Ecosystems

ThemeResourceProject
ITE323ElementaryScience
Designedforfifthgrade
FictionBooks

TheMagicSchoolBusGetsEaten:ABookAboutFoodChains
Author:PatRelf
Illustrator:CarolynBracken

It'sbeachday,allthestudentsinMs.Frizzlesclassisexcited.EveryoneexceptArnoldand
Keesha,thatis.Theyforgottheirreportontwobeachthingsthatgotogether.AllArnoldand
Keeshahaveisatunafishsandwichandsomesmellygreenpondscum.Whatcouldthosetwo
thingspossiblyhaveincommon?"Thebestwaytolearnaboutsomethingistojumprightin,"Ms.
Frizzleannounces.Asecondlaterthebusdivesrightintotheocean!Comeonanunderwater
adventureandlearnaboutfoodchains.

WhatsForDinner?:Quirky,SquirmyPoemsFromtheAnimalWorld
Author:KatherineB.Hauth
Illustrator:DavidClark

TheopeninglinesthatrhymeFindingfoodisnotajoke.Livingthingsmusteatorcroakshowsthat
thisbookisfullofpoemsaboutfoodchainsandwhatdifferentanimalseat.Mostofthepoemshavea
rhythmthatmakesitengagingtobothreadandlistento,orusesometypeofsimile.Theillustrations
arevibrantandcolorful,showingthereadertheinteractionsbetweenallanimalsinthedifferentchains.

PasstheEnergyPlease!
Author:BarbaraShawMcKinney
Illustrator:ChadWallace

Abookthatinterestinglyandsoftlyteachersaboutthegoodchain.Herbivores,carnivores,insects
andplantsareshownconnectedinanupbeatrhymingstory.AllbeingsonEarthfromtheanchovytothezooplankton
dependuponthegreenplant,whichistheheroofthestory.Theauthorsspecialtalentshinesforbeingabletopresentthe
sciencecurriculumsoconcisely,creatively,andcleverly.

NonFictionBooks

WhatAreFoodChainsandWebs?(ScienceofLivingThings)
Authors:BobbieKalmanandJacquelineLangille

Thesethreetitlesuseclearphotographs,illustrations,charts,andshortchapterstointroducestudents
totheirsubjects.Theauthorclearlyexplainswhatfoodchainsandawebareanddiscusseswhatthe
differentlevels/typesare.LifeCycletakesreadersfrombirthtoadulthoodtothereproductionof
plantsandanimals,includinghumans.Photographsshowasheepgivingbirthandmillipedesmating.
Picturesoflifecyclescanbefoundthroughoutthebook.

ARainforestFoodChain:WhoEatsWhatinSouthAmerica
Authors:RebeccaHogueWojahnandDonaldWohajn

Thisbookbeginsbyintroducingthereadertotheregionwithlandscapes,descriptionsofclimate,
andterrain.Thenitmovesontomajorplayersinthefoodchain,suchasjaguarsandantelopes.
Eachpageisfilledwithcoolfactsandphotos,andissimilartothoseChooseYourOwn
Adventurebooks.

FoodChainsandWebs
Author:LewisParker

Thisbooklooksatthewayplantsandananimalinaparticularhabitatareconnectedandexplainshowplantsbeginall
foodchainsandallanimalsdependonplantsforsurvival.

TheWorldofFoodChainswithMaxAxiom,SuperScientist(GraphicScience)
Author:LiamODonnell

MaxAxiomexplainsthesciencebehindfoodchainsinagraphicnovelformat.

InternetSites

SheppardSoftware.comBiggerFoodChainsKidsCorner
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain2.htm

Thissitedepictsthefoodchaininacartoonlikemanner.Studentscanfindoutmoreaboutdifferentfoodchainsby
participatinginthegamesandotherlinksonthesite.TheFoodChainGameallowstheplayertoseedifferenttypesof
foodchainsindifferentecosystems,suchasphytoplanktoneatenbysmallfish,thatareeatenbybiggerfish,thatareeaten
byhumans.

BrainPOP.comShortmovieonFoodChains
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0309/quickflicks/brainpop/foodchain/mysteries.swf

ThiswasashortanimatedmoviefromBrainPOPonthefoodchains,whattheyare,whoisinvolvedina
basicfoodchainandhowthosechainsformwebs.Thismoviealsoshowscauseandeffect,whatwould
happenifevenonesinglememberofafoodchainweretogoextinctfromachain.

RadersGeography4kids.comRadersNetworkofScienceandMathSites
http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_foodchain.html

AlthoughthiswebsiteismainlyaboutEarthsgeography,italsoincludesdifferentsystemsthatoccuratdifferentlevelsof
Earth,includingfoodchains.Thisspecificsiteincludesthemostbasicinformationaboutfoodchains,includingthedifferent
players(producers,consumersthreetypes,anddecomposers).

KidsGeo.comGeographyForKids
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geographyforkids/0162foodchains.php

ThissitedisplaysthedifferentlayersoftheEarthandthecyclesspecifically,thebiosphere.Thissitealsoshowstheterm
ecosystems,andthedifferentbiomes.Thissitegraphicallyshowstherelationshipsinfoodchainsandwebs.

Lessons/Activities

WritingaLetter

StudentswillconductresearchonanendangeredanimalinHawaiiandwritealettertothe
governor,bringingawarenessaboutwhatcouldhappenifthisanimalspecieswentextinctandwhattheythinkshouldbe
donetoprotectthisspecies.Teacherwillprovidestudentsasimplesampleletterasareferenceandgothroughthewriting
processbeforehavingstudentsbegintheirfirstdraft.Theletterswillthenbepeerreviewed,rewritten,thenreviewedby
theteacherbeforehavingittypedandmailedoff.

FoodChainGame

Students become active participants in a sample food chain that involves crickets,
lizards and owls. This activity will incorporate moving around and tagging classmates outside the
classroom. The teacher will assign roles to the students, but students will have the opportunity to take
turns being different roles in the chain. There will be three rounds, in which the first round has -
the students taking on the role of crickets. The second round will have about all groups have about the
same amount of members, and the final round will have mostly owls versus lizards and crickets.


CreateaFoodWeb

Studentswillbeseparatedintogroups,eachgrouprepresentingonetypeofmemberinthefood
chain.Theywillthendrawapictureonanindexcardofamemberoftheirfoodchaingroup.Teacherwillprovideagiant
posterpaperandchoosestudentstocomeupandplacetheirfoodchainmemberanywhereontheweb.Willaskrandom
studentstocomeupanddrawarrows,thusassessingtheirunderstandingofproducersanddifferentlevelsofconsumers.

FoodChainMobile

Thisactivityinvolvesstudentscreatingamobileusingahanger,string,picturesofconsumers,
producers,andthesun.Startingwithatertiaryconsumerofthestudentschoice,thestudentwouldthenbranchoutinto
twosecondaryconsumers,thentwoprimaryconsumersforeachsecondaryconsumer,andtwoproducersforeach
primaryconsumer,endingwiththesunatthebottom.Thismodelshowsultimatelywheremostlivingthingsreceivetheir
energyfrom,andtheimbalancethatoccursifoneofthesefoodchainlinksweretobemissing.