Emily Trapp

Grade Level/Subject: 4th Grade Science

Prerequisite Knowledge: Students will have completed an assignment which required them
to create a Weebly website about their assigned plant/animal that lives in the ocean habitat.
Students also have learned about other habitat food webs, so they have a basis of
understanding about how they are constructed.
Approximate Time: 60 minutes
Student Objectives/Student Outcomes:
Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of both their researched organism
and the functions of the food chain through a “food chain/web” simulation in the classroom.
Students will also be able to explain what would happen to the food web if there was an
organism omitted/extinct.
Students will create a working scientific model of a food web, which will be created, used,
revised, and evaluated throughout the Oceans unit.
ELL Language Objectives:
Students will write in their science journals, including necessary food web vocabulary and
making complete sentences.
Students will speak in small group and large group discussions in reference to the food web
simulation.
Students will effectively listen to directions and follow them to complete assignments.
Illinois Standards:
12.A.1a Identify and describe the component parts of living things (e.g., birds have feathers;
people have bones, blood, hair, skin) and their major functions.
12.A.1b Categorize living organisms using a variety of observable features (e.g., size, color,
shape, backbone).
12.B.1a Describe and compare characteristics of living things in relationship to their
environments.
12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments (e.g.,
predator/prey, parasite/host, food chains and food webs).
12.B.2b Identify physical features of plants and animals that help them live in different
environments (e.g., specialized teeth for eating certain foods, thorns for protection, insulation
for cold temperature).
Materials: Pictures of each students’ assigned ocean organism, overhead projector or
SmartBoard, science journals for each student, computers and internet access for students
Emily Trapp

Opening of lesson: Students will have already completed the introductory assignment,
which entailed taking one plant or animal from the designated list, and creating a website
about that organism. The purpose of this assignment is to get students acclimated with
ocean inhabitants, and also do some personal research and technological development
surrounding a topic. The students had already presented their research and findings, and
also have an idea about food web structures based on what organisms theirs consumes
and is consumed by. This aspect of the previous assignment will play a critical role in the
activity for the day, because each student will have to take the knowledge that they have
about their specific organism that they researched because they will be “acting” as that
animal during the classroom simulation and model creation. Students will predict their
place in the larger classroom food web based on research about their organism such as
whether or not it is a herbivore/carnivore, its size, and its location in the ocean
environment.
I will first ask the students some foods that they regularly eat, asking them where does
that food come from. For example, if a student says he/she ate a hamburger the day
before, I will ask where the meat comes from. Then what does the cow eat to get the
energy to live?
I will then ask how many students eat seafood. This will connect the larger food web of
the ocean, extending it to humans.
Then as a class, we will review the following terms:
food web: a way of showing how plants and animals in a habitat depend on each other
habitat: the place where a plant or animal naturally lives or grows; an ecological community
predator: an animal that kills other animals for food
prey: an animal that is hunted by another for food
(taken from http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/BP_openocean/)

Procedures: After asking these questions, I will ask the students to think about the
organism they did research about.
Where does that animal gets its energy?
What types of other ocean life would be probable food for your organism?
Is your organism food for any other animals or plants in the ocean?
Students will be asked to answer these questions with a partner for a short period of time.
Once the class comes back together, I will tell the students that they will be taking the
role of their researched organism to create a food web of the organisms of the classroom.
Students will use the picture provided of their organism to complete the following
activity that I will write the directions for on the board:
After thinking again about your organism: Knowing what we know about food webs,
hold the photo of your organism and without talking, attempt to construct a food web in
the classroom.
Students will be expected to work silently as they determine where their animal would be
in the food web, as well as trying to work together with other students and using the
Emily Trapp

