Food Chains Forming Food Web Lesson Plan for 6th Grade Example Students

Topic: Food chains forming food web

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will understand the concept of food chains and how they form a food web.

Materials

• Pictures of different types of animals and plants
• Chart paper and markers
• Construction paper and scissors

Warm-up

• Ask students if they have ever seen a picture of a food chain before. Ask them to describe what they saw.
• Explain that a food chain is a series of organisms that feed on each other and live in a specific environment.

Direct Instruction

• Show the picture of a food chain to the class again and ask students to describe what they see.
• Ask students to name each organism in the food chain and explain what it eats.
• Emphasize that each organism in a food chain is dependent on the one above it. This means that the top organism in a food chain (e.g. a lion) cannot survive without the organism below it (e.g. a zebra).
• Explain that a food web is a more complicated version of a food chain. In a food web, organisms not only feed on each other, but they also feed on the same resources. For example, a lion might eat a zebra, but a zebra might also eat grass, which in turn might be eaten by a mouse.
• Ask students if they can think of any examples of food webs they know of.

Guided Practice

• Divide the class into small groups and give each group one of the food chain handouts.
• Have each group use the handout to create their own food web, including at least three organisms and the relationships between them.
• Have each group present their food web to the class and explain their choices.

Independent Practice:

• For their project, have the students choose a specific ecosystem (e.g. a pond, a desert, a rainforest).
• Have them research the organisms that live in their chosen ecosystem and create a food web for that ecosystem.
• Have them create a poster or presentation to share their food web with the class.

Closure

• Have the students summarize what they have learned about food chains and food webs.
• Ask them to reflect on what they found most interesting or surprising about food chains and food webs.
• End the class with a reminder that all organisms in an ecosystem are dependent on one another, and that understanding food chains and food webs is essential for understanding how organisms interact in ecosystems.

Assessment

• Observe the students during the guided practice activity and during the independent practice activity to assess their understanding of the concept of a food chain and a food web.
• Collect and grade the students' written reflections on what they found most interesting or surprising about food chains and food webs.