Food Webs of the Bayou
Title: Food Webs of the Bayou
Subject: Science
Grade Level: 6 - 7Overview:
This unit focuses on food webs in the ecosystem of Black Bayou Lake NWR. Students will explore resources on the Internet to learn how plants and animals react within the ecosystem. They will research using TrackStar and record answers on a worksheet. Information obtained in this activity will be used to complete a multimedia presentation.Approximate Duration: 5 days
Content Standards:
Science as Inquiry
The students will do science by engaging in partial and full inquiries that are within their developmental capabilities.
Life Science
The students will become aware of the characteristics and life cycles of organisms and understand their relationships to each other and to their environment.
Science and the Environment
In learning environmental science, students will develop an appreciation of the natural environment, learn the importance of environmental quality, and acquire a sense of stewardship. As consumers and citizens, they will be able to recognize how our personal, professional, and political actions affect the natural world.
Benchmarks:
SI-M-A5
developing models and predictions using the relationships between data and explanations;
LS-M-C2
modeling and interpreting food chains and food webs;
LS-M-D2
explaining how some members of a species survive under changed environmental conditions.
SE-M-A5
tracing the flow of energy through an ecosystem and demonstrating a knowledge of the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in the ecosystem;
Grade-Level Expectations (GLEs):
The Abilities To Do Scientific Inquiry
Grade 5-8
16. Use evidence to make inferences and predict trends (SI-M-A5)
Science and the Environment
Grade 7
40. Construct or draw food webs for various ecosystems (SE-M-A5)
Populations and Ecosystems
24. Analyze food webs to determine energy transfer among organisms (LS-M-C2)
Adaptations of Organisms
34. Explain how environmental factors impact survival of a population (LS-M-D2)
Educational Technology Standards:
Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, writing tools, digital cameras, drawing tools, web tools) to gather information for problem solving, communication, collaborative writing and publishing to create products for various audiences.
Objectives:
TLW explain how plants and animals interact within an eco system.
TLW create a food web with given materials.Lesson Materials and Resources:
Index cards
yard
tape
Technology Tools and Materials:
Hardware:
computer with internet connection
Software:
PowerPoint
Websites:
TrackStar 271013 (Choose view in text)
http://trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jsp
Background Information:
The students need to understand the terminology associated with the food web such as: consumers and producers. They need to have an understanding of how our environment affects the food web.Lesson Procedures:
1. Introduce the lesson with an oral discussion of what constitutes a food web. The teacher will use a PowerPoint presentation titled "Food Chains" as an overview of this information. Students will view a Unitedstreaming video for more background knowledge. (Food Chains and Webs (21:43), located at LPB CyberChannel
2. Students will complete the TrackStar # 271013 (Choose View in Text). A worksheet is provided to record their answers.
3. The teacher will use Inspiration software to brainstorm with students and make a list of plants and animals( birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects, and other invertebrates) that live in or use wetlands. Assign items on the list to students and have them research the animals' food habits and predators. Then place the animals in a chart of "carnivores," "herbivores," "omnivores".
4. Write the name of each plant and animal on the list on a separate index card. Tape the cards on the board and ask students to select one name. Students will use tape to stick their selection on their clothing.
5. To demonstrate how a food web works, have students complete this activity. Students will stand in a circle. Select a "plant" to begin the web and give that student a ball of yarn. Ask him/her to wrap the end once around his/her hand, then pass the ball to an organism that eats their plant, connecting the one who is consumed to the consumer. This student should wrap the string around her hand and pass the ball either to an organism that eats her organism or to her own organism's food source.
6. Once the web has been completed and all possible connections have been made, have the students shift around until the web is pulled tight. Have students discuss the fact that sometimes a plant or animal's role in the web may change, or disappear entirely. Have them demonstrate the effect this would have on the web.
7. Let the class have with an open discussion and review of facts learned in the lesson. Students will work in groups to create their own food web in PowerPoint using the Food Webs on the Bayou Rubric. The groups will present their PowerPoint to the class.
Assessment Procedures:
Class observation and participation
Food Webs on the Bayou Rubric
Accommodations/Modifications:
Peer tutoring
Individual assistance
Reproducible Materials:
Food Chain PowerPoint
Food Web TrackStar Worksheet
Food Web Activity Checklist
Lesson Development Resources:
Wow! The Wonders of Wetlands : resource book
Contact Information:
Nancy Absher
Rayville Jr. High School
nabsher@richland.k12.la.usBlack Bayou Lake Home | Curriculum Materials | Resources | Black Bayou Lake NWR | Monroe City Schools
