Focus Plan - Texarkana Independent School District



Focus Plan

Texarkana Independent School District

|GRADING PERIOD: |Chemistry - 1st 6 weeks, Biology - 4th 6 |PLAN CODE: | |

| |weeks, IPC - 2nd 6 weeks | | |

|Teacher: |L. Petty |Course/subject: |Science 10th grade |

|Grade(s): |10 |Time allotted for instruction: |2 hours |

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|Title: |Understanding Energy Flow in an Ecosystem |

|Lesson TOPIC: |How does energy flow in a food chain, food web and food pyramid |

| | |

| | |

| | |

|TAKS Objective: |Objective 3 |

| |The student will demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of organisms and the |

| |environment. |

|FoCUS TEKS and Student Expectation: |The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an ecosystem. The student is|

| |expected to: |

| |(E) investigate and explain the interactions in an ecosystem including |

| |food chains, food webs and food pyramids. |

|Supporting TEKS and Student Expectations: |The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an ecosystem. The student |

| |is expected to: |

| |(B) interpret interactions among organisms exhibiting predation, |

| |parasitism, commensalisms and mutualism |

|aligned TEKS and Student Expectations for | |

|modifications: | |

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|Concepts |Enduring Understandings/Generalizations/Principles |

| |The student will understand that |

|Concept |Food chains, webs and pyramids are ways to show predation. |

|Concept |Identify primary, secondary and tertiary consumers. |

|Concept |Identify the direction of flow of energy in each type of system. |

|Concept |Identify producers, herbivores, carnivores and omnivores based upon how may types of food the organism |

| |eats. |

|Concept |Demonstrate an understanding of how organisms in a food web interact. |

|Concept |Understand why a food web is drawn as an energy pyramid. |

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[pic]I. Sequence of Activities (Instructional Strategies)

A. Focus/connections

1. Biology – assign students to define and give 2 examples of each of the different symbiotic relationships.

Chemistry and IPC – go over transparency of the same information (attached)

B. Instructional activities

(demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active learning experience, art, music, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing, etc.)

1. Objective: The teacher will explain that the activity is meant to show examples of predation, one form of symbiotic relationship.

2. Modeling: Draw a basic food chain on the board (grass(cow(human) and ask students the role of each organism. Ex. grass is the producer (the only organism that can produce food), the cow is the primary consumer (organism that eats the producer – first consumer), the human is the secondary consumer (eats the first consumer).Point out that an ecosystem is made of many food chains that are all connected together – ex. Humans don’t just eat cows and they are not the only organism that eats cows.

C. Guided activity or strategy

The teacher will help students add two more food chains onto the basic food chain illustrated above.

Example: grass(grasshopper(chicken. Then, show that chickens are also eaten by humans. The final web

should be:

grass(cow(human

grasshopper(chicken

Explain that a group of interconnected food chains is called a food web.

D. Accommodations/modifications

E. Enrichment

II. STUDENT PERFORMANCE

A. Description

Understanding Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

B. Accommodations/modifications

Students requiring modifications may be paired with a peer to complete the activity. Students with problems

in math should be exempt from lab question 14.

C. Enrichment

Students requiring enrichment may serve a team leaders for students who require modifications.

III. Assessment of Activities

A. Description

Grade lab data table, food web diagram and questions.

B. Rubrics/grading criteria

Data table - count off 1 point for each three incorrect answers (10 points total)

Food web – count the # of each color arrow going to and from each organism – count off 1 point for each three incorrect answers (color or #)

Plant parts – 14 green pointing away

Robin – 2 blue toward, 2 red away

Cricket – 2 green toward, 2 blue away

Earthworm – 2 green toward, 2 blue away

Small insects – 1 green toward, 1 blue away

Land snail – 1 green toward, 1 blue away

Snake – 3 blue & 1 red toward, 2 red away

Raccoon – 1 green & 1 red toward, 1 blue away

Sparrow – 1 green toward, 1 blue away

Hawk – 2 blue & 2 red toward, 1 yellow away

Rabbit – 4 green toward, 4 blue away

Mouse – 2 green & 3 blue toward, 2 blue & 3 red away

Fox – 3 blue & 2 red & 1 yellow toward

Questions – 2 points each

C. Accommodations/modifications

SPED students could only do 7 food chains but it would decrease their ability to see the complexity of a food web. I would recommend that their peer tutor should help them complete the food web, but that they should do all of it.

D. Enrichment

E. Sample discussion questions

Go over questions when lab has been graded.

F. Sample TAKS questions

1.

In this food chain, spiders are ____.

a) producers

b) primary consumers

c) competitors

d) secondary consumers

2. In Central America there is a tree called bullhorn acacia that provides both food and shelter to a

certain species of ant. The ants live within the tree without causing it harm. In fact, the ants protect

the tree by vigorously attacking and stinging other animals that try to eat it. This relationship is an

example of _____.

a) predation

b) parasitism

c) mutualism

d) commensalism

3.

