Topic/Learning Activity Title and syllabus reference: Ecology- Food Web, Food Chain.
Student Cohort Student level: 5TH Year Leaving Cert Biology Prior knowledge required by the students: • Students should have an adequate amount of knowledge on ecology as most of them will have completed the junior cert science. • Students may have also gained knowledge on predators and prey from animal documentaries on TV, this is why the youtube clip will be showed at the beginning of the class to engage students and to relate the lesson to their everyday life. • Students may have an idea of different habitats through the geography curriculum at junior cert level. Stimulus to Engage How do you get the students interested in the topic to start? At the beginning of the lesson a video on you tube will be shown to the students. This video will entail various predators’ chasing and killing prey. This will engage students and will allow them to guess what the lesson planned is about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6GgiMDJl_A Science Questions Initial questions leading to the questions students will work on during the activity: • What is this video about?? • Can you guess what todays lesson entails?? • Can you give me other examples of where you might see animals preying on other animals?? • Are humans predators? • Is there an example in today’s world where humans are predators? Learning Outcomes Content Knowledge: • Students will have adequate knowledge of ecology already as most students will have completed junior cert science. This will be revised and broadened through the Videos, PowerPoint and activity (creating their own food chains from photos given out on various habitats). • Students may have some knowledge on predators and prey from home and/or from TV the lesson will deepen their understanding of this. • Some students may be able to relate the content to their everyday lives as family members could be hunters, farmers etc. • Students will be able to construct food webs and food chains from a variety of habitats. • Students will understand the various tropic level, i.e. producer, consumer, carnivore, herbivore etc. • This will also be crossed linked into the topic of photosynthesis in relation to producer. • This will also be linked to conservation as it will show the importance of the conservation of certain animals and habitats. Process: • Students will observe the video and answer questions. • PowerPoint will be used to explain food web and chain and it will also be used to indicate the role of the different consumers within a food chain. • The activity which entails the students being divided into pairs and working on food web and food chain of different habitat ranging from safaris, woodland to the ocean. Skills: • Students will utilise and improve their communication skills and teamwork skills through the activity. • The student will work with others in a group. • Work as a member of a group. • Communicate effectively within the group and class activities. • Take responsibility for their role in the group. • Analyse and interpret knowledge given to them. • Develop a practice of reasoning from prediction to evidence to conclusion. • Critical and Creative thinking. Questions during Activity Questions to drive student learning (directing them to the learning outcomes): 9 What do you think a producer might be? 9 How may organisms produce their own food? 9 What are consumers? 9 Can u construct a simple food web that would be in a woodland area? 9 What do you think happens to energy as it is passed down the food web? Questions to probe understanding: 9 What is an omnivore? 9 Can you give an example of an omnivore? 9 Can you construct a food web from various different habitats? 9 What are decomposers? 9 What role do they play in the environment? 9 Why is this important? 9 Can you construct a food chain? 9 Can you label the trophic levels within the chain? 9 What do think would happen if a predator ran out of prey? Questions to get students thinking about their own learning (metacognition): 9 What type of a consumer are we? 9 What type of a consumer are vegans? 9 How much energy go we get from our food? 9 How much of the content did you know already? Additional Resources Stimulus materials, websites, etc.: Additional Comments In this lesson commence PowerPoint at slide 23 as the PowerPoint was created for the whole topic of ecology.