Lesson Plan | Teachy Methodology | Food Chains: Introduction

Objectives

Duration: 10 to 15 minutes

This stage of the lesson plan aims to provide a clear understanding of the fundamental concepts of food chains. By establishing a solid foundation about producers, consumers, and decomposers, students will be prepared to explore ecological relationships deeply in a dynamic and contextualized manner. Through practical activities, students will consolidate their prior knowledge and apply theoretical concepts to real-life situations, promoting meaningful and engaging learning.

Main Objectives

1. Identify the different components of food chains: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

2. Understand the relationships between living beings within a food chain and how these interactions sustain ecological balance.

Side Objectives

1. Recognize the importance of food chains for the maintenance of biodiversity.

Introduction

Duration: 15 to 20 minutes

⚡ [Purpose] ⚡

The purpose of this stage is to engage students and activate their prior knowledge about food chains. By searching for interesting facts, students connect to the topic in a practical and contextualized way. Additionally, the key introductory questions stimulate an initial debate, allowing students to share their knowledge and curiosities, paving the way for the practical activities that will follow.

Warming Up

🌟 [Warm-up] 🌟

Start the class with a brief introduction to the topic of food chains. Explain that a food chain shows how energy and nutrients flow from one organism to another in an ecosystem. Ask students to use their cell phones to look for an interesting fact about food chains. They should write down this fact to share with the class. Encourage them to find something curious that they haven't learned yet, such as an unusual food relationship or a specific role of a decomposer.

Initial Reflections

1. 🤔 What is the role of producers in a food chain?

2. 🤔 Why are consumers important for ecological balance?

3. 🤔 What happens if a decomposer is missing in a food chain?

4. 🤔 How does energy flow through the different trophic levels in a food chain?

5. 🤔 Do you know any examples of food chains that include humans?

Development

Duration: 65 to 75 minutes

The purpose of this stage is to provide active learning and engage students in practical activities that consolidate their knowledge of food chains. The activities are designed to stimulate creativity, teamwork, and the practical application of the concepts studied, using modern technologies to make the learning experience richer and contextualized.

Activity Suggestions

It is recommended that only one of the suggested activities be carried out

Activity 1 - Adventure in the Digital Forest 🦊

> Duration: 60 to 70 minutes

- Objective: Develop an understanding of food chains through the creation of an interactive narrative, stimulating creativity and teamwork.

- Description: Students will be divided into groups and given the mission to create an interactive narrative about a food chain in a fictional forest. They will use digital storytelling tools such as Twine or Google Slides to develop a story that involves all the components of food chains (producers, consumers, and decomposers). The story should include challenges that characters face and how they interact as part of the food chain.

- Instructions:

• Divide students into groups of up to 5 people.

• Explain that they will have the mission to create an interactive story about a food chain in a fictional forest.

• Distribute tablets or allow the use of computers to access tools like Twine or Google Slides.

• Each group should identify the different organisms that will be producers, consumers, and decomposers in the story.

• Students should create challenges and obstacles that the characters will face in the forest, showing how each organism contributes to the food chain.

• Encourage students to be creative and use images and videos to enrich the narrative.

• After creating the story, groups should exchange their stories with other groups for review and feedback.

Activity 2 - Ecological Influencers 🌱

> Duration: 60 to 70 minutes

- Objective: Promote understanding of food chains through the creation of digital content, encouraging communication and creativity skills.

- Description: In this activity, students will become 'digital influencers' and create content for social media (Instagram, TikTok, etc.) about the importance of food chains. Each group must produce a series of posts that explain in a fun and informative way the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers.

- Instructions:

• Divide students into groups of up to 5 people.

• Explain that each group will be a 'digital influencer' and must create content for social media about food chains.

• Students should choose a social media platform to focus on and create a posting plan that includes images, videos, and short texts.

• Each group must cover all three components of the food chain: producers, consumers, and decomposers, and explain their importance.

• Encourage students to use video and image editing apps to create engaging content.

• Each group should present their posting plan to the class, explaining their creative and educational choices.

