5-E Instructional Model Lesson Plan

Name: Rachel Hartmann Grade Level: 7th Grade Life Science

Topic: Populations

Topic Explanation: Write a 3-4 sentence paragraph explaining the concept you are teaching. DO
NOT summarize the teaching process (what you are doing in the lesson). This is strictly about the
concept you are teaching.

The concept that I am teaching is the food chain. This concept will teach students what kinds of
animals are at the top of the food chain and which ones are much lower. I will also teach how the
pesticides we use to spray our crops in todays society can affect the food chain and the energy
flowing through it.
STEM Behavior/Skills: (check area(s) that are being emphasized in the lesson):
_X__Collaboration
____Asking Questions
_X__Developing and Using Models
_X__Defining Problems
____Planning Investigation
__X_Carrying Out Investigation
_X__Analyzing and Interpreting Data
__X_Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
_X__Constructing Explanations
____Designing Solutions
____Engaging in Argument from Evidence
__X_Obtaining and Evaluating Information
____Other (specify):
__X__Communicating Information
Objectives(s):

Students will be able to model a realistic food chain experience. They will role play as a
grasshopper, shrew, or a hawk and find out the effects of eating food that is sprayed with
pesticides and how that energy and disease can be spread throughout the food chain.
Materials:

Deadly Links Directions (Project Wild pg. 270)

Green construction paper (cut into pieces)
Orange construction paper (cut into pieces)
Red construction paper (cut into pieces)
Ziploc bags or sandwich bags
White board or something to record results

Engage:
Explain how you will get the students excited and curious about what they are to learn in
this lesson and make connections to previous experiences.

I will engage students by starting out with a short clip from The Lion King.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fYLEhqYGIU
I will ask students to pay close attention to what Mufasa is explaining to Simba. The
video explains a little about the food chain and how when animals die they become part
of the Earth. Hopefully students will get that energy moves through this system and as
animals eat other animals this energy is transferred from one to the next.

Explore:
Explain the concrete experience(s) you will provide students as they discover the
concept(s) to be learned in this lesson. Include directions for the activity here.

I will ask students to push all of the desks out of the way in order to create enough space
for the activity. I will have slips of paper that has either has grasshopper, shrew, or hawk
written on them. Students will chose a slip out of the hat to decide which one they will
be. For a class of 23 students I had 2 hawks, 5 shrews, and 16 grasshoppers. I will then
handout a bag to each grasshopper and I will then ask students to explain to me what they
think the bag is for. Hopefully they will answer with a stomach. I will spread randomly
around the open floor the different pieces of cut up construction paper and ask students
what they think this represents? Hopefully they will answer with food or crops. I will
then explain the rules and directions of the game:
1. Grasshopper will go gather food first for about 20-30 seconds.
a. They will pick up pieces of construction paper and put it in their bag
2. Then, it will be time for the shrews to join in the hunt.
a. Shrews eat grasshoppers so they will eat them by tapping them on the
shoulder and taking their stomach or bag.
3. Then, it will be time for the hawks to hunt.
a. They hunt for the shrews and again eat them by tapping them on the
shoulder and taking their stomach or bag. (They may end up with more than
one)
After all animals have gone through the hunt I will ask any grasshoppers that have
survived to raise their hands and I will record their names on the board and what they
were. I will also ask those shrews and hawks that survived and record their names on the
board. All of those animals that survived will count what is in their stomach or
stomachs. They will count the green pieces separate from the orange and red pieces
(these represent a poisonous pesticide). I will record what each of the surviving animals
had.
Explain:
Identify the explanations the students and you are going to share to help students make
sense of their discoveries and questions related to the concept(s) the students are able to
learn in this lesson. Directions for the activity DO NOT go here, they are in the Explore
portion of the lesson.

After we have recorded the results on the board I will guide students to understand what
happened during the activity. I will ask students What do you think the colored pieces
stand for? The answer is a poisonous pesticide that farmers used on the crops. I will
explain to the students that this any grasshopper that had a colored piece in their stomach
died because of it. Also, any shrew that ate it would also die because the energy was
passed on to them. Then, between the hawks, the one that had the most colored pieces
also dies. The other one will survive, but the poison will still affect them. The poison will
affect their eggs as it will soften the shell and may not allow the offspring to survive in
the shell. We will also discuss why farmers use pesticides and if there are other
alternatives for this that could still protect the crop, but keep the animals safe. We will
also discuss what a predator and a prey are.
Then, we will talk about The Lion King video again and go into more detail about what
Mufasa was explaining to Simba and how energy moves through ecosystems.

Elaborate:
Explain how you are going to give the students an opportunity to further explore the same
concepts to assist them in achieving a fuller and deeper understanding of what they learned
in the explore and explanation phases of the lesson.

We will go back to taking notes on Chapter 21 which will further elaborate on this
subject. The topics covered in this section of notes include: where organisms get their
energy, and how energy flows through the food chain, the difference between predator
and prey, and cooperative relationships between animals. Students will be able to ask any
questions they might have about any of these topics and we will have an open discussion
in class so that all students understand as they are taking the notes.
Evaluate:
Explain both the formative and summative assessments you will use to assess the students
understanding of the concept(s) for this lesson.

Throughout notes I will facilitate questions to check their understanding of the concept, if
students dont seem to be understanding we will go into more detail on the topic. At the
end of the lesson I will use the 3-2-1- exit slip technique. Students will get three
questions to answer correctly before they can pack up and leave for the day. The
questions include:
1. Name one thing you learned from todays activity.
2. What type of consumer eats meat?
3. True or False: Energy moves through a food chain? Explain.
Safety: I will be facilitating the activity and watching to make sure students are behaving

appropriately and that all students are staying safe to avoid any injuries.
Accommodations for Special Needs Students:

There are no special accommodations that need to be made as there are currently no students that
are on an IEP in this classroom.