1000 kcal

consumed

30 kcal consumed

Approximately how much of the energy available in the tissues of the producers is eventually

incorporated into the tissues of a secondary consumer?

IV. TAKS Preparation

A. Transition to TAKS context

Before lab paper is turned in, I would go over question 14 with the students. This is like an actual TAKS questions but it goes back two trophic levels and many students will miss it. They are usually going to say 10% because this is the number available for each organism.

Put a simple food web on the board:

Hawks

Weasels Raccoons

Mice

Grass/shrubs

Either give the following questions as a quiz over the activity or go over it together:

1. Identify an herbivore – mice

2. Identify a carnivore – weasels or hawks

3. Identify an omnivore – raccoons

4. Identify a producer – grass/shrubs

5. Identify a primary consumer – mice or raccoons

6. Identify an organism that functions as a secondary consumer – weasels, hawks or raccoons

7. List one food chain where a hawk functions as a secondary consumer – grass(mice(hawks or

Grass(raccoons(hawks

8. List one food chain where a hawk functions as a tertiary consumer – grass/shrubs(mice(weasels (or raccoons)(hawks

9. What would happen to weasels if mice die out? They would die since mice are shown as their only food source.

10. What would happen to weasels if raccoons die out? The population could possibly increase since a competitor is removed and more mice would be available.

B. Sample TAKS questions

1. Which answer shows the proper way to draw a food chain?

(a) plants( insects (birds

(b) plants (insects (birds

(c) plants(insects(birds

Use the following food web for your next 2 questions.

Raccoons

Plants insects

hawks robin

2. In this food web, robins are ___.

(a) producers

(b) primary consumers

(c) secondary consumers

3. If all of the robins would die, _____.

(a) the insect population might increase

(b) the raccoon population might increase since they would have more insects

(c) the hawk population might decrease

(d) all of the above might happen

4. Which type of organism would you expect to find the most of in a community?

(a) producers

(b) primary consumers

(c) secondary consumers

5. If the number of prey increase, what happens to the number of predators?

(a) it increases

(b) it decreases

(c) it remains the same

V. Key Vocabulary

Carnivore Prey

Consumer Primary consumer

Herbivore Producer

Omnivore Secondary consumer

Predator Tertiary consumer

VI. Resources

A. Textbook

Only for Biology if you want students to look up key vocabulary before lab.

B. Supplementary materials

Transparency of symbiotic relationships.

C. Technology

Overhead

VII. Follow up activities

(reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.)

Biology – continue with other types of relationships.

IPC – continue with other types of energy.

Chemistry – continue with other types of energy.

VIII. Teacher Notes

Go over transparency of relationships.

All other notes are included in the lab activity.

Symbiotic relationships

Symbiosis – a relationship where two (types) of organisms live in a

close relationship with each other.

Types of symbiosis:

Predation – the predator eats the prey Ex. we eat cows, cats eat birds

Parasitism – one organism benefits, one is harmed (but not usually killed)

Ex. tapeworms, hookworms both prey on humans

Commensalism – one organism benefits, one is not affected Ex. remora on

a shark

Mutualism – both organisms benefit Ex. E. coli bacteria in your intestines,

clown fish in a sea anemone

Name _________________________________________ Texas High School

Course ___________, Period ________ Teacher ______________________ Date ___________

Lab: Understanding Energy Flow in an Ecosystem

Background:

Plants use light energy of the sun to make food. The food is stored in the cells of the plant. Plants are called producers because they make food. Some of the stored energy in the food plants make is passed on to the animals that eat the plants. Plant-eating animals are called primary consumers. Animals that eat other animals are called secondary consumers.

The pathway that food takes through an ecosystem is called a food chain. A food chain also shows the movement of energy from plants to plant eaters and then to animal eaters. An example of a food chain can be written:

seeds ( sparrow ( hawk

Some of the food energy in the seeds moves to the sparrow that eats them. Some of the food energy then moves to the hawk that eats the sparrow. Normally, only about 10% of the energy produced by the “food” moves to the consumer. Most of the other energy is used to keep the organism alive and allow it to reproduce.

Because a hawk eats animals other than sparrows, you could make a food chain for each animal the hawk eats. If all the food chains were connected, the result is a food web. A food web is a group of connected food chains. A food web shows many energy relationships.

Goals:

In this exercise, you will:

a. determine what different animals eat in several food chains.

b. build a food web that could exist in a forest ecosystem.

c. identify how a food chain can be shown as a food pyramid.

