Hey everyone, I am currently working with 1st grade and will be doing an inquiry lesson on food chains with them. I am having them organize their own food chains and try to come up with an explanation on why their food chain is organized like how they did it. For extend they will explain what would happen in a food chain with a missing link. I do feel this can be a little advanced for the first graders, however, im curious to how they will respond to the activities! Any thoughts or suggestions for this lesson? thanks!
I would suggest that you focus on a particular habitat (e.g. forest, dessert, ocean) & present them with different animals that live in it. From there explain what food chains are & give them activities in which they collaborate in groups to figure out what types of animals would be at the top of a food chain compared to others. Those which eat plants would most likely be at the bottom of the food chain while those that eat meat would be at the top. I would start off with identifiable & known predators such as the lion or tiger. Over the next few days, you might incorporate how animals need each other (depend) in order to survive. As an activity you could have them illustrate their own food chain & explain what would happen if a part of the food chain was missing?
I love this lesson idea! I am going to be creating a 1st grade lesson soon, and I might go off of your plan. I think the idea to center it around one particular habitat would be a great way to help the lesson stay organized with that age. Maybe reading a book that would provide an example and visual would help.
This is a great idea to introduce young children to the world of interdependence of life! I would love to know how the students react to this lesson and how they receive this information.
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