5th Grade Food Chain Lesson Plan

Topic: food chain

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to explain how energy is transferred through a food chain, from one organism to another.

Materials

• Pictures or models of different types of animals and plants (e.g. grasshopper, lizard, tree, turkey)
• Cardstock or construction paper
• Pencils
• Calculator (optional)

Warm-Up

• Ask students if they have ever seen a picture or video of a wild animal hunting for its food.
• Ask them to describe what they saw, and how the animal caught its prey.
• Explain that today we will be learning about how wild animals get the energy they need to survive, by looking at a concept called the food chain.

Direct Instruction

• Show students a picture or video of a wild animal hunting for its prey.
• Ask them to observe the animal's body and head, and ask them to guess what kind of prey it is looking for.
• Ask them to guess how the prey will be caught and eaten by the animal.
• Explain that a food chain is a sequence of organisms that get their energy from eating other organisms.
• Show students the handouts with examples of different types of organisms and their place in a food chain.
• Go through each example and explain how the organism gets its energy from the one below it in the chain.
• Emphasize that all organisms in a food chain are important, because they all play a role in keeping the ecosystem healthy.

Guided Practice

• Divide students into small groups and give each group a copy of a food chain diagram with blank spaces for the missing organisms.
• Have students work together to fill in the missing organisms in the chain, explaining how each organism gets its energy from the one below it.
• Have each group present their food chain to the class, explaining their reasoning for each organism they included.

Independent Practice

• Divide students into groups and give each group a different foodsrc to study.
• Have students create a food chain diagram for their food source, including at least three organisms that participate in nutrient cycling.
• Have each group present their food chain to the class, explaining their reasoning for each organism they included.

Closure

• Review the main points of the lesson with the class, including the concept of a food chain and the importance of nutrient cycling in maintaining a balanced ecosystem.
• Ask students to share something they learned about food chains during the lesson.

Assessment:

• Observe students during the guided and independent practice activities to assess their understanding of the concept of a food chain and their ability to identify and describe the role of organisms in a given food chain.
• Collect and review the classifying worksheets and food chain diagrams to assess student understanding of the topic.