Producers and Consumers
Readiness
TEKS Objective
The student is expected to describe how the flow of energy derived from the Sun, used by producers to create their own food, is transferred through a food chain and food web to consumers and decomposers.
Essential Understanding
The student knows that there are relationships, systems, and cycles within environments.
Science Background
Energy Flow Through Ecosystems: Annenberg Learner (website) - Producers (plants, algae and photosynthetic microbes) are the foundation of most ecosystems. Read the information on this page to learn how energy is transferred through an ecosystem from producers to consumers.
Energy Flow Through Ecosystems
Annenberg Learner, learner.org
Another Link in the Food Chain: Geography4Kids (website) - Quick review of the major components of food chains, along with an explanation of producers, consumers and decomposers, and their interactions.
Another Link in the Food Chain
Geography4Kids, www.geography4kids.com
Producer Power! Wisconsin Fast Plants (PDF) - A concise summary of what makes plants “producers,” and what “producer” actually means.
Signature Lesson
Make the Connection: Michigan Sea Grant (PDF) - Students use paper cutouts to learn about the parts of a food chain and the creation, consumption and transfer of energy among producers, herbivores and carnivores. Includes excellent background information.
Make the Connection
Michigan Sea Grant, www.miseagrant.umich.edu
- Supporting Lessons
- Extensions
- Assessment Ideas
- Literature Connections
- Related
TEKS - Additional Resources
Supporting Lessons
Food Chains: My Science Box (website) - Students separate and identify the ingredients from common meals (e.g., pasta with meat sauce) as either being derived from producers or consumers, and then extend this concept into a detailed activity that promotes understanding of food chains, producers (plants), consumers (animals), and the role of the sun as the initial source of energy for our food.
Food Chains
My Science Box, www.mysciencebox.org
The Wildlife Web I: Nature Works (website) - Learn how producers (plants) get energy from the sun, and how consumers interact with and depend on plants, other organisms and nonliving components within their environments for food and survival. Includes extensions and links to additional resources.
The Wildlife Web I
Nature Works, www.nhptv.org
The Wildlife Web II: NatureWorks (website) - Investigate the dependence of consumers (carnivores, herbivores and omnivores) on other organisms and nonliving components within their environments for food and survival. Includes extensions and links to additional resources.
Elaboration Lessons and Extensions
Plants ‘R” Us: Texas A&M University (website) - By creating their own food webs, students investigate how producers make their own food, and learn that consumers depend on producers for survival.
Plants ‘R” Us
Texas A&M University, iitc.tamu.edu
Food Chains: BBC Home (website) - Students construct a food web for a pear tree habitat and learn about the feeding relationships among consumers and producers within that food chain. Includes extensions and links to all lesson components, including student pages and video clips.
Assessment Ideas
Give students the following assignment: pick an ingredient from your lunch today and construct a food chain that includes the ingredient. Make sure to start with the Sun and include yourself. Identify the role of each organism (producer, consumer, herbivore, omnivore, etc.).
Literature Connections
Sea Soup: Zooplankton. Cerullo, Mary (ISBN-13: 978-0884482192)
Food Chains and Webs: From Producers to Decomposers. Spilsbury, L. (ISBN-13: 978-1403455109)
Who Eats What? Food Chains and Food Webs. Lauber, P. and Keller, H. (ISBN-13: 978-0064451307)
The World of Food Chains with Max Axiom, Super Scientist. O’Donnell, L. (ISBN: 978-0-7368-6839-6)
Food Webs: Interconnecting Food Chains. Gray, Susan (ISBN-13: 978-0756532611)
Pass the Energy, Please! Shaw McKinney, Barbara (ISBN-13: 978-1584690016)
What Are Food Chains and Food Webs? Vogel, Julia (ISBN-13: 978-1602707962)
Additional Resources
Producers, Consumers and Decomposer Game: Sheppard Software (website) - Interactive activity in which students identify various organisms as producers, consumers or decomposers.
Producers, Consumers and Decomposer Game
Sheppard Software, www.sheppardsoftware.com
Chain Reaction: EcoKids (website) - Have students work through this animated game to learn the basics about producers and consumers in two different food chains.
TEKS Navigation
Grade 5
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