Producers/Consumers and Food Chains

Objectives: SWBAT- Give definitions and list examples of producers and             consumers.
           - Make an example of a food chain that show the understanding    of the transfer of energy, starting with the sun and ending     with bacteria.
           - Make a food web using many food chains.
           - Realize that a break in one food chain affects the whole web.
Materials: Picture of the sun, paper strips for chain making, Food in A Community         hand out.
Prompt: Draw a big circle on the board. (Later you will use this to discuss the great    circle of life.
Procedure: Read Food in A Community to the children, stop and discuss as you are          reading. Talk about The Lion King movie, and what is meant by the          great circle of life.
        Have kids break up into groups of 1 to 3. Have them pick a type of          community (Desert, Forest...), and make a food chain of their own.
        The groups should have a writer, a gluer, a supply manager, etc.
Closure: Have the class come back together, and have each group present their food chain. As the chains are presented, stick them on the board around the sun. After everyone has had a chance to present, show how all the chains are linked together sideways. Ask the students what it looks like now. Hopefully they will say a web. Show how the whole web will fall apart if only one of the chains is broke.
Assessment: How accurate their food chain are.