Hayley Turner

ELED 3221-003
April 6, 2016
EdTPA Indirect Instruction Lesson Plan Template
Organism Food Chains
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Central Focus/Big Idea: Energy passed between organisms within an ecosystem
Subject of this lesson: Food Chains
Grade Level: 5th Grade
NC Essential Standard(s): 5.L.2.2 Classify the organisms within an ecosystem
according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers
(biotic factors).
Next Generation Science Standard(s):
5-LS2- Develop a model to describe the movement of matter
1.
among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
[Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on the idea that matter that is
not food (air, water, decomposed materials in soil) is changed by
plants into matter that is food. Examples of systems could include
organisms, ecosystems, and the Earth.] [Assessment Boundary:
Assessment does not include molecular explanations.]
.
21st Century Skills: Critical thinking and problem solving- outcome for 4th grade: students will
construct their own scientific understanding
Initiative and self-direction-outcome for 4th grade: students investigate based on their own
questions they have
Academic Language Demand
Language Function: Students are expected to categorize their food chains into different
parts to show how the food chain works with different animals within different
ecosystems.
Analyze
Interpret

Argue
Predict

Categorize
Question

Compare/contrast
Retell

Describe
Summarize

Explain

Scientific Vocabulary: Ecosystems, producer, consumer, decomposers, energy, organisms

Instructional Objective: Students will be able to show understanding of food chains. Students
will be able show they understood the objective by having their food chain posters in the correct
order. Students will be expected to have 20 out of 24 food chain cards in the correct order. Any
student who has more than 4 cards in the wrong area will not have met the instructional
objective.
Prior Knowledge (student): Students should know the definitions of producers, consumers,
decomposers. Students should understand the overall concept and definition of an ecosystem
from the prior lesson and the food chain concept. They should also be familiar with the term and
concept of energy.
Content Knowledge (teacher): Teacher should already have created the proper order for the
food chain poster. Teacher should know all the different ways students can find to create the
food chain posters. Teachers should know the difference between producers, consumers, and
decomposers, as well as know how a food chain should look.
Accommodations for special needs (individual and/or small group): I would make sure that
students with physical disabilities already have their food chain cards cut out for them. I will
have them work at a table with the teacher while gluing down their cards. I will closely observe
them to make sure they understand what we as a class are doing. For ELL students I will have
the directions for the food chain poster board written in large font, I will also check in with the
student to make sure they know what they are going to do. I will also have direction and the note
cards printed in their native language, in case they have difficulty understanding.
Materials and Technology requirements:
Chrome book for every student (1 per student= 19 chrome books)
24 White poster boards ( 5 extra, in case of a mistake)
19 Glue sticks (1 for each student)
19 scissors (1 for each student)
24 Food Chain Cards (5 extra, in case of a mistake)
The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten, A Book About Food Chains by Joanna Cole
Document camera

Total Estimated Time: One hour and fifteen minuets

Source of lesson: 5th Grade Team from the Elementary School
Food Chain website video and questions
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-chains.htm
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.swf
Safety considerations: Every student that is using scissors will be using children scissors (safety
scissors). Students will have to remain in their seats while cutting out their cards. I will remind
students to be careful when cutting and if they have a question they are to stay seated and raise
their hands, and I will come to them.

Content and Strategies (Procedure)

In your procedure, be sure to include all of the following 5 Es. Your procedure should be
detailed enough for a colleague to follow. If you will be relying on technology (e.g., a YouTube
video), describe your back up plan thoroughly. Imagine your most novice colleague needing to
teach from your plan. Dont just answer the questions. Additionally, I expect you to include
possible questions you could ask for each section. This needs to include higher-order questions.
Engage: Begin by asking students to think about what they ate for breakfast. I will ask students
if eating breakfast gave them energy for the day. (I expect the answer to be a yes).
I will ask what happens to them if they do not eat breakfast (I expect answers to vary, but to be
that they would not have energy to focus on school work or play outside)
Show the students the Study Jams video Food Chains. Ask the following questions after
watching the video:

