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Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers.
Standard #: SC.4.L.17.3
Standard Information
General Information
Subject Area: Science
Grade: 4
Body of Knowledge: Life Science
Idea: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts
Big Idea: Interdependence -

A. Plants and animals, including humans, interact with and depend upon each other and their environment to satisfy their basic needs.

B. Both human activities and natural events can have major impacts on the environment.

C. Energy flows from the sun through producers to consumers.
Date Adopted or Revised: 02/08
Content Complexity Rating: Level 2: Basic Application of Skills & Concepts - More Information
Date of Last Rating: 05/08
Status: State Board Approved
Assessed: Yes
Related Courses
Related Access Points
  • SC.4.L.17.Su.2 # Recognize that animals (consumers) eat plants or other animals for their food.
  • SC.4.L.17.Pa.2 # Recognize that animals eat food.
  • SC.4.L.17.In.3 # Recognize that plants (producers) use energy from the Sun to make their food and animals (consumers) eat plants or other animals for their food.
Related Resources
Lesson Plans
  • Producer Consumer Reading #
    Students will learn about energy transfer between organisms, and understand the different roles that organisms can hold in a food web. They will use cards to create food webs as groups, then combine all their food webs into one large ecosystem.
  • Gr. 4 Lesson 1-Food Chain Gang # Students will be able to explain the purpose and path of a food chain is, describe a simple Everglades food chain and trace the flow of energy from the sun as it is transferred. Students will also be able to explain the impacts of a loss of a species in a food chain. 
  • Predator and Prey # In this lesson the students will learn about a predator/prey relationship. They will learn about the role that plants and animals play in their ecosystem and what each role is called. The students will also learn about the limiting factors each ecosystem possesses that prevent any species population from becoming too large.
  • Food Webs # In this activity about food webs, students learn that producers make all of the molecules they need from simple substances and energy from the sun, other living things depend on producers for food, and living things that must eat other organisms as food are known as consumers. Food webs show all of the various interactions among producers and consumers in an ecosystem. Following an introduction to the content, students are divided into six groups and given a set of six cards, each of which represents a producer or consumer, unique to one of six different ecosystems. From the set of cards, students identify the producers and consumers, discuss who might eat whom, and construct an illustration of the possible food web configurations.
Original Student Tutorials
Project
  • Energy Flow of a Mountain Ecosystem # In this project students will research a mountain ecosystem. They will create a presentation of their ecosystem that includes information on animals and vegetation, which will also demonstrate the flow of energy through the ecosystem. Students will interpret and analyze the data to hypothesize what would happen if a species was removed or added to the flow of energy. To finalize, students will write an explanatory piece that describes the possible changes that would take place if an animal was removed from an ecosystem and how that would affect the food chain.
Teaching Ideas
  • Plant Parts You Eat # In this food science activity, learners observe different plant-originated foods. This activity will help learners understand that consumers (including humans) rely on producers, specifically plants and plant parts, for food. This lesson guide includes background information and variation ideas.
  • The Food Connection-SeaWorld Classroom Activity # In this activity, students make connections among penguins and other antarctic animals. They will trace the flow of energy in food chains and webs.
  • Weave a Food Web-SeaWorld Classroom Activity # In this activity, the students will discover the food energy relationship within a food web in a coral reef habitat.
  • Web Connection-SeaWorld Classroom Activity # In this activity, the students will learn how animals are interconnected with the arctic ecosystem and how humans impact these interrelationships.
Text Resource
  • Another Link in the Food Chain # This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how energy passes through food chains. Examples of each link in the chain and a description of its role in the food chain are given.
Original Student Tutorials Science - Grades K-8
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