Budding scientists work collaboratively to reenact energy flow in a food chain. Scholars take on roles such as producer and consumer and perform tasks that symbolize energy flow in order to provide evidence of how much energy passes through each level.  A food triangle pyramid puzzle concludes the instructional activity along with discussion questions.

Concepts

ecosystems, energy, energy flow, food chains, producers, consumers

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Pose the lesson's first question on a classroom blog; direct learners to respond to the question the night before the lesson or when they enter the classroom
• Instead of pupils choosing their own groups, assign heterogenous groups based on ability level and provide them with their roles 
• Copy, cut, and laminate puzzle pieces for continued use 

Classroom Considerations

• Thirteenth of 17 lessons in an ecosystem-themed unit 
• Requires a variety of materials and copies

Pros

• Lesson plan is detailed and easy to follow 
• Includes sentence frames 

Cons

• None