LIFE – Savannas Preserve State Park
09 - 2010
Teacher’s Guide
Energy Flow
Subject:
Integrated Science (Life; Earth-Space; Physical), Language Arts
Topic:
Energy transfer in food webs, tropic levels, food chains, food webs, food pyramids,
interdependence, observation, classification
Summary:
Students will be lead on a guided hike through a Pine Flatwoods ecosystem to the Basin
Marsh. Along the way leaders will identify types of organisms for the students to record
on their data sheets. In the process, students will analyze each organism and list their
tropic level, function in the food chain, and diet (herbivore, carnivore, etc.). In their
follow up from this lab, they will utilize this data by creating their own food webs.
While at the basin marsh students will actively participate in identifying various macro
invertebrates and other creatures that live in the basin marsh. Following the lab, students
will be assessed on their findings by completing a work sheet identifying concepts such
as food webs, energy flows, and food pyramids and energy transfers.
Objectives: After completing the field lab, students will be able to:
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Recognize the transfer of energy in a food web
Identify organisms using field guides
Illustrate the interrelationships in a typical Savannas food web
Compare and contrast the use of a food chain and a food web as scientific models
Ecosystem: Pine Flatwoods/Basin Marsh
Equipment:
Plankton Net
Specimen Containers
Data Sheets
Field Guide
Dip Nets
Field Microscope
Background
Vocabulary: Food chain, food web, carnivore, consumer, decomposer, herbivore, omnivore,
organism, plankton, photosynthesis, predator, producers, scavenger, tropic level
Reference Material: ‘Energy Flows in Ecosystems’ PowerPoint, aquatic macro invertebrate field
guide, pond life field guide, micro organism field guide
Equipment Training: plankton net, dip net, field microscopes
Procedure (Engage; Explore; Explain):
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At the front of the Education Center, students will review the basic concepts of the background given
in the PowerPoint presentation and food web activity from school.
Students will be asked to hypothesize the source of energy flows in ecosystems and consider this as we
hike along the trail.
Students will then be lead on a guided hike on the Gopher Tortoise trail and down the Canoe Launch
road to our Basin Marsh.
A Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) Field Lab
LIFE – Savannas Preserve State Park
4.
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09 - 2010
Along the way, various plants and animals will be identified for the students to record on their data
sheets. They will be given the opportunity to record their field observations and decipher their function
in a food web as well as the diet of the organism.
While at the Basin Marsh, students will actively participate in dip netting using larger dip nets as well
as plankton nets to collect various aquatic critters.
Students will utilize field guides to identify their findings and record them on their data sheet.
Students will also be given the opportunity to further explore their specimens by viewing them under a
field microscope.
Students will then be given time to assess their findings by answering several questions regarding what
they’ve learned.
Follow up at school will allow students to create a Savannas food web based on the organisms
recorded on their data sheets in the field.
Sunshine State Standards:
Science: SC.7.L.17.1, SC.7.L.17.2, SC.7.N.3.2
A Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) Field Lab
LIFE – Savannas Preserve State Park
09 - 2010
Southport Panther Experience
Energy Flow Data Sheet
General Information:
Name:
Date:
Student Hypothesis and Rationale
The sun is a source of energy for all living things on the planet. How does the sun’s energy get to
animals in a usable form?
Field Observations/Measurements/Data
Each organism you meet today plays several distinct roles in the food chain or links it to another.
For each organism we discuss, record the roles it plays below.
Name of Organism
Trophic Level
A Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) Field Lab
Function in Food Chain
Diet
(consumer, producer, etc.)
(herbivore, carnivore,
omnivore, etc.)
LIFE – Savannas Preserve State Park
Energy Flow
09 - 2010
Student Assessment
1. Looking out the window (and remembering what you’ve learned about photosynthesis)
where do you think most of the energy that hits the Savannas from the sun is stored?
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2. Since plants are at the bottom of the food pyramid, we know that they store the most
direct energy from the sun. Still, after using the sun’s energy for their own life processes,
plants only store about 10% of the original energy they receive. Let’s say that a patch of
broom sedge receives 1000 units of energy from the sun, storing 10% of that. A marsh
rabbit comes along and eats this broom sedge, storing only 10% of the broom sedge’s
energy. The bobcat that eats this rabbit only stores 10% of the marsh rabbit’s stored
energy. How many of the original 1000 units of energy end up being stored in the bobcat
for an alligator to eat? Illustrate your answer.
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3. Consider what you’ve learned about how energy is used in the food pyramid. Do you
think that more energy went into a salad or a hamburger that you might eat?
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4. Think of a car and all its parts as a food chain that energy flows through. What would
happen if you poured water into the gas tank?
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5. Neighborhoods near Savannas Preserve State Park spray a pesticide for mosquitoes, and
this spray gets into our water supply and has a big effect on insects in the park. How
might this affect the Savannas food chain?
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A Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) Field Lab
LIFE – Savannas Preserve State Park
09 - 2010
Portfolio Journal Prompt
Florida Scrub Jays are a special endangered species that live in the Savannas. They need certain
habitats and foods in order to survive. What human-related elements do you think might disturb
their energy flow? (There are many right answers!)
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A Learning in Florida’s Environment (LIFE) Field Lab