What Did You Eat Today? Fourth Grade Life Science Unit

What Did You Eat Today?
Fourth Grade Life Science Unit
Content Standard
S4L1. Students will describe the roles of
organisms and the flow of energy within an
ecosystem.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Identify the roles of producers, consumers, and
decomposers in a community.
Demonstrate the flow of energy through a food web/food
chain beginning with sunlight and including producers,
consumers, and decomposers.
Predict how changes in the environment would affect a
community (ecosystem) of organisms.
Predict effects on a population if some of the plants or
animals in the community are scarce or if there are too
many.
Big Ideas
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Ecosystem
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Roles
Related Content
S4L2. Students will identify factors that
affect the survival or extinction of
organisms such as adaptation, variation
of behaviors (hibernation) and external
features (camouflage and protection).
a.
Identify factors that may have lead to the
extinction of some organisms.
How Students Learn Science
S4CS3. Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and
manipulating objects in scientific activities utilizing safe laboratory
procedures.
a.
Use computers, cameras and recording devices for capturing information.
S4CS4. Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in
exploring scientific and technological matters.
a.
Observe and describe how parts influence one another in things with many parts.
b.
Identify patterns of change in things—such as steady, repetitive, or irregular
change—using records, tables, or graphs of measurements where appropriate.
S4CS5. Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.
c.
Make sketches to aid in explaining scientific procedures or ideas.
d.
Use numerical data in describing and comparing objects and events.
S3CS8. Students will understand important features of the process of scientific
inquiry.
Students will apply the following to inquiry learning practices:
•
Scientific investigations may take many different forms, including observing what
things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for
analysis, and doing experiments.
•
Clear and active communication is an essential part of doing science. It enables
scientists to inform others about their work, expose their ideas to criticism by other
scientists, and stay informed about scientific discoveries around the world.
Enduring Understandings
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Ecosystems include living and nonliving things.
Living things depend on each other for food and protection.
Living things add to and take away from an ecosystem.
Almost all kinds of animals’ food can be traced back to plants.
Some source of “energy” is needed for all organisms to stay alive
and grow.
Over the whole earth, organisms are growing, dying, and
decaying, and new organisms are being produced by the old
ones.
Conditions of a particular habitat can limit what kinds of living
things survive.
All living things are eventually food to other living things. (Even
predators are “eaten” by decomposers when they die.)
Nature recycles materials in an ecosystem through growth,
death, and decay.
Producer-Consumer Relationship
Finding understandings
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Take a common lunch menu: cheeseburger, fries,
and chocolate milkshake.
On chart paper write down each of the meal items
across the top.
Describe what is in each part of the meal and
where it came from.
Trace all food items back as far as you can.
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For example, the bun is made of flour, flour is made
of wheat, and wheat is a plant.
Cheese is made from milk, milk is made by cows,
cows eat grass, and grass is a plant.
“Plants are producers—anything else is a
consumer.”
Essential Questions
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What do plants eat?
How do organisms determine what to eat?
How would your daily actions make a difference in
an ecosystem?
Are you a food producer or a food consumer?
What Students Should Know
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The correct vocabulary to use.
The roles of organisms in a community.
How to identify organisms for each role in a
community.
Recognize and identify what can affect the
balance in an ecosystem.
What Students Should Be Able To Do
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Observe a community over time.
Keep a record of the number of organisms in
the community over time.
Make a model of a food chain.
Make a model of a food web.
Official Wildlife of Georgia
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Bird: Brown Thrasher
Butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
Fish: Largemouth Bass
Flower: Cherokee Rose
Fossil: Shark's Tooth
Insect: Honey Bee
Marine Mammal: Right Whale (endangered)
Reptile: Gopher Tortoise (threatened)
Tree: Live Oak
What happens next?
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Stage 2-- Evidence
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Day 2 – Focus on Balanced Assessment
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How do I know what students understand?
How good is good enough?
Stage 3– Unit Design
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Days 3 and 4– Focus on Instructional Decisions
and Unit Design
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How do I provide learning opportunities?
When do I revisit, reteach, and reinforce understanding?
Previews of Coming Attractions
Stage 2– Evidence (4 types)
Informal Assessment
 Observe students as they sort cards with
organisms pictured on them and discuss their
decisions.
 Have students keep an ecology journal about
a plot on the playground.
Selected Response
Which list below best shows how energy moves in a
food chain?
A.
Grass cows humans Sun
B.
Sun grass cows humans
C.
Humans cows grass Sun
D.
