Its a Chain Reaction!

Jodi Lawrence
Worth County R-III School
Grant City, MO

eMINTS
Year 1

Constructivist Lesson Plan

May 2008
 Its a Chain Reaction!!
May 2008

Standards (Performance, Knowledge and NETS-S)

Third Grade Science GLE - Strand 4 Changes in the Ecosystem and interaction of
Organisms with their environments
*Identify sunlight as the primary source of energy plants use to produce their own
food
*Classify populations of organisms as producers or consumers by the role they
serve in the ecosystem
*Sequence the flow of energy through a food chain beginning with the Sun
*Predict the possible effects of removing an organism from a food chain

NETS-S
1.c - Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and
develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students will
create original works as a means of a personal or group expression
2.a. - Students use digital media and environments to communicate and
work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning
and contribute to the learning of others. Students will interact, collaborate,
and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media.
2.a. - Students will communicate information and ideas effectively to
multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats.
3.a.- Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
Students will plan strategies to guide inquiry.
3.b.- Students will locate, organize, analyze, synthesize, and ethically use
information from a variety of sources and media.

What concepts do you want students to understand after completing this

lesson?

The student should be able to understand how each organism depends on each
other for life.
The student should be able to understand how the food chain works and how it
progresses from one organism to another.
The student should be able to understand and comprehend the difference
between a producer and a consumer.

Essential Question

How are all living organisms connected?

Criteria for Success (How will you know students have gained an
understanding of the concepts?)
*The student will be able to create a food chain from beginning to end.
*The student will be able to predict what will happen when an event changes the
food chain.
*The student will be able to use a concept map (on Inspiration or Smart Ideas) to
create a food chain.
*The student will be able to generate a power point presentation from the
information that is collected and present it to the class.
Resources (What resources will you and your students use?)

*the textbook for guidelines, idea map

*Internet links
Food chains and Webs http://www.vtaide.com/png/foodchains.htm
Kids Konnect/Food chains http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/77/27/
Plant Pals http://www.planetpals.com/foodchain.html
EcoKids Online http://www.ecokidsonline.com/pub/games_activities/index.cfm
National Geo Kids
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0309/quickflicks/
*United Streaming video clips The Food Chain Mystery 15 min.
You in the Food Chain 19 min.
*Teacher-created webquest on Food Chain
*Active Learning game with yarn to build a human food chain. You need pictures
of different organisms in a food chain
*Different types of graphic organizers. Ie: Inspiration, Smart Ideas, spider webs
*Microsoft Powerpoint to create a three slide presentation of the information we
have learned to be shared with the class at the end of the unit

Management (How will students share technology resources? How will

you break up the lesson into segmentsthe number of hours or days?)

The students will work in groups of 2-3 to access the internet and use Smart
Ideas. This unit will take approximately 8 45 minute class periods.

Day 1 introduction with a video clip, reading of text, idea map, and
discussion.
Day 2 Will be spent looking up and evaluating the different websites which
will be available on my website
Day 3 we will be using the information we learned from the websites and
text to start constructing a graphic organizer on paper.
Day 4 watch 2nd video clip to get more information for graphic organizer.
We will make a human food chain with yarn and pictures of different
organisms.
Day 5 & 6 as a class project, work on food chain webquest
Day 7 Use collected information to construct a graphic organizer using
Inspiration or Smart Ideas with partner
Day 8 Design a 4 slide power point with collected information with partner
Learner Diversity (What diverse learner needs do you need to consider
when selecting resources, grouping students or planning the culminating
project? Are there any special considerations such as assistive
technologies or second-language learning to take into account?)

*The teacher will pick the partners.

*Within the partnership, they will choose which job they will do, such as typing,
getting supplies, and collecting information.
*Different learning styles will be addressed by the use of video clips, hands-on
activities, discussion, and technology.

Engage
Capture the students attention, stimulate their thinking and help them access prior
knowledge.

*To introduce the unit, we will complete an idea map, working in small groups, to
find out what we know and what we want to know about the food chain.
*We will then watch a video clip to familiarize the students with the vocabulary,
terms, and relations in a food chain.

Explore
Give students time to think, plan, investigate and organize collected information.

*We will read text and investigate different web sites to gather information
about food chains
*We will be constructing graphic organizers, (such as lists, spider webs, t-
charts) using the collected information.
*After compiling the information on paper, we will use Smart Ideas or
Inspiration to create a multimedia presentation.

Explain
Involve students in an analysis of their explorations. Use reflective activities to
clarify and modify their understanding.

*A final project will be to compile all of the information and create a 4 page
power point slide show.
*They will have to present the information to their classmates, along with the
reasons as to why this food chain works.

Elaborate
Give students the opportunity to expand and solidify their understanding of the
concept and/or apply it to a real-world situation.

*As part of their power point presentation, they will need to clarify why this food
chain is important and how it affects the balance of nature.
*Use food chain webquest to apply to a real-world situation
Evaluate
Evaluate throughout the lesson. Present students with a scoring guide at the
beginning. Scoring tools developed by teachers (sometimes with student
involvement) target what students must know and do. Consistent use of scoring
tools can improve learning.

*a scoring guide will be given at the beginning of unit (see rubric)

*different opportunities for assessments idea map, oral reading and
discussion, participation in hands-on activity, group cooperation, oral presentation,
creation of power point slides

The eMINTS staff has adapted this form from materials available at this website:
http://www.mdk12.org/instruction/curriculum/science/5emodel.html.

RUBRIC for Food Chain unit

 3 points 2 points 1 point 0 point
Content All content is Contains 1 Contains several Contains no
accurate inaccurate fact inaccurate facts facts about the
about the food about the food food chain
chain chain
organization Information is Information is Has good There is no
clearly somewhat information but logical
organized and organized. May has 2 or more organization at
is logical have 1 organizational all.
organizational mistakes
mistakes
Grammar There were no There were 1 or There were 3 There were
and mistakes. 2 mistakes. mistakes more than 4
Punctuation mistakes.
Power point There are 4 There are 3 There are 1 or 2 There are no
presentation slides. slides. slides. slides.
Food Chain There are at There are at There are at There are no
least 4 least 3 least 1 or 2 organisms in
organisms in organisms in organisms in the chain.
chain chain chain
Graphic All organisms Most organisms Organisms are No organisms
Organizer are correctly are correctly placed correctly were placed
(Inspiration placed, flow of placed but flow but no organizer and no
Or Smart chain is easy to is hard to follow. was used organizer was
Ideas) follow, and Organizer was used
organizer was used.
used effectively
Webquest All answers are Most answers A few answers No correct
correct are correct are correct answers
Participation Consistently Usually provided Sometimes Never provided
provided useful useful provided useful useful
information information information information
when working when working in when working in when working
in groups groups groups groups