5th

Grade Ecosystems-Food Webs Lesson

Part 1: Classroom Information

Grade: 5 Content Area: Science

Group Size: 32 Lesson Length: 75 minutes

Part 1: Planning for the Lesson
A: Standards

i. Key Content Standard:

5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals,
decomposers, and the environment.

5-PS3-1: Use models to describe that energy in animals' food (used for body repair, growth,
motion, and to maintain body warmth) was once energy from the sun.

ii. Related ELA and ELD Standard:
SL.5.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and
teacher led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others ideas and
expressing their own clearly.
a) Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw
on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas
under discussion.
c) Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the
discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
d) Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and
knowledge gained from the discussions.

ELD.PI.5.1 Exchanging Information/Ideas - Expanding

Contribute to class, group, and partner discussions, including sustained dialogue, by following
turn-taking rules, asking relevant questions, affirming others, and adding relevant information

B. Objectives
i. Learning Objective/Goal: The students will (DO __) to (LEARN ___).
Students will create an accurate model of a food web, to illustrate the transfer of energy through an
ecosystem.

ii. Language Objective (transfer this from "Incorporating Academic Language"):
Students will describe how energy is transferred within their food webs, using descriptive compound
sentences within oral discussion and written responses.
C. Assessments:
i. Informal assessment strategies you will use during class (What informal assessment
strategies will you use, what specific evidence will you see and/or hear and how will you
note it?)
Assessment Strategy Evidence of Student Learning
Student will demonstrate their
knowledge of unit vocabulary by
correctly stating the meaning of the
previously taught terms. If students state
Vocabulary review and new vocabulary incorrect definitions during the review or
introduction struggle to understand the new
vocabulary terms, the teacher will re-
teach the term(s) with additional visual
support (word charts).

Students will be assessed on whether

they understand the objective and
directions to the game. Questions or
misconceptions students have about the
directions, the concept of a food chain,
food web, etc., will be addressed by the
teacher in real-time. All cards must be
under the correct ecosystem. Students
Organism Card Sort will pay attention to clues in the picture
and will use their knowledge of the
organisms and the ecosystems to help
them identify where each organism
belongs. In the discussion following the
card sort, students will be able to
demonstrate what animals can be found
in different ecosystems.

Students will to be able to construct food

webs made up several food chains,
tracing the flow of energy from all
organisms back to the producer and then
to the sun. Groups will be assessed using
Food Web Team Activity the Food Web Poster Rubric. The teacher
will assess using the following guiding
questions: Did the food web begin with a
producer? Were arrows used to model
the flow of energy? Were all arrows in
the food web in the correct direction?
Was the flow of energy accurate
 between organisms? Were all 12
organism cards used? Did the group
correctly identify all individual food
chains in their food web? Were the
presenters able to use descriptive
compound sentences as they describe
their food webs?

ii. Written assessment you will use to determine, for each individual student, to what extent
they have met your learning objectives. (What evidence will you collect?)

The Analyzing Food Web Exit Ticket will be used as the written assessment for this lesson.
Students will analyze a given food web and answer a variety of questions pertaining to the food
web. I will be looking for whether students can accurately identify the individual food chains
within the food web and describe how changes in one population affect other populations
within that ecosystem. Students will also need to be able to accurately describe the flow of
energy between organisms and food chains.
D. Lesson Resources/Materials (e.g., student handouts, manipulatives, PPTs, text pages, special
supplies) Attach copies of any student handouts or worksheets:
One copy of each set of ecosystem cards, cut and laminated, for each group. Arctic Tundra
Ecosystem Cards, Desert Ecosystem Cards, Forest Ecosystem Cards, Freshwater Ecosystem
Cards, Ocean Ecosystem Cards (warm-up) (materials p.1-10)
Envelope to put cards in for each group
Student Science notebooks (example entry materials p.15)
Copy of the food chain cards, cut, laminated, and magnet strips put on back - for instruction -
(materials p.11-12, Example model materials p. 15)
Copy of each set of the ecosystem cards from the warm up, not laminated (for food web)
(materials p.1-10)
Large sheet of paper, marker (to draw arrows), and glue for each group
Copy of the Identifying Food Chains within a Food Web worksheet for each group. (materials
p.13-14)
Five copies of the Food Web Poster Rubric printed for the teacher to use to informally assess
and take notes on each groups food web (materials p.16)
Projector or overhead for instruction
Copy of Analyzing Food Web Exit Ticket for each student (materials p.17)