What is a Food Chain? (Answer: A food chain is a model that shows the feeding relationship
between organisms)
Where does a plant get its energy from? (Answer: Plants get their energy from the sun)
What is a consumer, and where does it get its energy from? (Answer: Plants or animals, and they
get their energy from other living things)

Explore: Each student will be given a chrome book, students will have to go to the website
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.swf and
complete the food chain game. They will have to put the pictures in the correct order to move on
to the next part of the game. After completing the five different levels students will be able to
move on to the poster board and create their own food chains. As students are working on this
website I will walk around asking them questions on how they knew the pictures went in the
specific order.
Once the students are finished with the website they will get a worksheet called Food Chain
Cards. Students will be split into groups of three. Within the groups students will have to find
different food chains. Each student is required to make their own food chain poster but they can
work collaboratively with their group members. Each student will find 4 different food chains
from the paper. Once they have cut out their food chain cards they will lay it out on the poster
board. Before gluing they will raise their hands to have myself or the classroom teacher come by
and do a quick check to make sure they found the correct order for each food chain before gluing
it down. While students are working on finding the correct order I will be walking around asking
students questions such as: How do you know this is the producer? Can you explain how you
figured this out? What is the decomposer of this food chain? How do you know this? I will
also ask students Can you tell me what would happen if I took the sun out of the food chain?
Explanation: Explain to students that there is a specific way a food chain works. All food
chains begin with the sun. All energy within an ecosystem comes from the sun. This energy is
transferred from one organism to another. I will then explain how energy is passed between
organisms within a food chain.

Producers use the light energy from the sun to make their own food

Consumers called herbivores eat the producers for food

Carnivores are consumers that eat other animals for food
Decomposers break down dead plant or animal matter, and release the energy back into the soil

I will ask students specific questions to make sure they understand how a food chain works.
Questions will include, but not limited to:

What is the sun called in a food web (a producer)

Is a mouse a decomposer? Why? (No because a mouse is a consumer, it eats producers for food)
What happens at the last level of the food chain? (A decomposer will break down dead plant or
animal matter and release it back to the soil for the cycle to start all over)
What are two types of consumers? (answers could be: herbivores, omnivores, carnivores)

Elaborate: The Magic School Bus Gets Eaten, A Book about Food Chains
Show the students the cover of the book, but do not read the title

What do you think this might be about? ( A school bus under water)

Before reading the book, do a picture walk through the pages of the book. Stop at every 3rd page
and ask students what they notice is happening on the pages. Ask students what are some things
they are observing? Have students turn and talk with a partner (Students should talk about the
food chains that they are seeing.
Begin to read the book, stop after every page to show the pictures to the students. Display the
pictures under the document camera so every student can see.
At the end of the book ask the questions:

Why do living things depend on one another? (Answers will vary)

When Ms. Frizzle took the students to the bottom of the ocean, what kind of consumers did we
see? How do we know they were consumers and not producers?
Ask students what would happen to the food chain if you took away the producer? (The food
chain would no longer work. Each level of the chain relies on the previous level. Taking out one
part of the chain would have a chain reaction)

Evaluate:
Summative Evaluation:
Check for understanding by evaluating students Food Chain poster boards and the order they
have for each food chain.

Formative Evaluation:
The questions I asked throughout the lesson and the observations I made while walking around
the classroom during the activities
To be completed after the lesson is taught as appropriate
Assessment Results of all objectives/skills: Seventeen of the nineteen students were in the
classroom to complete the assignment. To show mastery of this concept students needed to
correctly have twenty out of the twenty-four cards in the correct location for an 83%. Fourteen
of the students got all twenty-cards in the correct location they got 100%. Two students found
twenty-one of the cards in the correct order they received an 87%, and only one student did not
meet the objective, the student correctly ordered nineteen of the twenty-four cards which gave
that student a 79%. The student who missed five questions did not put two of the decomposers
in the correct part of the chain, which shifted his other answers to not be correct.
Reflection on lesson: See Weebly site for reflection
CT signature/confirmation: Linda Carter

Date: March 15, 2016