Skip to main content

Oh The Web We Weave...



For the past eleven years I have taught the Science Curriculum Component known as "Biomes in Balance".  It is a general introduction to the 8 biomes of the world, covering the idea of adaptations of plants and animals in these biomes along with the concept of energy transfer between organisms via the food chain and food web as well as man's impact on the biome and earth as a whole.

As of this week we had just completed the food chain/web part of the unit.  For two weeks we discussed food chains/webs, explored and studied graphic representations of food chains/webs, and saw videos as well.  The culminating activity was for students to construct a 3-D model of a food web (which is many food chains that are connected). 

This culminating project is accomplished as a guided activity.  Two groups of 8 students each are the organisms in the food web.  One student is "Mother Nature" and another is "Father Time" for each group.  There is one board recorder. All 21 students are accounted for.  Mother Nature is in charge of "controlling" the "organisms" as Father Time tells when each individual organism is to give energy to another.  The organisms are holding a round cardboard card with their "name on it" (grass, insect, frog, etc) and Mother Nature & Father Time coordinate to connect the organisms by connecting their cardboard pieces with yarn and tape.  As the activity progresses several food chains are connected forming a more complex food web.  In the end, Mother Nature & Father Time connect ALL organisms to the decomposer.  Finally, Father Time cuts the yarn that connects organisms to represent it dying off (for whatever reason) and the effect that demise has on the other organisms.  In the final analysis, all the cardboard pieces are disconnected except for their connection to the decomposer.




This year the food web worked perfectly...the kids worked well together; everybody was engaged in the activity; science words and concepts were being used.  The best part of it all was the excitement expressed by the students for the learning that had taken place.  They all now know about food chains, food webs, producers, consumers, decomposers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, energy transfer, interdependent relationships, and cooperation with others.

Well done Fourth Graders!



Mr. Casten
Jan. 25, 2013

Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking Out

Looking Out Originally written May 27, 2015 Lightly edited for clarity in August 2026. Just hours ago, my students left. They are on their way to summer adventures, family time, and friends. Just as quickly as they walked into my life, they walked out again. Yet each of them will always be a part of my life. When a school year begins, my new students are just that—students. They arrive as a group, and at first there is little that distinguishes them beyond their physical appearance. They are quiet, reserved, and and still unknown to me. During those first few days, I snap a picture of each one, not yet knowing who they really are. I work to learn their names and match each one to a classroom number. I try to figure out who knows whom from the neighborhood. I share pieces of my own life, hoping they'll eventually share theirs. Time meanders on. Slowly, they begin to let their light shine. Slowly, they begin to share what's important to them. Slowly, I'm afforded the opportu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Art & Science

     The familiar winds of autumn blew rapidly through the playground.   Ponytails flying, unzipped jackets flapping, and soaring playground balls all took errant paths.        Just as fall has briskly left so has trimester one.   Reports cards were sent home today and I plan on placing the final touches to each student’s conference narrative.   The practice of filling out the narrative for my students has become one of my favorite “at home” aspects of teaching.   I look forward to retreating to my little office in the basement, surrounded by the faint noises of my family upstairs, and writing.   I seem to enter into a world only my students and I really know; the life of Room 211 on a daily basis.       My mind pictures each student as I am writing about them.   Their faces make an entrance into my thoughts followed by the smile I see each day.   I travel back in t...
2 comments
Read more

Running...

Running... Original post written on August 18, 2012. Minor changes for clarity made in Aug 2026. Twelve years. That's how long I have been teaching at Lincoln. Twelve years. That's how long I have taken the same route from my house to school. In that time I have seen many houses for sale, then sold. Some were torn down to make room for a new house, a new family, and new students. I've seen the streets that I traverse through Elmhurst being ripped apart and rebuilt to make them safer and more driver friendly, not to mention more car-friendly. Twelve years. I've seen high school kids standing on corners, waiting for the school bus to pick them up for school. Some of them recognize my car while others recognize me as their former teacher. Most of them, however, probably do not pay much attention to me as I pass by. Among all that I see, Monday through Friday mornings there is an unmistakable figure, usually two blocks ahead of me on Fairfield. He is a man. He has slightly ...
Post a Comment
Read more