Part 2: Instructional Sequence - Engaging Students in the Learning Process

Introduction (10 minutes): Describe how you will 1) make connections to prior knowledge, tap into
their experiences and interests or use a hook, AND 2) let students know what the objective of the
lesson is.
 Explain to students that this lesson will help them pull together some of the important concepts
they have been learning about ecosystems.
Share the learning objective with the class: I can create then describe an accurate model of a
food web, to illustrate the transfer of energy through an ecosystem.
Visual Support: Write the objective on the board so it is visible for the duration of the
lesson as a reference for ELL/IEP students
Explain to students that following this lesson, they will find out what factors contribute to a
healthy and balanced ecosystem

Review Vocab (10 min)

Tell students: Before we start our game, we need to review our vocabulary from our
previous lessons in the unit.
Review the vocabulary on the Ecosystems Word Wall in the classroom: ecosystem, abiotic
factors, biotic factors, community, producers, decomposers, consumers, population,
habitat, carnivore, omnivore, herbivore, trophic level, food chain, organism. Ask student
volunteers to recall the meaning of each vocabulary word
o Assess/Extra Support: monitor student answers and re-teach any terms students are
having difficulty understanding. Reviewing the terms and have the terms with their
definitions posted on the word wall so it can be used as a visual support for IEP
students, ELL students, and struggling readers.

Body of the Lesson (60 minutes): Describe step-by-step what the teacher and the students will be
doing during the lesson.

Engage - incorporate background knowledge; prior learning; experiences; interests
Introduce New Vocabulary (3 min):
Introduce vocab before the activity begins: food web
Give a brief overview of the term and write the definition on the board or poster for
students to read
Food Web: Ask students to Think-Pair-Share how they would define a food web. Have a
class discussion and give students the definition of food web: a community of organisms
where there are several interacting food chains

Organism Card Sort (5 min)

Assign each table group (5 groups total), a different ecosystem and provide each group with
a laminated copy of organism cards from the 5 different ecosystems: Arctic Tundra
Ecosystem Cards, Desert Ecosystem Cards, Forest Ecosystem Cards, Freshwater Ecosystem
Cards, Ocean Ecosystem Cards.
Give the following directions before groups remove the cards from the envelope.
o Begin by placing the title cards at the top of the desks.
 o There are 60 organism cards, 12 will be placed under each type of ecosystem.
o Everyone in the group must raise their hand and be sitting quietly before the teacher
will check their work. They do not have to be in any order, but all cards must be
under the correct ecosystem to win.
o First group to have them all correct will win.

Note: Some of the organisms will be very easy to identify because their name has the
the ecosystem in it. For example, the arctic fox will be located under the arctic
tundra. Other organisms will be a little more difficult because they could be placed
under several ecosystems. Students will be most successful if they save these for last, or
pay attention to clues in the picture such as the background colors.

o Support for ALL students including IEPs, ELLs, Struggling Readers: This introductory
activity familiarizes the students with animals that can be found in different
ecosystems and allows students to see the organisms in isolation before
manipulating them to create food webs. Review the terms on the word wall with any
ELL or IEP students needing additional support at their desks. Review the concept of
the game if needed.
o Assess: Monitor students as they play the game and address students with any
concerns or questions

Game Discussion (5 min)

Ask the winning group to explain how they were able to place them in the correct
place. What characteristics helped them identify the organisms from each ecosystem? (e.g.,
fur color, terms in the name, etc.)
Tell students when they are providing details about a subject, they are describing. Tell
students that today as we discuss food webs and food chains, you want to practicing
describing.
Go over all organisms from each ecosystem and have the other groups place them in the
correct location.
Visual Support: This follow up discussion allows all students including IEP, ELL, and
Struggling reader students to see where each belongs, not just hear it. This helps the
students better grasp the relationships between the organisms and the ecosystems to
which they belong

Adding Information to Student Notebooks (10 min):