Materials:

Colored pencils (red, blue, green and yellow)

Set of “organisms”

Procedure:

Part A. Examining Food Chains

A. Study the food chains listed below and at the top of the next page.

B. Complete the table on the next page. Checkmark or “X” all the things that each animal listed on the

left side eats.

plant parts ( land snail ( mouse ( raccoon

plant parts ( sparrow ( hawk

plant parts ( rabbit ( fox

plant parts ( mouse ( fox

plant parts ( earthworm ( robin ( snake

plant parts ( raccoon ( fox

plant parts ( rabbit ( snake

plant parts ( cricket ( robin ( fox

plant parts ( earthworm ( snake ( hawk ( fox

plant parts ( rabbit ( hawk

plant parts ( small insects ( mouse ( owl

plant parts ( rabbit ( owl ( fox

plant parts ( cricket ( mouse ( hawk

plant parts ( mouse ( snake ( owl

Food in an Ecosystem

|Animals in a Forest |Living Things the Forest Animals Eat |

|Ecosystem | |

| |Cricket |

|Cricket |Earthworm |Hawk |Insects

(small) |Land snail |Mouse |Owl |Plants |Rabbit |Raccoon |Robin |Snake |Sparrow | |Cricket | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |Earthworm | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |Fox | | | | | |X |X | |X |X |X | | | |Hawk | | | | | |X | | |X | | |X |X | |Insects (small) | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |Land snail | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |Mouse |X | | |X |X | | |X | | | | | | |Owl | | | | | |X | | |X | | |X | | |Rabbit | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |Raccoon | | | | | |X | |X | | | | | | |Robin |X |X | | | | | | | | | | | | |Snake | |X | | | |X | | |X | |X | | | |Sparrow | | | | | | | |X | | | | | | |

Part B: Making a Food Web

A. Use the information in the food chains given on pp. 1-2 to complete the diagram on the next page.

Draw an arrow from each living thing below to each thing that eats it. The first arrow in any food chain

(between producer and primary consumer) should be green, the second (between primary consumer

and secondary consumer) should be blue, the third (between secondary and tertiary consumer) should

be red and the fourth should be yellow. Also, draw your lines so they bend around the animal names.

This will make your food web easier to read when you finish.

Students should draw one line each time organisms appear in a food chain. For example, if mice eat plant parts in 4 different food chains, there should be 4 green lines between mice and plant parts.

Questions:

1. In how many food chains do the following animals appear? (count the # of food chains in part B)

hawk ___4__ earthworm ___2__ fox __6___

owl ___3__ snake __4___ small insects ___1__

2. In how many food chains do plants (parts) appear? __all(14)_____

3. List the names of the living things in this forest ecosystem that are producers. Plant parts

4. List those things that are only primary consumers. Crickets, earthworm, small insects, land snail,

rabbits and sparrows.

5. What is another name for an animal that is only a primary consumer? herbivore

6. List those things that are only secondary consumers. Foxes, Hawks, Owls, Robins, Snakes

7. What is another name for an animal that is only a secondary consumer? Carnivore

8. List the consumers that eat both plants and animals. Mouse, raccoon

9. What is another name for an animal that eats both plants and animals? Omnivore

10. What would happen to the food web if all the plants were removed? Everything will die.

Explain your answer. Plants are the only organisms that can make their own food.

11. Describe how 3 animals might be affected if owls were removed from the food chain. Rabbit, mice

and snakes will probably increase since one of their predators are gone.

12. Draw three food chains showing producers and consumers that you might see in your backyard or on

your way to school. (You may use words or drawings.)

grass ( grasshopper ( robin

nut ( squirrel ( cat

berry ( bird ( cat

(OR ANY OTHER VALID EXAMPLE)

13. Since only 10% of the energy produced by a level in a food chain is passed on to its predator, there

have to be many more “prey” than “predators”. Draw a food pyramid of the first food chain listed in

Part A. Remember that there are more producers than primary consumers, more primary consumers

and secondary consumers, etc.

raccoon

raccoon

mouse

land snail

plant parts

14. If 2000 kcal of energy are available in grass, how much energy would be available to the cow that eats

the grass? To the human that eats the cow?

Assuming that all energy is used:

Since only 10% of the energy is available to the next level consumer – (.1)(2000 kcal) = 200 kcal

of energy available to the cow. For the human (.1)(200 kcal) = 20 kcal available to the human.

In other words, the human only receives 1% of the original energy produced by the plant.

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robin

snake

hawk

owl

sparrow

earth-worm

cricket

plant parts

rabbit

fox

mouse

raccoon

land snail

small insects

cricket

robin

small insects

earth-worm

land snail

raccoon

plant parts

snake

sparrow

mouse

hawk

rabbit

fox

owl

Plants(aphids(spiders(sparrows

Grass – 5000 kcal of energy available in tissues of plants

Cow – 100 kcal of energy incor- porated into tissues of herbivore

Human – 3 kcal incorporated into tissue of human

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