Lesson 1-Living Systems-Where do we fit?

Lesson 1- Living Systems-Where do we fit?

Objective:

Investigate and define various concepts and vocabulary related to food chains, food webs, and ecosystems by discussing a video, a sharing a read aloud book, completing vocabulary foldables, and analyzing our school lunch menu.

Materials: Colored paper to make foldables, glue, colored pencils,
School Lunch Menu, and Science Journal ( used during each lesson)
Key Vocabulary: Carnivores, Ecosystems, Food Chain, Food Web, Herbivores, Omnivores, and Ecology.

Lesson:

Begin by viewing video Think Garden:What's a Food Chain?
Review living systems terms/concepts by discussing how plants make their own food, where plants get their energy, and where other living organisms get their energy through questioning activity
Discuss new terms/concepts introduced in the video like where humans get their energy,ecosystem, food chain and food web.
Talk about where students will get energy for the rest of their day at school.Use the School Lunch Menu and analyze each menu item. Determine whether each component of a menu item comes from a plant or animal through open ended questions asked during class discussion.
Read Secrets of the Garden by Kathleen Weidener Zoehfeld. Discuss key concepts as read along.
Students prepare 2 pages of Science Journal for "Living Systems Vocabulary Matchbooks." See example of matchbook foldables below.
Define Ecology, Food Chain, Food Web, herbivores, carnivores, and omnivore together referring back to video, read aloud and discussions of School Lunch Menu. Instruct students to record definitions in their Science Journal on Living Systems Vocabulary Matchbook pages.

Homework: Divide next page of Science Journal into two halves, a top half and a bottom half. List what you had for dinner and where it came from- a plant or animal on the top portion of the page. Journal and/or draw pictures.

Formative Assessment-
Students will:

Answer questions individually as teacher leads interactive discussion reviewing new and previously learned terms regarding Food Chains, Food Web, and other Key Vocabulary words.

Teacher will listen for and observe students:

To correctly identify critical content concepts and vocabulary through out discussion periods during this interactive lesson and as students begin to complete the Living System Vocaubulary Matchbook Foldables in the Science Journals

Lesson Extensions:
Staying Alive- The Story of a Food Chain by Jacqui Bailey and Matthew Lilly. This book has vivid illustrations
that help demonstrate the elements of a food chain. Many different food chains are depicted while the book describes consumers, producers, decomposers, and many more concepts related to a habitat, food chain, or food web. There is an experiment that students can try at home as well as websites they might like to visit.
See- www.facthound.com. for more games and books.

References:
For video- Teachers' Domain,2002-2013, WGBH Education Foundation, "Think Garden: What's a food Chain?", http://www.teachersdomain.org/resource/thnkgard.sci.ess.chain/ accessed on 3/1/13.

Example of Living Systems Vocabulary Matchbook Foldables

Example of Science Journal pages that students will complete as they progress through the 2 week unit. These are Matchbook Foldables that include definitions on the inside to make it easier to study. Student and Teacher work collaboratively to define key vocabulary for each lesson. Teacher will evaluate for accuracy during lessons as well as while reviewing other Science Journal entries.