Virtual Galápagos
Unit 3 Lesson 2: Food Chains
Tortoise Curriculum Lesson Plan
LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:
- Goal 1: Students will be able to identify the different components of a food chain by arranging a Galápagos example of a food chain and by drawing their own food chain.
STANDARDS
Next Generation Science Standards
3-LS4-C: Adaptation: For any particular environment, some kinds of organisms survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
3-LS3-B: Variation of Traits: The environment also affects the traits that an organism develops.
5-LS2-1: Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- Predator: A type of animal that hunts and eats other animals
- Food chain: A tool that shows predator, prey, and the primary producer
- Prey: A living thing that gets eaten by another living thing
- Herbivore: A living thing that only eats plants
- Carnivore: A living thing that only eats animals .
PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
- Students will know that certain animals eat plants whereas other animals eat meat.
ADVANCE PREP FOR TEACHER KNOWLEDGE
The saddleback tortoise eats the Opuntia cactus, also known as the prickly pear cactus, and the Galápagos hawk preys on younger tortoises. The Galápagos hawk is the predator, and the tortoise is the prey. Herbivores are animals that only eat plants, such as the Galápagos tortoise, while carnivores are animals that only eat meat, such as the Galápagos hawk.
Additional resource: Food Chains Compilation: Crash Course Kids
MATERIALS AND SETUP
- Virtual Galápagos Ecosystem Dynamics Module
- Virtual Galápagos Fieldbook
- Scissors
LESSON SEQUENCE
ENGAGE
- Students can watch the short video that introduces this lesson. The video transitions into the concept of food chains.
- Students watch the Food Chain Music Video.
EXPLORE
- Students assemble their own food chain by working together and arranging themselves.
- The teacher prints out different living things and will give one living thing to each student.
- Students are arranged in groups of three. Students can color the outlines of their living things.
- Then, students tape their living thing to the front of their shirts.
- Students create a chain by holding hands.
- The first person of the chain should be a plant, the second student in the chain should be an herbivore, and the third student in the chain should be a predator to the herbivore.
- This does not have to be correct the first time around because this is an introductory exercise.
- Worksheet title: Food Chain Activity
EXPLAIN
- Students watch Food Chain Video One and Food Chain Video Two.
- Food Chain Video One introduces predator and prey.
- Food Chain Video Two gives an example food chain that you would find in the Galápagos, specific to the Galápagos tortoise.
ELABORATE
- Students complete the Galápagos Food Chain activity where they are arranging a Galápagos example of a food chain.
- This food chain includes the Opuntia cactus, the Galápagos tortoise, and the Galápagos hawk.
- Worksheet title: Galápagos Food Chain
- Students can watch a short video wrapping up Lesson 2.
EVALUATE
- Students complete the Food Chain: Apply! activity handout where they need to identify a food chain in their own ecosystem.
- They are to include and label one plant, one herbivore, and one carnivore.
- Worksheet title: Food Chain: Apply!
DIFFERENTIATION
- For students who cannot stand, the in-person food chain can be completed sitting down with students sitting side by side.
- For higher grade level students, students can skip the food chain activities and move to the food pyramid activity.
ASSESSMENT
- Students will complete the Food Chain: Apply! Handout.
- They are creating a food chain that they might see in their own ecosystem. Students should include and label at least one plant, one herbivore, and one carnivore. For higher level content, increase the number of components in the food chain to 4 or 5.
This unit was designed by Sarah Jekel and Krelyn Zacarias, and edited by Ava Wojtaszek and Sarah Jekel.
You can download the lesson plan here:
Virtual Galápagos
virtualgalapagos.colgate.edu