After students place the organisms in the correct locations, ask them to put them back into
the envelopes and get out their science notebooks.
Model what the notes should look like on a projector or overhead.
 Support: Modeling the notes in the notebook is used as support to IEP students, ELL
students, and struggling readers. Modeling is also beneficial for those who struggle with
writing and spelling
Explain that there are various types of ecosystems, each with different types of plants and
animals competing for food, shelter, and water to survive. Remind students how energy
flows through an ecosystem (which they learned about yesterday in their Food Chains
Lesson).
Tell students that food chains only show a single path that energy is transferred but in an
actual ecosystem, one animal may get energy from several different types of plants and/or
animals.
Take notes in the notebook and have students mirror your notes in their notebooks
o Title the page Food Webs and write the definition for food webs as a model used to
illustrate several interconnected food chains within an ecosystem
Create an example on the board using the yarn food chains created in yesterday's food
chain lesson. Display the class example and describe how the food chain show energy being
transferred (e.g., from grass to the rabbit then to the snake and then to the hawk)
Using the set of the laminated food chain cards with magnets on the back, put all of the
organisms from two of the food chains students created the day before up on the board.
Arrange the grass, rabbit, snake, and hawk to create a food chain just like one group had
created. Ask the class what else gets energy from the grass except the rabbit (answer: deer)
Draw in arrows to represent the transfer of energy between the organisms.
Ask the students what gets energy from the deer (answer: coyote) and add it into the food
web. Tell students that we can connect the food chains by seeing what other ways these
organisms can get energy and ask them if there is anything on the board that may get
energy from the rabbit except the snake (answer: coyote & hawk). Ask them if there is
anything that might get energy from the snake besides the hawk (answer: coyote)
Draw the food web in the science notebooks as an example using words instead of pictures.
Ask students to identify the individual food chains within this food web. Record the food
chains the students identified in the notebook (I.e., grass to rabbit to snake to hawk, etc.)

Support: This exercise helps all students, especially IEP and ELL students, to make the
connection between the previous lesson and today's. It also helps them see that although food
webs look complicated, they are really just a bunch of simpler food chains connected. By
identifying the individual food chains, it would also be easier for students to trace the flow of
energy back to the sun when asked to do so.

Explore hands-on exploration with the with the science phenomena and material.
Exploration activity (15 minutes):
Provide each group with one set of the non-laminated ecosystem cards
o Group 1 - Arctic Tundra
 o Group 2 - Forest
o Group 3 - Freshwater
o Group 4 - Ocean
o Group 5 - Desert
Give each group the supplies (large sheet of paper, marker, glue).
Explain that they must use all 12 of the cards provided to create their poster and will be
assessed on the accuracy of their food web once complete.
o Safety concerns: there are no safety concerns with this activity however, instruct
students to use their materials appropriately
Assess: monitor the students as they work with their teamsquestioning, pressing, and
ensuring that students are understanding the objective and science concepts
o As you circulate around the teams, ask students to describe their food webs,
specifically:
How is energy transferred throughout the food web?
What food chains are in your food web? How to they all connect?
o Prompt English Language Learners in particular to use compound and complex
sentences in their oral discussions with me and their peers
Support: Provide additional scaffolding to students who are struggling,
including sentence frames to individuals as needed who need support
including the ELL student and students with language IEPs.
Re-direct any students who may be confused or have any misconceptions
about the concept of a food chain, trophic levels, etc. Then re-teach if
necessary

Explain - students, with guidance from the teacher/facilitator explain the concepts they have been
exploring.
Discuss (10 min):
Provide each group with an identifying food chains within a food web worksheet.
Each group begins with their own poster and records all the food chains they can identify
within their food web.
Write the name of each ecosystem on the board and ask groups to take turns presenting
their food webs.
Tell students that as they present you will ask the groups question about their food webs
and you would like them to respond, describing their food webs in complete sentences,
using descriptive compound sentences. Give an example: The grass provides energy to the
rabbits and the deer which then provides energy to coyotes. Provide sentences frames and
write them on the board.
o The food web is made of ___ food chains which work together by ___.
o In these food chains ___ transfers energy to ___ which then transfers energy to ___.
 o If ___happened to ____ the food web would be negatively impacted because ____.
During the presentations, ask the groups to state how many food chains they identified in
their food webs and ask them to describe how the energy flow between the food chains.
Additional Support: Provide additional scaffolding to students who are struggling, including
the sentence frames written on the board to individuals as needed who need support
including the ELL student and students with language IEPs.
o Assess: as students present, fill out the Food Web Poster Rubric for each group. Note
all of the food chains you see within each food web and note the food chains the
group identified. Re-direct any students who may be confused or have any
misconceptions about the concept of a food chain, trophic levels, etc. Then re-teach if
necessary. Also assess the students use of descriptive compound sentences as they
describe their food webs.
After all groups present, share the correct number of food chains you identified during the
presentations

Elaborate students elaborate on the learning and make connections to other related concepts
Discuss Food Webs (5 min):
Display the set of food chains you recorded on each rubric and make sure students have
them recorded for each of the ecosystems on their worksheet.
As you display the lists, ask students to think-pair-share after asking the questions:
o In this food web, where is the energy being transferred through the ecosystem come
from?
Go through all five ecosystems and show the individual food chains
Assess: call on many different students to make sure they can explain and describe how the
individual food chains work together within an ecosystem.
Support for ELL students and students with IEPs: model how to describe the food webs and
food chains using academic language within descriptive sentences. Ask probing questions to
help students make sense of the concept. If a student cannot describe it, let them listen to
others describe it a couple of times and then call on them again later.

