Title of Lesson: What is a Food Chain?

Teachers:
Rebecca Mobley

Subject:
1st Grade Science

Common Core State Standards:

PO 3. Describe how plants and animals within a habitat are dependent on each other.
1.W.4 With guidance and support from adults, produce writing in which the development and organization are
appropriate to task and purpose.
1.SL.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud or information presented orally or through
other media.
Objective (Explicit):
By the end of this lesson students will be able to create their own food chain that shows the relationships among
the organisms within a habitat by organizing the food chain on the worksheet in the correct order.
By the end of this lesson students will be able to write a three-star paragraph that explains the food chain that
they created.
By the end of this lesson students will be able to ask and answer questions about food chains by actively
participating in the class discussion.
Sub-objectives:

Students will be able to use vocabulary throughout lesson.

Students will be able to explain that organisms depend on each other for food, energy, and survival.
Students will be able to write a paragraph answering the writing prompt.
Students will be able to tell and show the role that food chains play within an ecosystem.
Students will be able to explain how food chains are a part of systems thinking.

Evidence of Mastery:
The teacher will use three rubrics to assess the comprehension of the students. The rubrics will look at a students
participation, writing, and worksheet.
Rubric for Participation
Student Names

The student actively participated

during the classroom discussions
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No

Rubric for Writing

Student Names Meets (5 points)
Student wrote a three-star
paragraph that follows the
prompt.

Rubric for Worksheet

Student Names Meets (5 points)
Student is able to successfully
complete the worksheet with no
errors.

Comments/Notes

Approaches (3-4 points)

Student followed the prompt,
but was unable to write a
three-star paragraph.

Falls Far Below (1-2 points)

Student was unable to write
a three-star paragraph or the
student was unable to follow
the prompt.

Approaches (3-4 points)

Falls Far Below (1-2

points)
Student is unable to
complete the worksheet or
the student has done the
worksheet incorrectly.

Student is able to
complete the worksheet
with minimal errors.

Key vocabulary:
Food Chain: shows how organisms are dependent on each
other for food and how energy is moved from one organism
to another
Producers: organisms that produce their own food
Consumers: organisms that digest other organisms as an
energy source
Carnivores: organisms that only eat meat
Omnivores: organisms that eat both meats and plants
Herbivores: organisms that only eat plants

Materials:
Printouts of Organisms
Tape
Colored Pencils
Markers
Dry Erase Markers
Whiteboard
Food Chain Worksheet
Food Chain Writing Prompt Worksheet
Video Fabulous Food Chains: Crash Course Kids
#7.1

Opening (state objectives, connect to previous learning, and make relevant to real life)

Instructional Input

The teacher will begin by greeting the students and going over the lessons objectives.
Then, the teacher will say, Think back to last night, what did you and your family eat for
dinner? Share with your partner. After students share, the teacher will say, For dinner last
night I ate chicken. Today we are going to learn all about food chains: how they are formed,
how every organism is related and connected, and how organisms within an ecosystem
depend on each other to survive.
Teacher Will:

Student Will:

The teacher will show the food chains

video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=MuKs9o1s8h8).
After the video the teacher will introduce
the vocabulary by writing it on the board
and asking the students to help make
the definitions.
The teacher will begin the instruction by
saying, Remember when I told you that
I ate chicken for dinner last night? Well, I
want to show you what a chickens food
chain can look like. The teacher will
then tape a printout of a chicken onto

The students will begin this section by

quietly watching the video.
After the video the students will watch as
the teacher creates a food chain.
The students will ask any questions that
they have as the teacher models how to
create a food chain.

the whiteboard. Now, I know that a

chicken eats corn, so I can tape corn
here (tape corn onto whiteboard) and
make an arrow to show the transfer of
energy from the corn to the chicken. I
also know that corn needs energy from
the sun to grow because we learned
about plants in our last unit. Since I
know that corn needs the sun, I can tape
the sun onto the board before the corn
and draw an arrow from the sun to the
corn to show the transfer of energy.
The teacher will then recap what the
food chain looks like so far. So we know
that this food chain begins with the sun
and we know that the sun transfers
energy to the corn. Once the corn grows
a chicken eats it. Now, to finish the food
chain I need to think about my dinner
last night. I ate chicken with my family,
so I can put up a picture of humans next
to the chicken and draw an arrow to
complete this food chain. Pause and
allow the students to view the completed
food chain. Looking at a chickens food
chain and looking at our vocabulary
words, I wonder how we could classify
each of the organisms in the food chain.
(Engage in thinking aloud to model this
for the students) Well, I know that a
chicken can eat worms and other
insects too, not just corn, so a chicken
must be an omnivore. A chicken eats
both plants and meat (like insects) and
that is what we wrote for our definition of
omnivore. I also know that humans are
omnivores because we eat plants and
meat as well. Looking at corn I know
that it needs the sun to grow. Since it
uses energy from the sun to grow, corn
is a producer. Lets look at this food
chain. Since both chickens and humans
eat other organisms, and dont get all of
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their energy from the sun, they are

consumers. The teacher will conclude
this example of a food chain by saying,
Wow. There are a lot of ways that we
can label and classify each organisms
within a food chain.
The teacher will then ask a student what
they had for dinner last night, and
complete a food chain based on what
they ate the night before.

