Connecting Literature with the California Science Standards Strategic Science Teaching Grade Four – Life Science 1 SST 4th/Life Science

A model lesson for each grade level: Literature selection Science Standards Literacy Strategy Science Investigation 2 SST 4th/Life Science

3 SST 4th/Life Science

Browse The Elements Of The Lesson Standards Alignment Lesson at a Glance Teacher Background Materials and Advanced Preparation Teacher Tips Common Misconceptions Explicit Script for delivering the lesson through the 5E instructional model Teacher Reflection Teacher and Student pages 4 SST 4th/Life Science

The 5E Model of Instruction 5 SST 4th/Life Science

Who Eats What? by Patricia Lauber Who Eats What? Essential Question: How do interactions among organisms within food webs transfer energy through an ecosystem? Student Outcomes: Students understand that the sun’s energy is transferred from one organism to another in a food web. Students gather evidence of who eats what in specific environments and create examples of food webs for those environments. Students use “Graphic Outlining” to show the flow of energy in a variety of environments. 6 SST 4th/Life Science

Show the back cover of Who Eats What? and engage students to discuss their ideas on this question: What do you and a tuna have in common? The 5E Learning Cycle Engage 7 SST 4th/Life Science

What are all the living things you might find there? What does each organism eat? Have partners share their ideas with each other. Give partners time to Partner Read pages 4-12 Then, ask... What is the first link in all food chains? What does the “Top of the food chain” mean? Think about a specific habitat Engage 8 SST 4th/Life Science

Arrange the picture cards to represent a typical food chain What does a food chain look like? Explore 9 SST 4th/Life Science

Read pages and Think about the food chains in the story. Choose one of the environments pictured in the book and draw a picture of the typical food chain for that environment on the Graphic Organizer provided. Read for more information Explain 10 SST 4th/Life Science

Learning Strategy: Graphic Outlining Students illustrate the relationship of one organism to another by identifying the flow of energy from the sun through various organisms to the top organisms in a food web. Arrows on the graphic organizer show the direction of the flow of energy from one organism to another. 11 SST 4th/Life Science

Graphic Outlining (it takes practice!) Graphic Outlining is a method of representing information from a text so that the organizational pattern of the text is highlighted. It helps students understand what they read by leading them to predict and organize information they encounter. 12 SST 4th/Life Science

Read pages and Look at page 19.. Make your own food web on a whiteboard or in your notebook. Have a gallery walk to observe other students’ food webs. Read for more information on Food Webs Explain 13 SST 4th/Life Science

Go outside and ask students to look for “evidence” (e.g., chewed leaves, droppings, nests, feathers, webs, tracks, or holes in the ground) of plants and animals that could be part of a food web. Construct a classroom terrarium and conduct observations over the course of several months relating to the flow of food energy within the terrarium. Have students write a summary, story, or mini-booklet about the food webs that they have observed over the course of the study. Look for evidence of Food Webs Evaluate 14 SST 4th/Life Science

In a group of 3-4, sketch a food chain for the ecosystem you have chosen. Use 6 colored paper strips to build a food chain. Compare your food chain with another group of the same ecosystem. Use paper clips to link common or shared plants or animals. Choose an Ecosystem grassland, marine, forest Elaborate 15 SST 4th/Life Science

Teacher Reflection How does the student work provide evidence of student understanding of food webs and energy flow through an ecosystem? What instructional strategies used in this lesson promote student understanding? How do you know? How did the literature selection support student understanding of the science concepts? How would you modify instruction to ensure understanding of student outcomes by all students? 16 SST 4th/Life Science

Your presenter will provide local contact information or you may contact your County Office of Education Science Specialist for more information. Bibliography located in the publication: Strategic Science Teaching Grades K-12: A Sampler of Science Lessons Connecting Literature with California Standards, 2002, CDE Strategic Science Teaching Provided by CISC-Science Sub-Committee 17 SST 4th/Life Science