Evaluate (Assessment) Assess student learning - process and/or content

Individual Written Assessment (10 minutes):
After the discussion, instruction students to individually complete the Analyzing Food Web
Exit Ticket. Tell students the exit ticket requires them to analyze a food web independently
and answer a variety of questions similar to those asked today.

Closure (2 minutes): Describe how you will prompt the students to summarize the lesson and restate
the learning objective.
After the students finish their exit ticket, review the objective of lesson: Students will create
an accurate model of a food web, to illustrate the transfer of energy through an ecosystem.
 Explain to students that today they saw how food chains they created yesterday were just
one model to understand the natural world and those models are part of a larger, more
complex model of food webs. When we combine what we have learned about food chains
and food webs, we can see how energy is transferred through an ecosystem - and it all
begins with the Sun and plants
Ask students to turn and talk in their teams and describe why its important that the food
chains within the food web are balanced
o Assess: call upon student volunteers to share what they discussed with their groups
and assess their understanding of the concept.
o Additional Support: provide sentence frames for ELL students and IEP students if
needed.

Part 3: Incorporating Academic Language

1. Describe the rich learning task(s) related to the content learning objective.

The first rich learning task that students participate in is the organism card sort where team
members work together to sort organism cards according to what ecosystem they belong in.
Students will pay attention to clues in the picture such as the background colors to help them
identify what ecosystem each organism belongs to.
For the second rich learning task, students are working in teams to construct a food web using the
ecosystem cards assigned to their team. Groups will create a food web that begins with a producer,
includes arrows that demonstrates the flow of energy going in the correct direction and are able to
identify the individual food chains within the food web.

2. Language Function: How will students be communicating in relation to the content in the learning
task(s)? Identify the specific function (purpose or genre) you want to systematically address in
your lesson plan that will scaffold students to stronger disciplinary discourse. The language function
will always be a verb. Some examples are: describe, identify, explain, justify, analyze, construct,
compare, or argue.
Describe.

3. Language Demands: Looking at the specific function (purpose or genre) your students will be using,
what are the language demands that you will systematically address in this lesson?
Vocabulary:
Key to this lesson: Ecosystem, producers, decomposers, consumers, population, habitat,
organism, food chain, food web

Syntax1: descriptive compound, complex sentences
The food web is made of ___ food chains which work together by ___.
In these food chains ___ transfers energy to ___ which then transfers energy to ___.
 If ____ happened to ____ the food web would be negatively impacted because ____.
Discourse2: oral discussion, written responses

4. Language Objective: What is/are the language objective(s) for your lesson? (The students will
(FUNCTION) (LANGUAGE RELATED TO CONTENT) (SYNTAX AND/OR DISCOURSE)
For example: The students will compare different types of parallelograms using transition words
such as similarly, different from or by contrast. Note: be sure to copy and paste this into the top of
the lesson planner.
Students will describe how energy is transferred within their food webs, using descriptive
compound sentences within oral discussion and written responses.

5. Language Support: What instructional strategies will you use during your lesson to teach the
specific language skill and provide support and opportunities for guided and independent practice?

Instruction Guided Practice Independent Practice

Students will be instructed and Students work within groups, Students will individually
given a demonstration of how as the teacher circulates complete the Analyzing Food
to complete the learning tasks. around the room, prompting Web Exit Ticket to
Target vocabulary and syntax students with questions to demonstrate their
to describe their food webs encourage them to describe understanding of the concepts
will be modeled by the and make connections with and their ability to describe
teacher during instruction and whats taking place in their whats taking place in the food
then practiced by the students Food webs. The one ELL web (including the flow of
as they participate in the student and other students energy). The teacher will
lessons activities. with a language IEP will provide additional scaffolding
receive support from their to students who are struggling
group members as well as (i.e., sentence frames) to
additional instructional individuals as needed.
support as needed. Students Students will be able to use
will be able to use the charted the charted vocabulary words
vocabulary words as well as as well as their notebooks as
their notebooks as visual visual references.
references.