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Science lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 30 minutes

The energy in food started as sunlight

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.5-PS3-1CCSS NGSS.5-LS2-1England: KS3 Biology: PhotosynthesisEngland: KS2 Y4 Animals, including humans

Objective and success criteria

Students will: The energy in food started as sunlight.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Plants make food from air and water

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Food web cards, Arrows to build chains, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Plants make food from air and water). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. How plants grow: which statement is true? (Plants take in oxygen and give out only carbon dioxide all day. / Plants get most of their mass by eating soil. / The energy in plant food comes from the soil. / Most of a plant's mass comes from carbon dioxide in the air and from water.) → Most of a plant's mass comes from carbon dioxide in the air and from water.Prompt: Where does a tree's wood really come from?
  2. Which gas do plants take from the air to build their bodies? (helium / oxygen / nitrogen / carbon dioxide) → carbon dioxidePrompt: It is the gas we breathe out.
  3. How plants grow: which statement is NOT true? (Most of a plant's mass comes from carbon dioxide in the air and from water. / Plants get most of their mass by eating soil. / Plants release oxygen into the air. / Plants make their own food using light energy.) → Plants get most of their mass by eating soil.Prompt: One sentence repeats an old idea that experiments disproved.

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: The energy in food started as sunlight. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Why do the arrows in a food chain point from the food to the eater?
  • Step 1: Arrows follow energy from producer to consumers.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: They show the direction energy flows.
  • Answer: They show the direction energy flows.
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. How do plants store energy from sunlight? (They turn sunlight into soil. / They keep sunlight in their roots. / They do not store energy. / They use it to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water.) → They use it to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water.Prompt: This process is called photosynthesis.
  2. True or false? Animals get energy directly from sunlight like plants. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Trace the energy back to the start of the chain.

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Why do the arrows in a food chain point from the food to the eater? (They show who is faster. / They show the direction energy flows. / They point to the oldest animal. / They show who is bigger.) → They show the direction energy flows.Prompt: Where does the energy go when a rabbit eats grass?
  2. True or false? All the energy in grass passes to the cow that eats it. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Trace the energy back to the start of the chain.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Plants make food from air and water.
  • Use concrete materials: food web cards.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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The energy in food started as sunlight

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    True or false? Animals use food energy to move, grow and keep warm.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    Why are there usually far fewer foxes than rabbits in a field?

    • A. Foxes do not like each other.
    • B. Rabbits eat foxes.
    • C. Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain.
    • D. Foxes do not need energy.

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Nearly all the energy in food chains comes from the Sun.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    True or false? Plants get their energy from the soil.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  5. Question 5

    A lion never eats plants. Where did the energy in its food originally come from?

    • A. the Moon
    • B. the lion's own body
    • C. the Sun, captured by plants that its prey ate
    • D. the ground

  6. Question 6

    True or false? All the energy in grass passes to the cow that eats it.

    • A. True
    • B. False

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Answer key: The energy in food started as sunlight

  1. 1. A. True

  2. 2. C. Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain.

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. B. False

  5. 5. C. the Sun, captured by plants that its prey ate

  6. 6. B. False