Lesson 7: Food Cycles
Stage 2 Duration: 1hr
Objective: For children to understand life cycles in general by investigating food cycles for animals and humans.
Curriculum Links
Science and Technology K-6:
CONTENT STRAND: Living Things LT S2.3. Identifies & describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment. INDICATORS:
LEARNING PROCESSES:
VALUES AND ATTITUDES:
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Australian Curriculum:
OUTCOME: ST2-10LW Describes that living things have life cycles, can be distinguished from non-living things and grouped, based on their observable features ST2-11LW Describes ways that science knowledge helps people understand the effect of their actions on the environment and on the survival of living things CONTENT: ACSSU072 Living things have life cycles INDICATORS: Identifies ways that the environment can affect the life cycle of plants and animals |
Key Scientific Knowledge
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Lesson Overview
Whole class introduction - 10 minutes
Introduction (10 mins)
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Resources
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Divide the class into 3 groups for workshops
(approx. 15 minutes each) 1) Food
Chain in the playground: Adapted from (Skamp, 2012, p. 267). Children to go outside into
the playground and look for life such as insects, lizards or birds, then to
photograph a living thing each and draw a relevant food pyramid or food web for
their chosen living thing.
Teacher to have a pre-prepared example of Food Web and Pyramid available to children. 2) Food Cycle Game: Children to play game on IWB: (link below page) or click here.
Following game, children to think about their dinner the previous evening and write or draw their own food chain. 3) Research aspects of Aboriginal people’s food cycle: Children to research on computers and/or iPads, how fire is a part of the Indigenous food cycle given it helps regenerate plants for food. Have children extend their thinking to see how small Aboriginal fire for back-burning can help all specie’s life cycles given it reduces the threat of big bush fires.
ŸHave children write up their hypotheses of how fire helps the food cycle OR create a mind map on how fires benefitted Indigenous people’s life cycle. Possible sites children can explore:
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Modifications
- Simplification: Children to work on only one or two of the rotations best suited to them.
- Extension: Children to research the food chain of animals connected to Aboriginal culture such as the Kangaroo.
Resources for learning and teaching