Science – Food Chains & Habitats

Key Stage 2 / Museum led activity
Description:
An interactive workshop focusing on food chains and feeding relationships in the natural world, which gives pupils the opportunity to create their own food chains from real mounted animals and skeletons.
Most suitable for years 5 and 6. / Curriculum links:
Science - Interdependence of organisms
  • Learn about life processes in familiar plants and animals.
  • Use food chains to show feeding relationships in a habitat.
  • Learn how nearly all food chains start with a green plant.
  • Use the appropriate scientific language and terms.
Scientific Enquiry
  • Make careful observations.
  • Discuss ideas.
  • Describe what they have found out.
Skills Development
Thinking – suggest ideas, identify similarities and differences, and explain relationships.
Communication – listen to others and respond in group tasks. / This session can be adapted for some special needs groups – please contact to discuss.
Feedback:
“Fantastic for learning about food chains. Kids really enjoyed getting hands-on to make the food chains.” Mount Stuart Primary.
Learning objectives
Pupils will
  • Create food chains, from real specimens.
  • Use appropriate scientific language to explain a food chain.
  • Engage in a group task to construct a woodland food web.

Activity / Skills / Skills framework
Introduction
Habitats
Group discussion in front of the woodland diorama.
Talk in pairs to identify the main features of the habitat. Through discussion and questioning, develop own opinions of what these features might represent.
What do animals and plants need to survive? How are woodland animals and plants interconnected?
Share opinions with whole class to generate a wider whole class discussion / During the session pupils will –
Ask and answer questions
Make significant contributions to discussions.
Form opinions and make decisions.
Listen to the contributions of others, considering their points of view.
Present information and ideas.
Identify and make links with prior knowledge.
Explain relationships.
Work in groups to complete the task. / Developing Thinking
Developing Communication
Making food chains
Using real specimens, pupils work in small groups to discuss, choose and construct their food chains.
Specimens include mounted birds, mammals, skeletons and skulls.
In small groups pupils discuss which of the specimens is the producer, and which are primary and secondary consumers. They will also consider whether the animal is an herbivore, carnivore or omnivore, depending on prior knowledge. They then move the animals and plants into the right positions for their food chain.
Making food webs - Group discussion and activity
Using ideas from their food chains, the class creates a woodland food web.
What happens to the web when environmental factors change?Pupils will consider how human influences on habitats can affect the food web, and the consequences for the habitats’ ecosystem.
Before your visit:
Introduce the idea that food chains exist in nature, through looking at a range of animals and considering what they eat, and what eats them.
Explain how we can use teeth to show us what an animal eats.
Some words we may use on the visit (depending on ability level):
Producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, top consumer, predator, prey, herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, insectivore, detritivore, canine, molar, incisor, vertebrate, invertebrate. / Follow-up activities:
Collect information ....
Write diary page ....
Draw one of the food chains created during the workshop onto pieces of card and attach together to create food chain mobiles.
Create a class food web mobile based on the food web created on your visit.
Create your own ‘Who eats who?’ card game in the classroom.
Create feeding top trumps – what categories would you choose? Who would be the top predator in the woodland?

To make a booking: Tel: (029) 2057 3240 E-mail:

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