IOWA 4-9 SCIENCE PROJECT

TEACHER GUIDE for: Give and Take (Food Chains III) Lowell Wiele
ECOLOGY.692 Grade 6-9

CONCEPT OBJECTIVE:
In this three part learning cycle (Ecology.690, .691, .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,
investigating, 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 optional.

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

EXPLORATION:
The teacher will give each student a list of organisms and
what they eat (attached at end of activity). Each student
is then given the name of a particular organism. The
students make a food chain as long as they can which
includes their particular organism. Next the students will
make as many food chains as they can including their
organism in each.
Have the students tell what happens when they take out
different organisms from their food chain. Also, what
happens when one organism is replaced by another organism?

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT: Make three food chains including
yourself and what you eat. Use yourself as a first order
consumer in the first food chain, then as a second order
consumer, and finally as a third order consumer.

____________ - man
____________ - ____________ - man
____________ - ____________ - ____________ - man
(arrows replace dashes and point to the one doing the
consuming)

Make three food chains which does not include man. See
if the students can make them using the same organism as a
first, second, and third order consumer.

1. Make three food chains from the same community
(include yourself).
2. Make three food chains from the same community (not
including yourself).
3. Make a food web from each of the above communities.
One in which you are included and one in which you are not
included.
(organisms should be listed only once in a food web)

APPLICATION:
1. Discuss the role of man in food chains and food
webs.
2. Draw a food chain as long as possible with man at
the top.
3. Have the students list what they ate for one meal.
Have the students now list the source of these food
products. (example: hamburger-cow, french fries-potato).
4. Discuss the question of what happens if a link is
removed from a food chain.
5. Construct a food web mobile to illustrate the
complexity of a food web. The bottom of the mobile should
represent the sun. (materials: pictures of organisms, wire,
strong thread, scissors, glue).

WHAT EATS WHAT!
earthworm - plant matter in soil.
sowbug - plants.
spider - insects.
tick, mite, chigger - blood.
centipede - insects, cockroaches.
praying mantis - flies, grasshoppers, other insects.
grasshopper - plant material, leaves.
dragon fly - mosquitoes, insect larvae.
northern pike - smaller fish.
minnows - plants, smaller fish.
bass - insects, crayfish, frogs, fish.
salamander - insects, slugs, snails, worms.
toad - insects, worms.
frog - insect, worms, other small animals.
snapping turtle - water plants, fish, slugs, snails,
insects, and small animals.
crocodile - fish, water birds.
lizard - insects.
bull snake - gophers, rats, mice, eggs, rabbits.
garter snake - frogs, toads, salamanders, earthworms,
insects, mice.
penguin - fish, small marine animals.
heron - fish, water snakes, grasshoppers.
Canada goose - roots, grains, insects.
mallerd duck - mosquito larvae, grain, plants.
vulture - carrion, dead animals.
hawk - mice, rabbits, insects, snakes, chickens.
turkey - seeds, nuts, grain, insects.
barn owl - rats, mice, rabbits, small mammals.
chicken - grain, seeds, insects.
kangaroo - grasses, grains.
mole - grubs, earthworms, insect larvae, insects.
bat - insects.
seal - fish, squid.
grizzly bear - deer, cattle, sheep, fish, snakes,
birds, grass, roots, fruits, (man).
weasel - mice, shrews, insects.
skunk - insects, fruits, berries, mice, small birds.
otter - fish, muskrat, ducks, young birds.
prairie dog - plants, insects, grain.
field mouse - seeds, grain, plants.
coyote - rabbits, mice, rats, sheep, goats.
fox - mice, fruit, vegetable matter, poultry.
bobcat - mice, rats, birds, rabbits, small mammals.
lion - buffalo, zebra, antelope, giraffe.
tiger - deer, pigs, cattle, horses, sheep, (man).
rat - grain, garbage, any organic substance.
rabbit - plants.
deer - twigs, brush, grass, grain, leaves.
man - vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, pork, beef,
poultry, fish.