Summary
Students will explore the flow of energy among living organisms by constructing a food web consisting of the organisms that inhabit a salt marsh. This lesson includes optional modifications for distance learning. Resources for use in Google Classroom are included.
Essential Question(s)
How does energy flow within an ecosystem? (Topical: How do food webs show energy being cycled among producers, consumers, and decomposers?)
Snapshot
Engage
Students watch a clip of Mufasa telling Simba about the circle of life and reflect on what a circle of life is to them.
Explore
Students research and become familiar with salt marshes before discovering more about the organisms that inhabit them.
Explain
Students sort the salt marsh organisms based on their diets and construct a model of energy flow among those organisms.
Extend
Students differentiate between various types of consumers and then experience a disruption to the energy flow model they constructed.
Evaluate
Students create their own scenario that disrupts the balance in the salt marsh.
Materials
The Circle of Life lesson slides (attached)
Organism cards (attached; one set per pair of students)
CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) handout (attached; one per student)
Internet connectivity to read the salt marsh research websites (or print copies for students)
Paper
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Engage
15 Minute(s)
Use the attached lesson slides to introduce the lesson title and Essential Question on slides 2 and 3. Transition to slide five and show the students the video titled, "Morning Lesson with Mufasa." Follow the previous link, also found in slide 4 notes and the Resources at the end of this lesson.
After showing the video, go to slide 5 and introduce the Think-Pair-Share instructional strategy. Have students answer the following questions:
Make a list of the foods that you ate at your last meal. Where did that meal ultimately come from?
Name something you’ve done today that required your body to use energy. Where did the energy you used come from?
What do you think Mufasa means when he says, "The Great Circle of Life?
Explore
35 Minute(s)
Display slide 6. Put students into groups of three and pass out the Stop and Jot Readings attached to this lesson. Inform students that they will be asked to answer the question, “What is a Salt Marsh?” Inform the groups to divide the three articles among their group to read and take notes.
Students will note one significant point in each of the provided Stop and Jot spaces as they read their assigned article about salt marshes.
After reading their assigned section, students will share a summary about each of their articles and jot down the key takeaways from one another within their groups.
"What is a Salt Marsh?"—an article on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) website
"Salt Marshes"—an article on the National Park Service website”
Salt Marsh Keystone Initiative: Between Land and Sea"—a PDF fact sheet by the U.S Department of Interior
Explain
25 Minute(s)
Place students into groups of three to four and ask students to clear-off and surround a table. Go to slide 7. Review the different types of organisms on this slide and then pass out the Organism Card Sort. For this activity, have students use the Card Sort strategy to organize the Organism Cards into producer, consumer, and decomposer categories on their desk. Begin by handing out the Organism Cards introducing students to some of the organisms that live in the salt marsh. Each card also lists what the organisms eat to help students sort the cards.
After groups have sorted their cards, use slides 8–13 to have students identify which savannah organism has each type of diet, and then reveal what salt marsh organisms have that same diet type. Have students make corrections to any cards that are not categorized correctly.
At the beginning of our lesson, Mufasa mentioned eating the antelope. Go to slide 14. Show students the savannah food chain displaying this action. Define the food chain as shown on the slide. Ask the students to identify the direction of the arrows (in the direction that the energy flows—from the organism being eaten to the organism consuming).
Continue to slide 15. Show students the savannah food web that displays the lion eating the antelope, but also many other food chains. Define the food web as shown on the slide.
Extend
25 Minute(s)
Display slide 16. Have students continue to work in their groups. Pass out five different neon markers to the students and ask them to use their Organism Cards to develop a model showing how energy flows among the organisms in the salt marsh (this will be their food web). Inform students to draw an arrow with one marker to show the energy flow from one organism to the next. They should arrange the cards as they see fit on their desk. Next, have students use three markers to label next to each organism: producer-P, consumer-C, or decomposer-D.
Be sure to monitor each group’s progress and use questions to emphasize their understanding of energy flow and different dietary needs for the organisms in their salt marsh food web.
Move to slide 17. Review the different types of consumers. Help students define these terms using their prefixes, as shown on the slide.
Continue to slide 18. Using their final marker, instruct the students differentiate between carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore by labeling the consumers on the food web according to type by placing a Ca, H, or O (carnivore, herbivore, omnivore). Once completed, reveal the correct categories for the salt marsh organisms and have students make any necessary corrections.
Go to slide 19—The Delicate Balance. Remind the students that Mufasa said everything exists together in a delicate balance. Ask the students what effect a disruption to the ecosystem would have on that balance by posing the following scenario: "Insecticides are widely used by many people to kill insects. These insecticides contain chemicals that are harmful to other animals and humans that live in the environment. After these chemicals are applied, they can travel to human water supplies and to neighboring ecosystems. Predict what would happen to the food web you have made if insecticides entered the salt marsh and killed the grasshoppers." Pass out one of the attached CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) instructional strategy handouts to each student. Ask students to make their prediction about the scenario and justify it using the CER.
After they have finished, instruct the students to share their CER with their partner. After pairs have shared with each other, solicit volunteers to share a couple of answers with the class.
Evaluate
20 Minute(s)
Go to slide 20—The Delicate Balance. Ask the partnered students to come up with another scenario that might disrupt the balance in the salt marsh. They need to:
Describe the scenario.
Identify the organism(s) directly affected by the introduced scenario and explain how their population is affected.
Identify the organism(s) indirectly affected by the introduced scenario and explain how their population is affected.
Reconstruct the food web based on this scenario (they can remove organisms if eliminated or add organisms if being introduced).
Use a Gallery Walk strategy to have students share their scenario and the food web they have constructed based on that scenario.
Resources
Disney UK. (2011, October 3). The Lion King 3D - ‘Morning Lesson with Mufasa’ - Official Disney Movie Clip [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7PlTaawfQ
K20 Center. (n.d.). Card Sort. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/147
K20 Center. (n.d.). Stop and Jot. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/168
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, Evidence, Reasoning. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/156
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery Walk/Carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/118
K20 Center. (n.d.). Google Classroom. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/628
K20 Center. (n.d.). Super Simple Highlighter. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1819
K20 Center. (n.d.). Padlet. Tech Tools. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/tech-tool/1077
K20 Center. (n.d.). Think-Pair-Share. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/139
NOAA. (2018). What is a salt marsh? National Ocean Service. https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/saltmarsh.html
Salt Marshes. (2016). National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/oceans/salt-marshes.htm
Myers, M. (n.d.). Organism card sort. https://padlet.com/morgan_myers_1/gora1a8lvkwu
UK, D. (2011, October 3). The Lion King 3D - 'Morning Lesson With Mufasa'- Official Disney Movie Clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7PlTaawfQ
U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Salt Marsh Keystone Initiative Between Land and Sea. https://www.doi.gov/sites/default/files/salt-marsh-fact-sheet.pdf