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Home , Food chain, Omnivore

CHAINS, , AND US 60 Minute Science Lesson Science-to-Go! Program TEACHER GUIDE Grades: 3 - 5

FOOD CHAINS, HABITATS, AND US

Description Objectives Examine our collection of Ohio skulls • Identify an animal's role in the and furs and identify each animal's based (, , ) by on its teeth . Then, add your observing its teeth. discoveries to a to explore how • Create a food web highlighting how energy from the is transferred from is transferred to these different roles. producers to consumers, and why the amount • Model the importance of a balanced of available energy is reduced at each level of a through student role-play. food chain. We will discuss how impact the flow of energy and in various , and identify our crucial role in protecting natural diversity.

Ohio’s Standards

Grade 3: Life Science - Behavior, Growth and Changes • and have life cycles that are part of their adaptations for survival in their natural environments. Grade 4: Life Science - Earth’s Living History • Changes in an organism’s environment are sometimes beneficial to its survival and sometimes harmful. Grade 5: Life Science - Interconnections within Ecosystems • Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem. • All of the processes that take place within organisms require energy.

How to Set Up Your Room

• Please have student desks clear before the program begins. • Please provide an empty desk or small table for the museum educator to set up display items. • Your educator will need access to an outlet and a blank wall to project the power point presentation onto. We are also able to use existing classroom equipment if available. • If booking multiple programs, transitions will be easier if museum staff sets up in only one location. • Introduce the vocabulary and additional resources provided below.

Vocabulary abiotic- the non-living resources within an ecosystem. Includes light, , weather, soil, , etc. biotic - the living resources within an ecosystem. Plants, animals, fungi, etc. – total amount of material making up the organisms in one segment of a food chain carnivore – an animal that eats only meat – an organism that must eat other living things to survive • primary consumer – animals that eat only producers (plants); • secondary consumer – animals that eat primary consumers • tertiary consumer – animals that eat secondary consumers • quaternary consumer – animals that eat tertiary consumers – an organism that uses dead material as an energy source ecosystem – the members of an ecological and their interactions with each other and the environment energy - the processes that keep the ecosystem going through sunlight and chemical transfers between the living and non-living parts of the system food chain – a single-line example of how nutrients and from one organism to another food web – a web-like illustration of how nutrients and energy can flow through an ecosystem -- the place in which plants and animals get their resources (water, shelter, sunlight, nutrients, etc) in order to live herbivore – an animal that eats only material omnivore – an animal that will eat both plants and animals

population – the entire number of one type of organism within a particular location predator - animals that actively hunt other animals for food prey - the predator’s food producer – an organism that can use sunlight as an energy source (plants)

Extension Activities Check out museum science: The attached article, “The Science of Watching ,” is based on a research report by CMNH ornithologist, Tom Bartlett. Follow along on Tom’s banding project to learn how the birds reveal the of a habitat and how scientists work together to track migration routes. Along the way, students will encounter standards-based content (see key words below) and practice navigating common informational text features such as sub-headings, glossaries, maps, charts and images. Did Tom’s work inspire more questions? The article also includes suggested ways to keep your class involved in current science.

1. What’s for Dinner? Have students create a diagram or visual aid that illustrates their place in the food web. Tell students to choose a they’ve eaten recently and follow each food item consumed in that meal back to its energy origin (the sun). For example, a cheeseburger could be diagrammed as follows: Hamburger: →cow→grass→sun Bun: human→wheat→sun Cheese: human→cow→grass→sun Pickle: human→cucumber→sun Remember that with each link in the chain, some energy is lost. It is more efficient to eat items whose chains have fewer links. By some kinds of animals, such as a tuna, we create a chain with five or more links (human→tuna →squid→→ →sun). By choosing to get more of our from producers, we can reduce our impact on the environment!

