4thGradeHowDoesMatterFlow?andWhatareDecomposers?

Author:KelseyOlson
Datecreated:03/31/20156:49PMEDTDatemodified:03/31/20157:57PMEDT

VITALINFORMATION
TotalNumberofStudents

23total(13Malesand10Females)

Area(s)StudentsLiveIn

Suburban

Free/ReducedLunch

.09%

EthnicityofStudents

AfricanAmerican/Black:3
Asian:3
White:15
Hispanic/Latino:2

EnglishLanguageLearners

TwostudentsareEnglishlearners.OnestudentisfluentEnglishproficient.

StudentswithSpecialNeeds

Onestudenthasaspecificlearningdisabilityandonestudenthasaspeechandlanguageimpairment.

Subject(s)

Science

TopicorUnitofStudy

LifeSciencesFlowofEnergyandMatter.

Grade/Level

Grade4

Comments

KEYCONCEPTS&STANDARDS
BigIdea&Essential
Questions

ThisisthefourthactivityoftheLifeScienceunit.Thisactivitycoversthesecondlessonofthechapter3,whichfocuseson
howmatterflowsinecosystems.Thebigquestionofthechapteris:Howdolivingthingsinteractinanecosystem?
Thislessonwillfocusonfoodchainsandfoodwebsaswellashowenergyandmatterarepassedfromoneorganismto
another.Thebigideasofthislessonisthatlivingthingscompetewitheachotherforresourcesinanecosystemandthat
decomposersrecycledeadmatterfromplantsandanimals.

LearningOutcome(s)

Studentswillunderstandthatlivingthingscompetewitheachotherforresourcesinanecosystemandthatdecomposers
recycledeadmatterfromplantsandanimals.

Summary

Standards

StudentswillcompleteashortassessmentcoveringtheinformationfromLesson1.Wewillthencreateafoodwebusingpictures
ontheboardtoillustratethatafoodwebisasystemofoverlappingfoodchains.Studentswillcopydowntheinformationfornotes
inordertopracticenotetaking.WewillthenreadLesson3asaclassanddiscusstheinformationasweread.Studentswillthen
makeanhypothesisandbeginanexperimentusingbananasandyeastinordertoshowtheaffectofdecomposers.
CACaliforniaK12AcademicContentStandards
Subject:Science
Grade:GradeFour
Area:LifeSciences
SubStrand2:Allorganismsneedenergyandmattertoliveandgrow.Asabasisforunderstandingthisconcept:
Standarda:Studentsknowplantsaretheprimarysourceofmatterandenergyenteringmostfoodchains.
Standardb:Studentsknowproducersandconsumers(herbivores,carnivores,omnivores,anddecomposers)are
relatedinfoodchainsandfoodwebsandmaycompetewitheachotherforresourcesinanecosystem.
Standardc:Studentsknowdecomposers,includingmanyfungi,insects,andmicroorganisms,recyclematter
fromdeadplantsandanimals.
SubStrand3:Livingorganismsdependononeanotherandontheirenvironmentforsurvival.Asabasisfor
understandingthisconcept:
Standarda:Studentsknowecosystemscanbecharacterizedbytheirlivingandnonlivingcomponents.
Standardb:Studentsknowthatinanyparticularenvironment,somekindsofplantsandanimalssurvivewell,
somesurvivelesswell,andsomecannotsurviveatall.
Standardc:Studentsknowmanyplantsdependonanimalsforpollinationandseeddispersal,andanimals
dependonplantsforfoodandshelter.
Area:InvestigationandExperimentation
SubStrand6:Scientificprogressismadebyaskingmeaningfulquestionsandconductingcarefulinvestigations.As
abasisforunderstandingthisconceptandaddressingthecontentintheotherthreestrands,studentsshoulddevelop
theirownquestionsandperforminvestigations.Studentswill:

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Standardc:Formulateandjustifypredictionsbasedoncauseandeffectrelationships.

USACommonCoreStateStandards(June2010)
Subject:EnglishLanguageArts&LiteracyinHistory/SocialStudies,Science,andTechnicalSubjects
Grade:Grade4students:
ContentArea:InformationalTextK5
Strand:Reading
Domain:KeyIdeasandDetails
Standard:
1.Refertodetailsandexamplesinatextwhenexplainingwhatthetextsaysexplicitlyandwhendrawing
inferencesfromthetext.
Standard:
2.Determinethemainideaofatextandexplainhowitissupportedbykeydetailssummarizethetext.
Standard:
3.Explainevents,procedures,ideas,orconceptsinahistorical,scientific,ortechnicaltext,includingwhat
happenedandwhy,basedonspecificinformationinthetext
Domain:CraftandStructure
Standard:
4.Determinethemeaningofgeneralacademicanddomainspecificwordsorphrasesinatextrelevanttoa
grade4topicorsubjectarea.

Comments

ASSESSMENTS
Assessment/Rubrics

Studentsabilitytofillintheassessmentformforlesson1usingthewordbankwillactasaformativeassessmentin
ordertotellmeifanythingfromlesson1needstoberetaughtmoreexplicitly.
Teacherobservationofthestudents'participationduringthewholeclassactivitieswillbethemainformofassessment
forthislesson.

