Project+1

=Phase 1 of R2D2=


 * General Topic: Science **
 * Specific Topic: Food chains **
 * Audience: Sixth grade students **
 * Activity: Online scavenger hunt **

Background information:
= = Food chains exist in every ecosystem, biome, and habitat all over the world, even in your back yard. //Recall the// //eight basic biomes are (6 land) rain forest, desert, grassland, deciduous forest, boreal forest, tundra, (2 water) freshwater, and marine.// Food chains are both necessary and delicate parts of the world around us. As the top of the food chain, knowing more about food chains can make us all better stewards of the planet Earth. A food chain is a simplified extraction of a food web in which energy is transferred from one organism to another as each higher level in a food chain ingests or eats lower organisms along the chain for survival. Prior knowledge for being able to understand food chains would include knowledge of Earth's original energy source, the sun, and how this energy is converted into a tangible form for Earth's organisms to utilize this energy (photosynthesis).

Food chains are very simple to understand once you understand the components that make them up. Every food chain begins with a producer. Every producer is consumed by a first level consumer. Every first level consumer is consumed by a second level consumer. Every second level consumer is consumed by a third level consumer. Most food chains end here because the transfer of energy is only efficient through three to four levels of consumption. It is, however, possible to keep going up the chain, but it is not common.

Hopefully you have not been consumed by all of the previous consumption talk, and you are still hungry for knowledge! Before this gets any worse, let us get to the task at hand and dive into the web of learning and answer a few questions.

Task:
Through the scavenger hunt, you will learn to identify producers, first level consumers, second level consumers, and potential third level (or tertiary) consumers. You will also be able to define a herbivore, omnivore, carnivore, and scavenger as well as accurately placing them within a potential food chain.

Answer the following eig = = ht questions on your wiki page that we created last marking period. Make sure to send me an invite to your wiki site so I can access all of your work. I suggest you utilize the web site links I have provided below. Most of the questions can be answered after you view them, but you will have to do a little extra searching on your own. // Make sure to list all websites you used below your answers on your wiki site. //

I want my advanced students to try answering these questions only using definition sites such as @http://dictionary.reference.com/ before viewing the suggested site list below. Challenge yourselves!

=__//** Questions to ans **//____//** wer: **//__= 1. What is a producer, and why can it be considered the most important part of a food chain? 2. What is a consumer? 3. How do first, second, and third level consumers differ within a food chain? 4. Where in a food chain would you find a herbivore? Why? 5. Where could you find an omnivore in a food chain? Explain. 6. Where is the one place you would not find a carnivore in a food chain? Explain. 7. How do scavengers fit within food chains? 8. How do the terms predator and prey apply to food chains?

(If the need arises, students can download the word document and complete this assignment on paper, or edit and email the document.)

= =

//** Websites to consider: **//
 * Online dictionaries and references:**
 * @http://kids.britannica.com/
 * @http://dictionary.reference.com/
 * @http://www.wordcentral.com/
 * @http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Dictionary.html
 * @http://new.wordsmyth.net/


 * Interactive food chains activities**
 * @http://www.kidsknowit.com/interactive-educational-movies/free-online-movies.php?movie=food%20Chains
 * @http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm
 * @http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm


 * This site will tell you a little more about why scavengers are important if you dare to read on!**
 * @http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_scavengers_important_in_a_food_chain[[image:edward-jackson/images.jpg align="right"]]

Learner reflection:

 * State one thing you liked about this scavenger hunt.
 * State one thing you would change to improve this scavenger hunt.
 * Did you find any new, useful, websites through your scavenger hunt? If so, what were the addresses?