2. Who in My Backyard? Have students observe the flora and fauna in their area and make a list of the living organisms they see. To warm up the students’ observational skills, you may want to take them on a short hike around the school grounds. If the weather is not conducive to going outdoors, students can watch through a window for birds, and other common animals. Don’t forget about plants and – they are an important part

of the food chain too! Students with digital cameras could try to photograph the organisms, as well. After students have created their lists, have students work in groups as described below to create paper food chains. 1. Split students into groups of four or five. Within each groups, there needs to be a designated group leader in charge of keeping group mates on task, a fact-checker with access to a computer or encyclopedia, and two or three craftsmen who create the links and put them together. 2. Have students write the names (or draw pictures) of each organism on their lists onto strips of paper. Then, after learning how each organism survives, create chains linking every organism to another organism that depends on it for food. 3. Groups that have too many of one type of organism and not enough of another may wish to trade with another group to get the type of organism they need. Allow students to barter with neighboring groups until most of the organisms from the students’ lists are a part of a valid food chain. Continue to create links in each chain until you get to an animal that is not eaten by any other animals(the dominant species). How many links can you create in the chain? Have groups compete to see who can create the longest chain. To make the project more challenging, students can create food webs instead of chains, linking each animal to several food sources instead of just one. Students may wish to link the organisms in their food chains to organisms in other groups’ chains to create the web. This helps illustrate the complexity of energy flow in an ecosystem. When the project is complete, the food chains or webs can be hung from the ceiling of the classroom as a visual reminder that all organisms, including humans are connected.

3. Interdisciplinary Connections: Math – have students create “food chain brainteasers”. Use the problem below as an example. For more fun, have students pair up and try to solve their partner’s brainteaser! Example: Farmer John has a large farm. He grows corn, wheat and hay. Unfortunately, he has many (mice and ) eating his crops. He wants to get some cats to eat the rodents, but he doesn’t want to have too many cats. Using the information below, figure out how many cats Farmer John needs to keep the population under control. Ø Right now, Farmer John estimates he has 100 rodents on his farm Ø The number of rodents grows by about 10 rodents/day Ø Each cat can catch 5 rodents/day but only needs to eat 3 rodents/day to survive What is the least number of cats Farmer John needs to keep the rodent population under control? He wants enough cats bring down the rodent population down to fewer than 30, but not so many cats that he’ll need to start feeding them cat food to keep them alive! Note: These cats have been fixed so they won’t have kittens!

4. Corn Collection Chaos Materials Needed: Small paper bags Popcorn kernels (or any other small items that can be easily scattered and then gathered by students; dry food pellets, cotton balls, mini- marshmallows—whatever you want to use!) Permanent marker pencils or pens for all students In this game, students will learn about reduction of biomass as energy moves through the food chain. Students will also see what happens to animals in the food chain when a primary food source is eliminated due to human actions.

Set up: Assign about 70% of the students in the class to be insects, 20% to be shrews and 10% to be hawks. Distribute a paper bag to each student who will be an . Scatter the corn kernels on the floor. These kernels represent the energy of your food chain, starting as plants that the insects are about to eat. The timing of rounds and numbers of corn kernels can be adjusted for the size of your class.

Round 1 1. The students who are insects collect as many kernels as they can in 20 seconds. The students then return to their seats and count their kernels, writing the total on their bags. Insects who have not collected 20 kernels have died from starvation. Those students are out of the game for this round. 2. The remaining insects stand in the middle of the room with their bags. Have these students throw 3 kernels back on the floor to represent the energy they are using to stay alive. This energy is not available to the predators who will hunt them. Now tell the students who are shrews to find and ‘eat’ as many insects as they can in 20 seconds. When an insect is tapped on the shoulder, they must give the shrew their bag and go sit down. After 20 seconds, everyone sits down and the shrews add up the total number of kernels they collected (they should be able to add up the numbers on the bags previously added up by the insects). Shrews who have not collected at least 60 kernels die of starvation. They are out for the rest of the round. 3. The remaining shrews stand in the center of the room with their bags and toss 6 kernels on the floor to represent spent energy. Students who are hawks have 20 seconds to eat as many shrews as they can. After 20 seconds, everyone sits down and the hawks total up their kernels. Hawks who have not collected at least 100 kernels die from starvation.

