Lesson Planning of Food Chain

Subject General Science

Grade 4^th

Students` Learning Outcomes

Define producers, consumers and decomposes and explain their importance in food chain.
Make a simple food chain to show relationship among producers, consumers and decomposes

Information for Teachers

Plants are called producers because they are able to produce food (glucose) from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight.

Animal can`t make their own food so they must eat plants or other animals. That`s why they are called consumers.

Animals that eat only plants are called herbivores or consumer-I as such; rabbit, sheep, goat, cow etc.
Animals that eat other animals (herbivores) are called carnivores or consumer-II as such; lion, leopard, etc.

Animals that eat other animals (carnivores) are called consumers –III as such; snake, hawk etc.
Animals feed on dead body of plants and animals and after decomposition convert them into simpler compound, are called decomposes as such; bacteria and fungi.
A food chain is the sequence of “who eats whom” in an environment as such;

Arrows represents the energy flow in a food chain.

If one part of a food chain alters, the whole food chain is affected. As such; if a disease suddenly wiped out butterfly, caterpillars, it would affect owls, eagles and many other animals.

Material / Resources

Writing board, chalk / marker, duster, pictures of animals and plants, charts of food chain, papers, and textbook

Introduction

Development

Activity 1

Demonstrate some examples of simple food chains.
Introduce the concept of plants as producers i.e. organisms that make their own food trough photosynthesis.
Introduce the concept of animals as consumers i.e. organisms that eat producers or other consumers.
Explain the role of decomposes in all food chains.
Ask students to make a food chain by making a sequence of the following organisms. The students will also mention the producers and the consumers.

Activity 2

Introduce a complex food chain i.e. with more than one consumer. Categorize the consumers –I, II, III and so on.

Activity 3

Reinforce the learning of food chain through the following role play:
Write the word producer, herbivore, carnivore-I, carnivore-II and carnivore-III on a separate paper.
Give one paper to each student.

Whatever the paper says, that becomes the students` role in the food chain.
Paste the paper to their neck.
Herbivore tries to catch the producer. When a producer gets tagged, the two students link arms.
Carnivore-I tries to catch the herbivore and when he / she is successful, they link arms.
Carnivore-II tries to catch the carnivore-I and when he / she is successful, they link arms.
Similarly, carnivore-III tries to catch the carnivore-II and when he / she successful, they link arms.

Sum up / Conclusion

Each living things, whether it is a plant or animals, depends on nutrients and energy to survive.
Food chain tells us how the food is passed from organism to organism.

All food chain starts with plants that make their own food. These are called producers.
Next come organisms that eat plants. These organisms are called consumer-I and we know that they are herbivores.
Then the next come the animals that eat herbivores. These are called consumers-II and we know that they are carnivores.
In all food chain; when any organism dies, it is eaten and broken down by decomposes. Some bacteria and fungi are decomposes.

Assessment

Activity 1

Activity 2

Make a table on the board and ask students to copy the table on their note books.
Ask students to link the terms with the statements.

Consumer-II	Organism that feeds on plants.
Consumer-I	Order in which food passes from one living thing to another.
Producer	Break down the dead body of animals and plants.
Food Chain	Living organism that is capable of manufacturing its food.
Decompose	Organism that eats animals

Activity 3

Ask students to make a correct sequence of plants and animals in the following activities (or the similar ones). If pictures aren`t available, write the names of these organisms on the board.

Involve the students in solving the questions given at the end of chapter/ unit in textbook.

Follow up

Ask the students to complete the food chains by filling in the blank boxes with the correct consumers or producers given in the underneath food chains.

Food chain –I:

Grasshopper, Grass, Hawk, Snake, rat

Food Chain-II:

Bird, Cat, Snail, Grass algae

Food Chain-III:

Grass, Fox, Rabbit, Bear