pictures to guide them. This is not intended to have the students get it correctly the first
time, but they will need to use their own knowledge about their organism to place
themselves in a spot that they see fit. This will take evaluating whether they could
consider the organism before them prey and eat them and whether the organism behind
them be considered a predator and could consume them.
The teacher will walk around and observe the students’ thoughts and help if needed, but
the idea is for the students to generate their own food web.
After the students have come to a temporary conclusion, the teacher will quickly jot
down the order to which they decided and ask them to return to their seats. They will be
asked to take out their science journals and as a class, they will reevaluate the food web
they created, revise, and draw it in their journals. On an overhead projector or
SmartBoard, the teacher will reproduce the food web so it is visible to all students. Once
reproduced, the students will be asked to write the name of their organism at the top of
the page and then 3-4 sentences in their journal explaining why they chose the spot they
did in the order. As students come to a finish completing this part of the journal, the
teacher will ask if all the students agree with the starting point of the food web. This
process will continue on, asking do you think that organism A could consume organism
B, or should they be moved to another location? This will be done for the first 4 or 5
organisms and then the students will be asked to draw the web, in any shape they see fit
(circular, top to bottom, bottom to top, etc) revising any areas. Students are encouraged
to ask questions of their neighbors, and work together collaboratively to come up with
their own final products.
After all students have finished their models, I will ask if any drastic changes need to be
made to the classroom model. Are there any students that think that the placement of
their organism needs to be moved. This will spark a group discussion because if one
student thinks his or her organism needs to be moved and another disagrees, I will ask
that they each justify why he or she thinks that way.
In using the classroom model, I will omit an organism in the web and ask the students to
write in their science journals and evaluate what would happen to the organisms below
and above if that organism were to somehow disappear from the web. They will also be
asked to evaluate what would specifically happen to their organism in this instance. After
students have taken the time to reflect and predict, we will come together as a large
group and I will ask for suggestions to what would happen and why it might happen.
These suggestions will be written on a chart posted in the front of the room.
To emphasize this idea even more, a possible alternative activity could be to have
students actually form the web (or revised web) using a ball of yarn. Students connect to
each other based on the organism that they represent using their ideas. When an
organism "disappears" from the web, the yarn goes limp and it’s easy to see how the
whole web can be impacted.
Emily Trapp

Summary/Closing: Students will be asked, as a closing assignment, to write in their

science journals 4 ways that they can help the ocean habitat to ensure that the food web
is not disturbed, and also reflect on which organism they would want to be in the food
web, stating why they liked/disliked their role and why they would rather be a different
organism or stay the same.
After journal reflection, students will be given opportunities to play the food chain game:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.ht
m
If there are not enough computers in the classroom or computer lab for each student,
students will take turns playing the game. For students who are not playing the game,
they will be asked to think about and draw a food chain that they can think of beyond the
ocean habitat, perhaps in a forest, pond, etc.

Student Assessment: Students will be informally assessed throughout the activity using
the following rubric:

CATEGOR 4 3 2 1
Y

Information Student Student used Student Student did

Gathering used the some of the took little not seem to
information information, interest in have gathered
from their but seemed the sufficient
research to somewhat activity information to
make clear confused by based on make
and the vocabulary lack of decisions
informed used. informatio about their
decisions in n gathered placement in
their during part the food web.
placement one of the
of the food assignmen
web. t.

Participatio Student Student was Student Student was

n seemed involved in the seemed easily
interested and activities and distracted distracted, was
engaged in the gave moderate and not
activities, gave input in class participate participating
well thought discussion. d throughout the
out input minimally lesson, and did
during class in the not give any
discussion. activities input in class
and discussion
discussion.
Emily Trapp

Journaling Student was Student was Student Student was

writing/drawin writing/drawin wrote/dre not
g for the entire g for most of w for writing/drawin
time given, the time some of g for a
looked provided, was the time majority of the
thoughtful, thoughtful, provided, time, was
and appeared and appeared did not distraction and
to be to be seem fully withdrawn.
evaluating the evaluating the engaged in
questions questions the
prompted. prompted. writing.

Additionally, as further topics are explored in the Oceans Unit, student will be asked to
continually modify this model. In the final lesson about ocean pollution, students will
include their models in their newspaper articles, noting what would happen to the model of
the web if ocean pollution continued.

Rationale for Modeling:

I think that this lesson plan shows good examples of modeling because it has the students

creating models both literally by “putting themselves in the shoes of a marine organism” and

also by reflecting on that activity and creating their own model about the food web of marine

organisms. I think that because students are not given any real direction about how their

model should look, it causes them to think critically about what is a logical order and way of

recreating the simulation on paper. In the silent simulation, the students are more or less put

into a line, however in reflecting on the one produced as a whole class, a student might think

that there is more than one predator for a specific prey, and therefore create more of a

pyramid shape or circular web. The students are showing the relationships between the

organisms and are also asked to think about what would happen to the model if there were

missing components. I think that taking the time to evaluate these implications shows students
Emily Trapp

the importance of what they are learning, and also the questions in the beginning of the lesson

will continue to perpetuate their thoughts as they evaluate their role as a human being in the

greater food web.

I also think that the conceptual model detailed in my lesson plan helps students to

understand the functions of a food web. It causes them to explore deeper each organisms role

in the marine habitat and predict what might happen if one of the organisms were to become

extinct. By prompting this scenario, students are forced to think about what would happen to

both the predators and the prey of the organisms of the rest of the web. It takes a look at

amplifying one small idea, and looking at the bigger picture that results. Students might

initially think that if krill were omitted from the food chain nothing would really happen, but

in reality, a rich class discussion would show that animals that eat the krill would have to

search for food somewhere else and this process might result in that species numbers (as well

as trickling upward) and whatever krill consumes would begin to overpopulate, and this is

would have effects as well.