IOWA 4-9 SCIENCE PROJECT

TEACHER GUIDE for: Give and Take (Food Chains I) Lowell Wiele
ECOLOGY.690 Grade 6-9

CONCEPT OBJECTIVE:
In this three part learning cycle (Ecology.690, .691, and .692) the
students will discover the food and energy relationships
found in communities. As the students discover that all
food chains begin with green plants they will connect the
organisms into logical food chains and then construct a
workable food web from the food chains.

PROCESS OBJECTIVE:
Thinking skills developed in this cycle are inferring,
recording, and reporting.

TEACHER NOTES:
Learning cycles ECOLOGY.690, .691, and .692 can be used as
individual activities or in sequence. This three part
activity will take a minimum of three class periods (50
minutes each), with time for additional follow up work
optional.

MATERIALS:
These activities will need the following materials: glue,
yarn, strong thread or wire, scissors, reference books,
colored pencils, and 12 x 18 drawing paper.

EXPLORATION:
The following organisms are grouped and listed on the chalk
board (quail, grasshopper, clover), (clover, rabbit, fox),
(honey bee, clover, quail), (man, clover, cow). Students
may work in groups at their desks or call out answers as the
teacher writes the answers on the board. The students are
to arrange the organisms into four workable food chains.
The following food chains were arranged:
clover - grasshopper - quail
clover - rabbit - fox
clover - honey bee - quail
clover - cow - man
An arrow should be used instead of a dash. The arrow
goes from who is eaten to who does the eating.
A food chain must begin with a green plant (producer).
A producer makes (produces) its own food.
Each organism listed is called a link .
(example: grass - cow is two links).

When finished with the food chains the students will
now arrange the food chains into one workable food web.
Their food web should look something like this:
_________
| ______ man _______
| | | |
fox | cow __ honey ___ quail
| | | bee |
rabbit | | grasshopper
| | | |
|______ clover ________|

An organism is listed only once.
Once again the arrow (replaces the dash) goes from who
is eaten to who does the eating.

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT:
Through a teacher directed discussion the students will
bring out such terms as producer, consumer, first order
consumer, second order consumer, population, and community.
The students will pick out a specific community and
list all of the organisms they can think of that live in
that community.
These organisms are then labeled as producers, first
order consumers, and second order consumers.
Arrange these organisms into food chains for the
community.
Arrange the food chains into one (or more) workable
food webs for the community.
For teacher discussion it can be asked if the food
chains and food webs overlap.

APPLICATION:
1. Student construction of a food web on a sheet of 12
x 18 inch drawing paper. They should include actual
organisms when possible (corn, grass, etc.) and pictures
from magazines and other sources when real organisms cannot
be used.
2. Discuss the predator/prey relationship between
animals. List some examples.
3. Discuss the role of man in food chains and webs.
4. Explain the Latin meaning of the herbivore,
carnivore, and omnivore.