Activity 3 - Augmented Reality Game: World of Food Chains 🌍🔍

> Duration: 60 to 70 minutes

- Objective: Foster the understanding of food chains through interaction with augmented reality technology, promoting active and investigative learning.

- Description: Students will use an augmented reality (AR) application to explore and construct different food chains. Each group must navigate the proposed 'virtual world' through the application and identify producers, consumers, and decomposers, as well as solving ecological challenges that arise in the game.

- Instructions:

• Divide students into groups of up to 5 people.

• Explain that they will use an augmented reality application to explore food chains.

• Provide tablets or allow the use of phones with a pre-installed AR application (such as 'Seek by iNaturalist' or similar).

• Each group should follow the app's instructions to find and identify producers, consumers, and decomposers.

• Students must document their discoveries and solve the ecological challenges presented by the application.

• After exploration, each group should present their findings and explain how they constructed the food chains within the game.

Feedback

Duration: 20 to 25 minutes

⚡ [Purpose] ⚡

The purpose of this stage is to consolidate learning through collaboration and reflection. The group discussion allows students to share their experiences and learnings, promoting a deeper and collective understanding of the concepts addressed. The 360° feedback encourages the development of social and communication skills, as well as promoting an environment of respect and mutual growth.

Group Discussion

🌍 [Group Discussion] 🌍

Facilitate a group discussion with all students, where groups share what they learned from the activities they performed and their conclusions. To introduce this discussion, we suggest the following script:

1. Start of the discussion: Ask students about their experiences and what they thought of the activities performed.
2. Group presentations: Each group should present a summary of their activities and discoveries, highlighting the main learning points.
3. Comparison of activities: Encourage students to compare the different activities carried out (e.g., digital storytelling, ecological influencers, and augmented reality) and discuss which were the most impactful for their understanding of food chains.
4. Interactions between groups: Promote a space where groups can ask each other questions about their presentations, seeking clarifications and exploring the concepts presented more deeply.

Reflections

1. 🤔 How did creating digital content influence your understanding of food chains? 2. 🤔 What were the biggest challenges in using digital tools and how did you overcome them? 3. 🤔 How did the different activities contribute to your understanding of the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers in food chains?

360° Feedback

🔄 [360° Feedback] 🔄

Conduct a 360° feedback stage, where each student should receive feedback from other members of the group they worked with during the activities. Guide the class to ensure that feedback is constructive and respectful, using the following guidelines:

1. Comment on positive contributions: Ask students to highlight at least one positive thing each colleague did during the activity, such as good ideas or effective collaboration.
2. Constructive suggestions: Instruct students to provide specific suggestions for improvements, focusing on communication, participation, and techniques used.
3. Respect and empathy: Emphasize the importance of maintaining a respectful and empathetic tone throughout the feedback process, reminding that the goal is collective growth and learning.

Conclusion

Duration: 10 to 15 minutes

⚡ [Purpose] ⚡

The purpose of this stage is to consolidate learning and connect the concepts addressed with the reality of students. The fun summary reinforces the main points discussed, while the connection with the modern world and practical applications show the relevance and importance of the topic in daily life. This helps to fix knowledge in a meaningful and contextualized way.

Summary

📝 [Summary] 📝

Today, we explored the fascinating world of food chains! 🌿🦁🔄 We saw how producers (the plants) 🌱, consumers (animals) 🐾, and decomposers (fungi and bacteria) 🍄 work together to maintain the balance of nature. Energy starts with the sun ☀️, goes through the plants that perform photosynthesis, and rises up the food chain. Each being has its crucial role, even the decomposers, which recycle nutrients back into the soil.

World Connection

🌍 [In the World] 🌍

Understanding food chains helps us grasp the impacts of human actions on the environment. Deforestation, pollution, and climate change can break these chains, causing ecological imbalances. In the modern world, social media and ecological awareness campaigns allow us to share information and promote sustainable practices, showcasing the importance of every living being in the health of our planet.

Practical Application

👩‍🏫 [Applications] 👨‍🏫

Understanding food chains helps us make conscious decisions, such as choosing foods from sustainable sources and supporting environmental policies. In this way, we can contribute to biodiversity conservation and ecological sustainability, ensuring that future generations can also enjoy a balanced planet.