Comments

MATERIALSANDRESOURCES
InstructionalMaterials&
Technology(handouts,etc.)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

ScienceStudyNotebooks
CaliforniaScienceUnitBtextbooks
Picturesofanimalsforfoodweb
Whiteboardandmarkers
Fourteenplasticbagswithabananasliceineachbag
Amarkertolabeleachbag(7:control,7:yeast,andeachbagshouldhaveatablenumberonit)
Sevenplasticbagsfilledwithateaspoonofyeast
ScienceJournals

Comments

IMPLEMENTATION
SequenceofActivities

1:302:20(50Min)
Introduction(15Minutes)
1. Studentswillbeginsciencebytakingashortassessmentwithawordbankonthematerialtheylearnedinlesson
1(Howdoesenergyflow?).
2. Oncethestudentshavecompletedtheassessment,picturesofthesun,plants,insects,rabbit,squirrel,deer
mouse,spottedowl,deer,andmountainlionwillbepostedontheboard.Studentswillbeaskedtothinkabout
howthesethingsarerelated,rememberingthedrawingstheyhavedoneinpreviouslessontohelpguidethem.
3. Asaclass,wewillconnecttheanimalpicturesonthewhiteboardusingdifferentcoloredmarkerstosignifythe
transferofenergy.
4. StudentswillfillintheLesson2studyguidefromtheirsciencestudynotebooktorecordtheconnectionsbetween
thelivingthings.
5. Studentswillbeinformedthatthisisafoodweb.Afoodwebisasystemofoverlappingfoodchains.Inafood
chainenergyandmattercanflowthroughmanydifferentbranches.
6. Askthestudentstothinkpairshareaboutwhatwouldhappenifthenumberofmountainlionsdramatically
dropped.Makesurethatstudentsunderstandthatalllivingthingsareconnectedinsomeway.Achangeinone
partofafoodwebcanaffectallparts.(Ifextratimetoday,askstudentstowritehowtheytheythinkadrought
affectslocalfoodwebs.)
WhatareDecomposers(20minutes)
1. Askstudentstopullouttheirsciencebooksandopentopage102.
2. Tellstudentsthatnowwewillfocusonaspecialtypeoforganisminfoodwebsdecomposers.Askstudentsto
sharewithapartneronethingthattheyhaveseendecompose(pumpkin,bread,tree).
3. HavestudentvolunteerstaketurnsreadingaparagraphatatimeofLesson3(Whataredecomposers?).Stopto
checkforunderstandingthroughoutthereading.
4. Makeadjustmenttofoodwebontheboard,byconnectingthewormstotheconsumers,explainingthat
decomposersrecyclethenutrientsinanecosystem.
Experiment(15minutes)

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1. Tellstudentsthattodaywearegoingtostartanexperimentinordertoobservedecomposingourselves.Each
groupwillbegiventwobagswithabananasliceineach.Onebagwillbelabeled"control"andwearenotgoing
todoanythingtothisbag.Thecontrolgroupiswhatwewillcomparetheexperimentedbagtoinordertobetter
seewhatchangesoccurasaresultofaddingadecomposer.Eachgroupwilladdyeasttothebaglabeled
yeast.Yeastisasinglecelledfungus.
2. Askthestudentswhatpartofthefoodwebfungiareapartof(decomposers).
3. Askstudentswhattheythinkwillhappentothetwobananaslices:theonewiththeyeastandtheonewithout
theyeast?Havestudentswritedowntheirhypothesisatthetopofanewpageintheirsciencejournals.
4. Passouttwobagswithabananasliceineachtoeachtablegroup(eachnumberedpertablegroupandone
labeledcontrolandonelabeledyeast).
5. Havethestudentsrecordobservationsintheirjournals
6. Passoutateaspoonofyeasttoeachgroupandtellthemtoaddittothebaglabeledyeastthenrecordany
additionalobservations.
7. Collectthebagsfromeachtablegroupandhavestudentsgetouttheirassignmentnotebooksandcopydownthe
dayshomework.
GroupingStrategies

Individualforassessment
Wholegroupforformingthefoodwebandreadingthesciencechapter
ThinkPairShareaboutwhatwouldhappenifthenumberofmountainlionsdecreased
Tablegroupsfortheexperiment

DifferentiatedInstruction

Ascheduleofthelessonwillbepostedonthewhiteboardtogivestudentsasenseofwheretheactivityisgoing,
whichwillbeparticularlyhelpfultothespecialeducationstudents.
ThepicturestoshowthedifferentaspectsofafoodwebshouldhelpvisualandEnglishlanguagelearnersbetter
understandthemeaningofthetermfoodweb.
StoppingtopointoutaspectsofanonfictiontextandcheckingforstudentunderstandingwillhelpEnglishlearnersand
specialeducationstudentsbetterunderstandhowtogaininformationfromthetextandwhatisbeingread.

Comments

REFLECTIONS
PriortoLesson

Iwillknowthatthestudentlearningoutcomesweremetifstudentsareabletoparticipateduringthefoodweb
formationactivityandduringthereadingdiscussion.Ianticipatethatfittingeverythingintoonedaywillbeachallenge.
Theexperimentaspectofthelessonmayneedtowaitforthenextdayinordertomakesurestudentsunderstand
everythingbeingcovered.

PostLesson
Comments

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