Jordan Vinson

Stage 2

Performance Tasks
Write This! You are a world famous author, who writes books
for children about science. Your books make science fun and cool for
kids! You have received a lot of fan mail from readers recently asking
you to write a book about food chains. Your book must teach children
about what a food chain is, how food chains work, and why food
chains are important. You will read aloud your book to your
Kindergarten buddy.
Food Chain PSA: Congratulations, you have just been hired to
work for the World Wildlife Foundation! WWFs mission is to conserve
the environment and protect living organisms. Your first assignment is
to create a national public service announcement (PSA) about the
impact humans have on terrestrial and aquatic food chains. Your goal
is to teach viewers how human actions can hurt food chains and what
we can do to protect food chains. Our friends from the Shenandoah
Sierra Club will be visiting the classroom to view our PSAs.

Other Evidence

Model/Diorama: Students will create dioramas depicting either a

terrestrial or aquatic food chain.
Graphic Organizers:
o Venn Diagram: Students will compare and contrast a set of
organisms based on their diet (herbivore, omnivore, carnivore).
o Cause and Effect Chart: Students will create a cause and effect
chart, outlining human actions and their impact on food chains.
o Food Chain: Students will create and label a food chain.
Homework: Students will complete worksheets to review key vocabulary
and reinforce key ideas.
Games: Students will engage in a variety of content-based games.
Journal Entries
o What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

Other Evidence

Journal Entries:
o Using the food chain below, explain how the removal of mice would
impact the rest of the food chain.
Plant Grasshopper Mouse Snake Hawk
o How can human actions hurt organisms in a food chain? What can
humans do to help organisms in a food chain?
Quizzes: There will be two quizzes during the unit. Quizzes will be based
on the Standards of Learning and the content covered in the weeks prior.

Self-Assessment & Reflection

Students will self-assess and reflect throughout the unit and after each PBE.
Self-assessment
o Twice a week, students will be asked to assess themselves as
learners. Responses will be recorded in students journals.
Prompts:
What choices did you make to prepare, engage, and
process during each class?
Did you make good choice this week? How do you
know?
Give yourself gems and opportunities for behavior
during class this week.
o Students will assess themselves as learners after each PBE.
Responses will be recorded in students journals.
PBE Prompt:
What grade do you believe you earned for effort and
participation during the PBE? Why do you think you
deserve this grade?
What choices did you make that helped you? What
choices did you make that distracted you?
How can you improve?

Self-Assessment & Reflection

Reflection
o Twice a week, students will be asked to reflect on what they have
learned. Responses will be recorded in students journals. Possible
prompts include:
How does what we have learned connect to your life?
What would you like to learn more about?
Write 3 things you learned to give to a peer who is absent.
Write a short letter to a classmate about what you have
learned.
Make a word splash using what you have learned so far
about food chains.
o Students will also engage in informal reflections, such as thinkpair-share, thumbs up/thumbs down, and fist to five.
o Students will write a reflection journal entry after each PBE. They
will identify what they have learned and what they have questions
about. In addition, students will create 2 test questions relating to
what they have learned.