group discussion of concepts. R: Students will have the opportunity to turn and talk with partners to help them develop ideas before our full group discussions. Hopefully that will give students time to construct arguments. However, listening to these conversations will also prove to be an important assessment tool for me; if students are able to construct arguments with their partners, I’ll know that they understand the material and may just be uncomfortable with the whole group discussion format. If students also don’t engage with their partners, I’ll know that the material may be too challenging and I’ll need to further scaffold it.

Comment [NRB25]: How many children are you taking? Shouldn’t take long to get to each group to check their work, right?


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Response to content Scenario 1: Students don’t understand the concept of food chains. Response: I’m beginning by talking about the human diet so that the subject will be introduced through something familiar to the students. For children who are having difficulty, I’ll limit it to the more intuitive pieces like (grass, rabbit, coyote). I’ll return to the “kid friendly” description that what we’re doing is putting animals and plants in order of who eats what. Additionally, students will be paired up with partners in hopes that at least one student will understand. S2: Students don’t understand the concept of food webs. R: I’ll tell students that a food web is just the many food chains in one habitat. I’ll ask them to think about grass: Does only one animal eat grass? Question 1: What do humans depend on for food? Possible Responses: Students will name items like hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, brownies, where it’s not as easy to decipher where the food comes from. If students don’t list items in all three of my intended categories (plant, animal by-product, and meat) then I will add my own foods to the list. If students need an additional challenge, I may ask them where one of the less obvious items comes from. Q2: Can there be more than one possible relationship in a habitat? PR: Students think only one animal can eat the preceding organism because of the linear nature of our earlier food webs. Ask students to think about a familiar food that multiple animals eat (e.g., bunnies and people both eat lettuce) Q3: What would happen to the food web if we got rid of the (primary consumer)? PR: Students can argue any outcome as long as they have support for their response Q4: What would happen to the food web if we got rid of (predator)? PR: Again, students can argue any outcome as long as they justify it Q5: What does a (predator) depend on for food? PR: This is the final assessment. Students will probably either say the animal that directly precedes the predator, or they will list all of the other animals preceding it. If they respond with the former, I’ll know that they haven’t met the learning objective. If they respond with the latter, then I’ll know they have an understanding for animal interactions in a habitat. Finally, some students may list all of the other animals in the habitat. I would also accept this answer, as long as they justified it, due to our discussion of the cyclic nature of food webs.

Accommodations For students who find the material too challenging If students find food chains too challenging....

Comment [NRB26]: These can actually be the most fun because they require multiple steps that all lead back to the sun. Macaroni: wheat, (sun) Also egg, chicken, grains, sun. Cheese: milk from cow, grass/grain. And if you don’t know what something is made from it is OK to say so, just as long as you have enough examples so that you can illustrate the concept. Cereal and milk is often a good place to start.


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I don’t anticipate students will have difficulty with the simple food chain sorts, given that we’ll be working with familiar animals and they will be the same animals throughout. However, I’m pairing up students intentionally so that students who may struggle will be with a student who can explain the material and help them understand. During the initial food chain sort, I will be able to assess student understanding. If a particular pair is having difficulty, I will connect it back to the human diet to help them understand how food chains work. I will also leave out more complicated elements, like the sun. If students find food webs too challenging… After the modelling of plant and animal relationships, if students have a hard time understanding food webs, I will connect it back to humans to establish that we eat many different organisms that also eat different organisms. If students don’t understand the difference between food chains and food webs… The main purpose of the lesson is not to learn the vocabulary terms “food chain” and “food web;” that is a secondary concern. The goal is that students will understand one way that animals and plants in a habitat rely on one another. If the terminology is confusing students, I will return to the fact that we’re simply thinking about who eats what. For students who need greater challenge or finish early If students finish their simple sorts early, I will ask students to consider where the dirt gets its nutrients (in hopes that they will “discover” the cyclic nature). I may also give students additional organisms that don’t fit into the food web, such as a dog or a horse (although I want to stay within Eastern Deciduous forest habitats so that the point of the lesson doesn’t become “who has more prior knowledge on animal diets?”). Additionally, there will be books on food chains and food webs available to early finishers while I’m talking with other groups. I’ll have students write their own questions after the modelling activity in order to help students focus their thinking and hopefully address all areas of interest.

Exit slip:

Comment [NRB27]: Fix throughout.


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Name: _________________________________________________________________________

Show What You Know!

What do coyotes depend on for food? How do you know? _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

Comment [NRB28]: Will you have specifically introduced the coyote in the first part. We do now see coyotes in the East, but I have never see one. Fox or Red-tailed hawk might make a more familiar choice.

Documents

Original Lesson Plan With Professor Bergey's Comments