Co-Teaching/Differentiation Strategy

Guided Practice

The teacher will use pictures, words, and arrows to model food chains for the students.
The video that is shows has pictures and words to accompany important concepts.

Teacher Will:

After completing the example food

chains the teacher will say, I want us
to create some food chains together.
Tape the picture of a frog onto the
whiteboard. Ask the students, What
eats a frog? Wait for responses. If
prompting is needed, hold up a few
cards and ask Which of these
organisms do you think eats a frog?
Once the students answer tape the
picture onto the board and draw an
arrow. Tell why an arrow was drawn
before moving on. Then ask, What
do you think a frog eats? Wait for
responses. Once the students say
bugs tape up picture of insects and
draw an arrow to represent the
transfer of energy from the insects to
the frog. Continue this process for
the insects and plants.
Once we have finished each link in
the frogs food chain, have the
students determine what each
organism is classified as using the
lessons vocabulary. Ensure that the
students understand why each
organism is classified the way it is

Student Will:

Students will be actively participating

in the group discussion. They will
share their ideas and thoughts on the
food chain.

and that the understand that the sun

is the ultimate source of energy
needed for all organisms to stay alive
and grow. For example, the teacher
could say, Yes, a frog is a carnivore
because it only eats meat (insects). A
frog is also a consumer because it
gets its energy by eating other
organisms. Do this for each
organism in the food chain.
Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation

Independent Practice

This entire portion of the lesson is a classroom discussion.

There are words, pictures, and arrows within the food chains.

Teacher Will:

Teacher will say, Now I am going to

pass out a worksheet that everyone
will complete independently. I will
keep our examples of food chains on
the board so that they can help you
remember everything that goes into
a food chain. Once you finish the
worksheet come and see me for your
next assignment.
When students finish the worksheet
they will be given a writing prompt.
The prompt is on the paper, but the
teacher will read it aloud to the
students. Remind the students that
they need to have three star
sentences and that if they need help
with their writing to ask their shoulder
partner (spelling and if the sentence
makes sense).
As the students are working on their
worksheets and writing prompts the
teacher will walk around and observe
the students as well as answer any
questions that they may have.

Student Will:

Students will complete the worksheet

independently. Once they finish the
worksheet the students will see the
teacher for their next assignment.
The students will then complete the
writing prompt. They will have until
lunch to finish their papers. The
students should be writing three star
sentences (capitalization, punctuation,
and the sentence makes sense).
If the students have any questions
they will raise their hands and ask the
teacher. If the question is in regard to
their writing the students will ask their
shoulder partners (how to spell a word,
or if a sentence makes sense). After
the students finish their writing they
will read their paragraph to their
partner to ensure that it makes sense
before it is turned in.

Co-Teaching Strategy/Differentiation

The worksheet and writing prompt papers have pictures on them to help guide the
students.
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The students can ask questions and the teacher will be walking around the
classroom to help the students.
If a student needs help with their writing, they can ask their shoulder partner.

Closing/Student Reflection/Real-life connections:

After the students have finished the food chain activity and the writing prompt we will end
the lesson with a class discussion about the food chain. The discussion will be led mostly
by the students. The teacher will ask the students to share, in their own words, what it was
that we did today. We will review the vocabulary terms and the lesson objectives. The
teacher will then ask the students, Which of the four ways of thinking does a food chain
fall under? The class will discuss that a food chain is a system within a larger system: an
ecosystem. The students will come to the conclusion that systems thinking is present when
a food chain is created because food chains show how organisms are connected within an
ecosystem.

Here is the writing prompt that will be used (the two sheets below). The students will cut and glue the
food chain onto the second paper and write about the food chain that they have created.

Below is the worksheet that the students will be completing independently. The students will also be asked to classify
each organism as a consumer or producer, and an omnivore, herbivore, or carnivore.

Resources
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/37/91/b2/3791b25e4d821134607e69c790f7c7c8.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/49/29/0c/49290c070f168059a667395f3cab9d51.jpg
http://www.rcsnc.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_4702937/File/lynne%20huskey/FoodChainGang.pdf

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