When this round is over, talk about the distribution of biomass within the food chain; there needs to be more producers than primary consumers, more primary consumers than secondary consumers, etc. The idea that further up the food chain are generally a more condensed form of energy (have more calories per gram) can also be discussed. Make sure students understand that it takes more energy to keep a secondary consumer alive than a primary consumer.

Round 2 This round works the same way as the last round, except in this case a shopping mall has been built near the woodland area where the animals live. Many of the wildflowers that the insects depended on for food have been paved over. Reduce the number of kernels scattered on the floor by 25% and play the rest of the game as before. Ask students how the reduction of plant material to feed the insects has impacted the number of shrews and hawks in the area. Stress how everything in the food chain, including us, is impacted when a primary food source is taken away.

Follow-up - Background - that are sprayed on plants and then eaten by primary consumers (herbivores) become concentrated as they move up the food chain. A plant sprayed with may only have a concentration of that chemical of 1 part per million (ppm) within its seeds. If a eats many seeds from that plant, it may end up with a pesticide concentration of 10 ppm in its tissues. A hawk that eats many mice over the course of a summer could build up an accumulation of 100 ppm. While the mouse may not show ill effects from 10 ppm of the chemical, the hawk is much more likely to suffer ill effects from 100 ppm. This is what happened with the chemical DDT that was sprayed to control mosquitoes in the 1960s. Birds of prey who ate the animals that ate the contaminated insects could not produce normal eggs and the bird populations plunged. Simulate the above scenario in the corn kernel game using the permanent marker to make a dot on about 1/5 of your kernels. These will represent plants contaminated with a toxic chemical such as a pesticide or a heavy metal. Spread the kernels as before, but after the first round, have students note how many “contaminated” kernels their animal ate and the ratio of ‘contaminated’ kernels to safe kernels. Before the second round, have students dump 3 unmarked kernels on the floor to represent energy used by life functions. Then play the second round as before. After the 2nd round, again have the students total their kernels and note the ratio of ‘contaminated’ to safe kernels. Have students dump 6 unmarked kernels and play the third round. After this round, it should be evident that there are relatively more toxic and fewer safe kernels. As the toxic chemicals are concentrated in the secondary and tertiary consumers, there is a greater likelihood of ill effects from these chemicals. This is why larger predators are often most affected by .

Online Resources for Teachers and Students

Click the link below to find additional online resources for teachers and students. These websites are recommended by our Museum Educators and provide additional content information and some fun, interactive activities to share with your class.

CMNH Educators regularly review these links for quality. Web addresses often change so please notify us if any links have issues.

Cleveland Museum of Natural History https://cmnh.org/edlinks

Educator Center (ERC)

Materials for Loan If you’re interested in additional resources be sure to check out the following ERC materials The Educator Resource Center offers or browse ERC materials online at educator workshops, thematic teaching kits, http://l4u.cmnh.org animal dioramas, and more for loan to area teachers. Related ERC kits for this topic include:

How does an Ecosystem work? Learn about Contact the ERC at 216-231-2075 for predators/prey, food chains and webs, information on individual or school adaptations, succession, populations, factors membership. for habitat and biomes. This kit features nearly

100 real plant and animal specimens in jars. Visit the Museum’s ERC website for more

information on workshops Life Cycles of Animals: Investigate animal life https://www.cmnh.org/ERC cycles through big books, puzzles, games,

plastic specimens, and stamping sets. Hours o Monday, 2 to 5 PM Animal Beaks and Teeth: Explore how animals o Wednesday, 2 to 6 PM seek and eat food using teeth and beaks, o Friday, 2 to 5 PM games, books, and other assorted specimens. o Saturday, 9 AM to 1 PM o Closed Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday