• 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. acacia leaves → giraffe → lion What is the giraffe in this food chain? (primary consumer / secondary consumer / tertiary consumer / producer) → primary consumerPrompt: Start at the plant and count the arrows.
2. grass → zebra → lion Which animal is the predator of the zebra? (lion / zebra / grass) → lionPrompt: A predator hunts and eats other animals; its prey is the animal it eats.
3. Food chains: which statement is true? (A consumer gets its energy by eating other living things. / A food chain can start with a lion. / Herbivores are predators. / Producers eat consumers.) → A consumer gets its energy by eating other living things.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: fish swimming in a huge shoal (school)? (it is hard for a predator to pick out one fish / they share warmth in freezing winds / they can catch animals much bigger than one wolf / workers share jobs like collecting food and caring for young) → it is hard for a predator to pick out one fishPrompt: 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. / Fungus only grows near crowds. / Leaves are only cut at night. / 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? Some animals hunt in groups to catch bigger prey. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Think of the benefits and the costs.
2. What is one downside of living in a big group? (Groups are always too cold. / Food must be shared, and illnesses spread more easily. / Predators can never find groups. / Nobody ever helps anyone.) → Food must be shared, and illnesses spread more easily.Prompt: Think of a crowded classroom with one packet of biscuits.

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