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Science lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 45 minutes

Environments change: human impact

Ecosystems and food chains

CCSS NGSS.4-ESS3-1CCSS NGSS.5-ESS3-1CCSS NGSS.MS-ESS3-3England: KS2 Y4 Living things and their habitatsEngland: KS3 Biology: Interactions and interdependencies

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Environments change: human impact.

  • 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: Simple food chains

Leads to: How communities protect Earth's land, water, air and life; Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem

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 · 5 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Simple food chains). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Which living thing fills the gap in this food chain? lettuce → slug → hedgehog → ___ (phytoplankton / badger / oak leaves / algae) → badgerPrompt: It must eat the thing before it in the chain.
  2. What does every food chain start with? (a plant or other producer / a big predator / the soil / a mushroom) → a plant or other producerPrompt: Which living things make their own food?
  3. Which living thing fills the gap in this food chain? ___ → grasshopper → frog → snake (grass / tadpole / mouse / giraffe) → grassPrompt: A food chain starts with a plant.

Hook · 5 min

  • Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
  • Share the objective: Environments change: human impact. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 10 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Does this help or harm wildlife: draining wetlands?
  • Step 1: Actions that destroy or pollute habitats harm living things.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: harms wildlife
  • Answer: harms wildlife
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 10 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. Does this help or harm wildlife: planting native trees? (helps wildlife / harms wildlife) → helps wildlifePrompt: Does it make habitats bigger and cleaner, or smaller and dirtier?
  2. A new road is built through a wood. How might this affect the badgers that live there? (It will have no effect / They will have more food / Their habitat is split and some may be hit by traffic / They will turn into a new species straight away) → Their habitat is split and some may be hit by trafficPrompt: Badgers travel to find food.

You do: independent practice · 10 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 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 5 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Why is cutting down large areas of rainforest a problem? (Trees grow back in a day / Many animals and plants lose their habitat / It makes more rain / Rainforests have no animals) → Many animals and plants lose their habitatPrompt: Where would the animals that lived in the trees go?
  2. Which action helps wildlife? (cutting down rainforest / planting native trees / dumping plastic in the sea / spilling oil into rivers) → planting native treesPrompt: Think about what happens to habitats.

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: Simple food chains.
  • 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

  • Move on to: How communities protect Earth's land, water, air and life; Living and non-living factors in an ecosystem.
  • 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-4.

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

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Environments change: human impact

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Does this help or harm wildlife: draining wetlands?

    • A. helps wildlife
    • B. harms wildlife

  2. Question 2

    Which action helps wildlife?

    • A. digging a wildlife pond
    • B. cutting down rainforest
    • C. spilling oil into rivers
    • D. dumping plastic in the sea

  3. Question 3

    Why is cutting down large areas of rainforest a problem?

    • A. Rainforests have no animals
    • B. Trees grow back in a day
    • C. Many animals and plants lose their habitat
    • D. It makes more rain

  4. Question 4

    Does this help or harm wildlife: planting native trees?

    • A. helps wildlife
    • B. harms wildlife

  5. Question 5

    Which is a natural change to an environment?

    • A. building a car park
    • B. spraying pesticides
    • C. a volcano erupting
    • D. building a dam

  6. Question 6

    Which action harms wildlife?

    • A. leaving wild areas for bees
    • B. dumping plastic in the sea
    • C. creating a nature reserve
    • D. digging a wildlife pond

  7. Question 7

    Does this help or harm wildlife: dumping plastic in the sea?

    • A. helps wildlife
    • B. harms wildlife

  8. Question 8

    How can plastic in the ocean harm sea turtles?

    • A. They can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them
    • B. Plastic makes the water warmer
    • C. Turtles use plastic to build nests
    • D. Plastic is food for turtles

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Answer key: Environments change: human impact

  1. 1. B. harms wildlife

  2. 2. A. digging a wildlife pond

  3. 3. C. Many animals and plants lose their habitat

  4. 4. A. helps wildlife

  5. 5. C. a volcano erupting

  6. 6. B. dumping plastic in the sea

  7. 7. B. harms wildlife

  8. 8. A. They can mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and eat them