An Introduction to Food Chains and Animal Classifications for Kindergarten Students, Lecture notes of Construction

Download An Introduction to Food Chains and Animal Classifications for Kindergarten Students and more Lecture notes Construction in PDF only on Docsity! Animal Classifications and Food Chains (So What's Eating You?) Grade Level: First Grade Presented by: Tina Leone, Lewis-Palmer Charter Academy, Monument, CO Parry Greer, Academy of Charter Schools, Denver, CO Length of Unit: Four Lessons (Even though there are only four lessons, the number of days required for each lesson will be widely varied. An estimated time of completion would be two weeks.) I. ABSTRACT This first grade unit will cover special classifications of animals and their place in the food chain. The students will learn how plants and animals are all parts of a gigantic puzzle in which the pieces all fit together, but like a kaleidoscope, are forever changing. The puzzle pieces we will study are plants, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores and how all these pieces fit into food chains. II. OVERVIEW A. Concept Objectives 1. Students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment. (C.S.S. #3) 2. Students know and understand the characteristics of living things, the diversity of life, and how living things interact with each other and with their environment. (C.S.S. #3.1) 3. Students understand the processes of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about, and evaluate such investigations. (C.S.S. #1) B. Content 1. Food chains 2. Plants 3. Herbivores 4. Omnivores 5. Carnivores C. Skills 1. Students will be able to choose and match appropriate definitions with the correct vocabulary words. 2. Students will be able to comprehend word meanings. 3. Students will be able to tell in their own words all the key vocabulary words. 4. Students will be able to identify and differentiate between a food chain and a food web. 5. Students will be able to track through a food chain cycle by describing and replicating each sequential step. 6. Students will be able to comprehend the overall big picture that food chains play in our environment. 7. Students will be able to explain the roll that plants and animals specifically play in the food chain pyramid. 8. Students will predict outcomes in experimentation. 9. Students will identify the processes involved with the interactions between plants, nutrients, water, soil, air, and sunlight. 10. Students will be able to differentiate between predator and prey. 11. Students will be able to identify the different animal classifications by the characteristics of their teeth. 12. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the inter-dependence of animals within ecosystems through role -playing and in environmental simulation. III. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE A. For the teacher: 1. Nature’s Great Balancing Act in our Own Backyard, by E. Jaediker Norsgaard 2. What are Food Chains and Webs?, by Bobbie Kalman and Jacqueline Langille 3. The Food Chain, by Malcolm Penny B. For the student: 1. Prior knowledge of kindergarten content: a. Plants and Plant Growth b. Animals and their Needs IV. RESOURCES A. Nature’s Great Balancing Act in our Own Backyard, by E. Jaediker Norsgaard B. What are Food Chains and Webs, by Bobbie Kalman and Jacqueline Langille C. The Food Chain, by Malcolm Penny V. LESSONS Lesson One: Vocabulary Introduction (Days One and Two) A. Daily Objectives 1. Lesson Content a. This lesson will be an introduction of the key vocabulary of animal classifications and food chains. 2. Concept Objectives a. Students know and understand the characteristics of living things the diversity of life, and how living things interact with each other and with their environment. (C.S.S. #3.1) 3. Skill Objectives a. Students will be able to choose and match appropriate definitions with the correct vocabulary words. b. Students will be able to comprehend word meanings. c. Students will be able to tell in their own words the key vocabulary. B. Materials Needed 1. A food chain pictorial display, i.e. a poster, a chart, or a bulletin board display that clearly depicts and defines the food chain process 2. Various colors of paper cut into strips 3. Two large paper bags, one labeled “WORD” and one labeled “DEFINITION” 4. Book: Yum, Yum! C. Background Notes D. Key Vocabulary 1. Food chain – A chain of living things in which each link in the chain feeds on a link below it and is fed upon by the link above it. 2. Food web – Two or more food chains that connect when a member of one food chain eats a member of another food chain and becomes the total combination of all the individual food chains. 3. Herbivores – Animals that eat plants. 4. Omnivores – Animals that eat both plants and animals. 3) Fresh Water Food Chain – water plant (producer) to snail (herbivore) to fish (omnivore) to eagle (carnivore) c. Cut one inch wide strips of colored construction paper, one color for each category. Make enough so each student will have one of each of these colors: 1) plants – green 2) herbivores (plant eaters) – blue 3) omnivores (plant and animal eaters) – purple 4) carnivores (animal eaters) – red 5) sun connection - yellow d. Have the children draw or paste cutout pictures on the strips of a food chain they choose to depict using plants, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. e. When completed, show everyone the yellow hula hoop as a representative of the sun. Ask everyone to look carefully at their food chains and decide if the sun needs to be added to them. (YES!!) f. Let the children link their food chains to your large ring with yellow strips. g. Next display the chains by hanging them (with the sun in the middle) to create a food chain canopy. h. Look carefully at all the food chains to see if any of the independent food chains can be linked together to create a food web. i. To link the food chains together, run yarn from one link to another so that the web will hang nicely when completed. F. Extension Activity 1. Using the class model created by the children, discuss and apply the terms producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and quaternary consumer. G. Evaluation/Assessment 1. Create a grading rubric for the food chains the students complete. 