What Is a Food Chain?
You have learned about food chains and feeding relationships
and have classified animals and plants as producers,
consumers and decomposers. To show what you remember
and understand, draw and label an example of a food chain
you have learned about during the unit on plants and animals.
What Is a Food Chain?
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What Is a Food Chain?
Suggested Grade Span
3–5
Task
You have learned about food chains and feeding relationships and have classified animals and
plants as producers, consumers and decomposers. To show what you remember and
understand, draw and label an example of a food chain you have learned about during the unit
on plants and animals.
Big Ideas and Unifying Concepts
Interdependence
Order and organization
Systems
Life Science Concepts
Populations and ecosystems
Regulation and behavior
Structure and function
Mathematics Concept
Diagrams
Time Required for the Task
30 minutes or less.
Context
This task comes from a districtwide final science assessment given to third graders at the end
of the school year. During the course of the year, students learned a variety of concepts from
each science strand: physical, earth and life. They also worked on science process skills within
each unit. The entire end-of-year assessment was designed as a means to assess students’
learning from each science strand as well as an opportunity for students to practice
answering constructed-response test items. This is a skill students will need in fourth and fifth
grades when they will be asked to answer constructed-response items on standardized statewide assessments in math, writing and science. This assessment was also developed to
What Is a Food Chain?
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provide the school district with science data about learning, teaching and the science
curriculum. The goal of the school district is to ensure that all students have equal access to
high-quality science instruction and learning.
In the life science strand, students learned about a variety of food chains and feeding
relationships. They classified animals and plants as producers, consumers and decomposers
(as well as carnivores, herbivores, insectivores and omnivores). They learned and practiced a
number of process skills such as questioning, predicting, collecting and analyzing data, and
drawing relevant conclusions.
What the Task Accomplishes
This task assesses students’ understanding of a food chain and the feeding relationships that
occur within it. It demonstrates their understanding of the terms producers, consumers, and
decomposers and of the interdependence that occurs in nature and impacts all living things.
How the Student Will Investigate
This particular task does not ask students to perform an actual investigation. Rather, students
need to show evidence of their understanding of food chains by constructing one, with
illustrations and with teacher assistance. Before the actual overall assessment was given,
teachers and students spent a period of time reviewing concepts and vocabulary learned.
Interdisciplinary Links and Extensions
During the life science strand, many teachers integrated other subject areas, such as reading,
writing, art, math and social studies. Some language arts examples are shared below.
Language Arts
There are many wonderful children’s books that deal with plants and animals and feeding
relationships.
Some of these titles include:
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle
• The Gift of the Tree, by Alvin Tresselt
• An Oak Tree Dies and a Journey Begins, by Louanne Norris
Some students wrote and illustrated big books, creative stories and poetry about animals and
plants, as well.
Teaching Tips and Guiding Questions
Spend plenty of time reviewing beforehand, especially any difficult vocabulary. Make sure that
students truly have a conceptual understanding of the words and ideas and their relationship to
the real world. For students who do not read on grade level, assistance was given by reading
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aloud each question of the assessment. For students who struggle with writing, the teacher was
able to scribe their answers on the assessment (exactly as dictated by the student).
During the review period, teachers might ask some of the following questions:
What is a producer?
What is a consumer?
What is a decomposer?
What are some examples of each?
Why are each of these important in a food chain?
What do plants and animals need to survive? How do they get what they need to survive?
How do we classify animals?
What is the difference between animals which are carnivores, herbivores, insectivores, and
omnivores? Can you give some examples?
• What role does the sun play in a food chain?
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Concepts to be Assessed
(Unifying concepts/big ideas and science concepts to be assessed using the Exemplars
Science Rubric under the criterion: Science Concepts and Related Content)
Life Science – Structure and Function; Regulation and Behavior; Populations and
Ecosystems: Students identify characteristics of organisms and categorize living organisms as
plant eaters or meat eaters and as predators and prey. Students use the terms food chains,
producers, consumers, decomposers, herbivores, carnivores, insectivores and omnivores
appropriately and describe their relationships in a food chain, using prior knowledge.
Mathematics: Students use diagrams appropriately.
Skills to be Developed
(Science process skills to be assessed using the Exemplars Science Rubric under the criteria:
Scientific Procedures and Reasoning Strategies and Scientific Communication Using Data)
Scientific Method: Communicating information, making connections between concepts,
illustrating and labeling a scientific drawing, organizing information and using prior knowledge.
Other Science Standards and Concepts Addressed
Scientific Method: Students explain phenomena in the living world.
Life Science – Regulation and Behavior: Students understand how plants and animals interact
and behave in order to survive.
Life Science – Populations and Ecosystems: Students understand how to classify populations
of animals and plants and their feeding relationships.
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Life Science – Structure and Function; Regulation and Behavior; Populations and
Ecosystems: Students describe and group animals by what they eat and where they live.
Students understand that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and are
interdependent.
Suggested Materials
For this assessment task, students will need only the assessment and pencils.
Possible Solutions
A food chain is a simple linking of sun to plant to animal(s). (A food web shows the
interrelationships of multiple food chains.) Students should draw an accurate food chain that is
clearly connected and appropriately labeled. Both plant and animal names and producer,
consumer and decomposer (if included) need to be included in the labeling.
Task-Specific Assessment Notes
Novice
This student’s solution is incomplete and lacking in details. The food chain is only partially
correct. Arrows are included to show connections. The animals and plants are correctly
identified, but they are either not identified or are incorrectly identified as producers, consumers
or decomposers. (The sun and lettuce are incorrectly identified as consumers. There is some
understanding of feeding relationships between the sun, lettuce, rabbit and wolf. Both the bear
and wolf should be labeled as carnivores and consumers. Bears do not generally eat wolves as
this food chain implies.)
Apprentice
The food chain is correctly illustrated and labeled with plants and animals. Arrows are included
to show connections between the plants and animals. Plants and animals are not classified as
producer, consumer or decomposer. There is evidence of an understanding of feeding
relationships; however, the student does not clarify what animal, if any, might have caused
another animal to die.
Practitioner
This student’s solution is complete and the food chain is correctly illustrated, although there are
no decomposers included in this food chain. Arrows are included to show connections between
the plants and animals. Each plant and animal is identified and correctly labeled as producer or
consumer. There is evidence of a conceptual understanding of feeding relationships.
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Expert
This student’s solution is complete and detailed. The food chain is appropriate and correctly
illustrated. Arrows are included to show connections between the plants and animals. Each
plant and animal is identified and correctly labeled as producer, consumer and/or decomposer.
The student additionally included the use of a key for clarity. Conceptual understanding of
feeding relationships is clearly evident.
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Novice
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Apprentice
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Practitioner
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Expert
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