Cows grass Sun humans
Selected Response
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In a food chain, the green plants are
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Producers
Predators
Decomposers
Prey
Selected Response
Green plants
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Insects
Frogs
Snakes
Frogs in the above food chain get their energy
directly from
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Eating insects
Being eaten by snakes
Eating other frogs
Eating green plants
Selected Response
Sun
Green plants
Mice
Snakes
Hawks
Which population would most likely decrease if the number of mice
greatly increased?
A.
Green plants
B.
Mice
C.
Snakes
D.
Hawks
Selected Response
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If all green plants died, would foxes survive?
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Yes, foxes do not eat green plants.
Yes, foxes could still eat other animals.
No, the animals that foxes eat need to eat green
plants.
No, they would have no more plants to eat.
Selected Response
11 Which picture represents a decomposer?
12 Which picture represents a producer?
The arrows show the source of energy for these living creatures. For example, the arrow
pointing from the fish to the seal shows that the seals eat fish as a source of energy.
18 What do marine birds eat as a source of energy?
A. Berries B. Fish C. Leaves D. Mushrooms
19 According to this diagram, what do insects and fish eat as a source of energy?
A. Meat eaters B. Plant eaters C. Plants D. Decomposers
20 For a source of energy, arctic foxes eat
A. grass. B. flowers. C. insects. D. seals.
Constructed Response
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Choose an organism and research its life cycle
including how it gets energy and produces energy
for other organisms.
Sketch an ecosystem and label the organisms as
producers, consumers, or decomposers.
Finish a diagram of a food web in a pond. The food
web shows what eats what in the pond system.
Draw arrows from each living thing to the things that
eat it.
Tell why it is important for dead animals and plants
in a pond system to be broken down.
Performance Assessment A
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Your group will plot a square meter in the school
yard and record the living and non-living things that
are found there. Keep a tally chart of the population
information. (For example, use random sampling for
ant colonies instead of counting all of the ants.)
Sort populations by roles.
Make a poster of a food chain or web in your plot.
Make a presentation of your findings
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Brochure
Multimedia
Booklet
Share your findings with other groups.
Share your information with a group from another
region who is doing the same project.
Performance Assessment B
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Research a region and the organisms that live there. Create a
visual food chain or food web showing the interrelationships of
organisms in the selected ecosystem.
Choose one major producer, consumer, or decomposer in the
ecosystem for focus on and organize their food chain or web so
that it shows how this organism is connected to other organisms.
Imagine the selected organism has suddenly disappeared from
the ecosystem:
 How might the other organisms be affected?
 Do you think the food chain/ web can continue without this
organism?
 How would you describe the relationships among the organisms
in food chains and food webs?
Present a visual, written, oral, or multimedia presentation to
present to the class.
Sample Rubric
1
2
3
4
Engagement of
Learner
(Participation)
Refused/did not join in
task
Watched others work
on task
Worked on task part
of the time
Stayed on task until
completion
Cooperation
Would not share with or
listen to others
(caused a
disturbance)
Did not participate
Shared/listened part
of the time
Listened and shared
with others
Science
Knowledge
Did not show any
concept of
understanding
Tried but did not
show correct
understanding
Showed partial
understanding of
concept
Demonstrated an
understanding of
concept
Science Language
Did not use any science
vocabulary
Used vocabulary
incorrectly
Used some of the
vocabulary
correctly
Used all vocabulary
correctly
Productivity
Did not accomplish goal
Barely accomplished
task
Just did what he had
to do
Was highly
productive
Effective Use of
Time
Time without purpose
Got off track
frequently
Did well once ideas
were clear
No wasted effort—
stayed on target
Instructional Decisions
If I want students to know the roles of
organisms in an ecosystem, what learning
opportunities will I build into my unit plan?
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Resources and materials
Time for students to learn (Calendar)
Activities connected to the goal
Different types of evidence showing student
understanding
Resources
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Georgia Wildlife
Federation
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http://museum.nhm.uga.ed
u/htmldocs/scienceboxes/
scibox.asp
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http://www.georgiasciencet
eacher.org/links.htm
http://www.glc.k12.ga.us
National Wildlife
Federation
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http://museum.nhm.uga.e
du/gawildlife/gawwregion
s.html
Georgia Learning
Connections
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Georgia Science Links
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Georgia Wildlife Web
http://www.gwf.org
Georgia Museum of
Natural History Science
Box Program
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http://www.nwf.org
eNature
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http://www.enature.com