2. Have the students draw and explain a food chain. H. Standardized Test/State Test Connections 1. Students know and understand the characteristics and structure of living things, the processes of life, and how living things interact with each other and their environment. (C.S.S. #3) Lesson Three: Plants (Day Six to assemble, but more than that to actually observe.) A. Daily Objectives 1. Lesson Content a. Plants: 1) Nutrients 2) Water 3) Soil 4) Air 5) Sunlight 2. Concept Objectives a. Students understand the processes of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about and evaluate such investigations. (C.S.S. #1) 3. Skill Objectives a. Students will predict outcomes of the experiment. b. Students will identify the processes involved with the interactions between plants, nutrients, water, soil, air, and sunlight. B. Materials 1. Six lima beans 2. Three containers 3. Soil 4. Dark area and bright area 5. One jar 6. Two pieces of lined paper (8 1/2 x 11) 7. One piece of construction paper (8 1/2 x 11) 8. Stapler 9. Pencil/crayons C. Background Notes D. Key Vocabulary 1. photosynthesis – making things from light 2. chlorophyll – the green chemical in a plant 3. oxygen – a colorless, odorless gas that is part of air and which humans, animals, and plants need to breathe in order to survive. 4. carbon dioxide – a colorless, odorless gas that plants give off and is part of the air E. Procedures/Activities 1. Activity One: Vocabulary Book a. Give each child one piece of construction paper and two pieces of lined paper. b. Fold in half to make a book. c. Staple together. d. Write the vocabulary word and discuss possible meanings. e. Look up the words in the dictionary. f. Write definition of word or draw a picture of it, whatever applies. g. Make a cover for the book. h. Either talk about or practice the words daily so the students may become familiar with them. 2. Activity Two: Plant Experiment a. Soak seeds in water overnight. b. Place two seeds in each of the three containers. c. Place one container in a dark place and the other two containers in a light place. d. Water the soil of the container in the dark and only one of the containers in the light when they get dry. Do not water the soil of the other container in the light e. Have the children predict by drawing what they think will happen in each container. f. After one to two weeks, look at each plant. See if the children’s predictions were correct. g. Separate one seedling from each container and look at the root system. h. Talk about photosynthesis (plants using light to make food). i. Place the unhealthy plants in the sun, adding water when needed and after one week see if there are any changes. j. Put all the healthy plants into one container and put a jar over the plants overnight. Condensation will collect in the jar. This is water vapor emitted by the plant when it exchanges water for carbon dioxide. F. Evaluation/Assessment 1. Draw a picture showing what a plant would look like that had enough food and water. In contrast draw a plant that has not had enough sun and water. Dictate a sentence that summarizes what they learned about plants. G. Standardized Test/State Test Connections 1. Students understand the processes of scientific investigation and design, conduct, communicate about and evaluate such investigations. (C.S.S. #1) Lesson Four: Herbivores, Omnivores, Carnivores (Days Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten) A. Daily Objectives 1. Lesson Content a. This lesson addresses the roles and relationships herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores play in the food chain. 2. Concept Objectives a. Students know and understand the characteristics of living things, the diversity of life, and how living things interact with each other and with their environment. (C.S.S. #3.1) 3. Skill Objectives a. Students will be able to differentiate between predator and prey. b. Students will be able identify the different animal classifications by the characteristics of their teeth. c. Students will demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of animals within ecosystems through role playing in a environmental simulation. B. Materials 1. Paper 2. wildlife magazines suitable to cut up 3. scissors 4. safety pins 5. glue 6. construction paper 7. bulletin board/ butcher paper 8. paper bags (4”x 8”) 9. pictures of various animals 10. red modeling clay 11. popcorn kernels 12. black and brown crayons C. Background Notes D. Key Vocabulary 1. Herbivore – animals that eat plants. 2. Omnivore – animals that eat both plants and animals 3. Carnivore – animals that eat other animals (flesh-eaters) 4. Producer - a green plant, which is a food producer in a food chain 5. Consumer – animals that eat other living things. 6. Digest – break down 7. Browsing – eating leaves and shrubs 8. Grazing – eating grass and other ground plants 9. Camouflage – a disguise or behavior an animal uses to hide itself or fool an enemy 10. Predator – animals that catch and kill other animals