• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Producers, consumers, predators and prey). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. oak leaves → caterpillar → blue tit → sparrowhawk What is the oak leaves in this food chain? (producer / secondary consumer / tertiary consumer / primary consumer) → producerPrompt: Start at the plant and count the arrows.
2. phytoplankton → krill → penguin → leopard seal Which animal is the prey of the leopard seal? (penguin / leopard seal / krill / phytoplankton) → penguinPrompt: A predator hunts and eats other animals; its prey is the animal it eats.
3. Food chains: which statement is true? (Herbivores are predators. / A food chain can start with a lion. / Producers eat consumers. / A top (apex) predator has no natural predators as an adult.) → A top (apex) predator has no natural predators as an adult.Prompt: Producers make food; consumers eat.

• Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
• Share the objective: Why some animals live in groups. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: How does living in a group help here: wolves hunting as a pack?
• Step 1: So the answer is: they can catch animals much bigger than one wolf
• Answer: they can catch animals much bigger than one wolf
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• 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 does living in a group help here: meerkats taking turns as lookouts? (one warns the others when a hawk is near / it is hard for a predator to pick out one fish / they share warmth in freezing winds / workers share jobs like collecting food and caring for young) → one warns the others when a hawk is nearPrompt: Think about food, safety, warmth and sharing work.
2. Leafcutter ants cut leaves, carry them home and grow a fungus on them to eat. Why can a colony do this but one ant cannot? (One ant is too lazy. / Leaves are only cut at night. / Fungus only grows near crowds. / Thousands of ants share the different jobs.) → Thousands of ants share the different jobs.Prompt: How many jobs are there: cutting, carrying, gardening, guarding…?

• 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.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. True or false? In a beehive, different bees do different jobs. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Think of the benefits and the costs.
2. Geese fly in a V shape and take turns at the front. How does this help? (It keeps them dry. / Birds behind save energy, and sharing the front spreads the hard work. / It helps them see the ground. / It makes them fly slower.) → Birds behind save energy, and sharing the front spreads the hard work.Prompt: Cyclists in a race ride close behind each other for the same reason.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-3.