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Detecting Schoolyard Food Chains

Provided by: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education |Published on: August 14, 2023

Lesson Plans Grades k-2, 3-5

Synopsis

In this lesson, students act as detectives to determine what food chains exist in their backyards or schoolyards.
Students will have a designated area to study, research the food chains they find, and present their findings to the class.

Subjects: Science, English Language Arts

Authors: Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education, University of Wisconsin Stevens Point K-12 Energy Education Program

Region: North America, USA - Midwest, United States, Wisconsin

Languages: English

Positives

This activity involves each student group looking at their own area, which can provide some variety in student responses.
There are many great opportunities for extension listed in this lesson.

Prerequisites

The Energy Learning Log, referenced in the lesson is not located in this lesson document. However, typing "Keep Know The Flow" in a search engine (or using this link) should take you to the main guide for these lessons, which will detail some of the bolded items mentioned in this lesson.
Students should understand that plants get their energy from the sun and that many animals get their energy from eating plants.
Students should know the expectations of working outside and with a partner.

Differentiation & Implementation

Students in math classes can keep data on how many organisms they see in their designated area daily, then create a graph to show patterns and trends.
Students in language arts classes can choose one organism from their food chain to write an informative report about.
Students can discuss what may happen in a food chain with the effects of climate change. For example, what might happen in a food chain where rising temperatures lead to less of a certain type of insect that is not equipped to handle hotter temperatures? What might happen if insects that live in hotter temperatures migrate to areas that have increasing temperatures and start to eat a lot of the plants?
This lesson partners well with those in the Discovering Energy in Nature collection to investigate energy concepts in nature - each lesson includes a link to climate change and maps from the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts.

Scientist Notes

Teaching Tips

Standards

Resource Type and Format