• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Read a food web: who eats whom?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Here is a pond food web. (An arrow points from the food to the animal that eats it.) algae → mayfly larva algae → tadpole pondweed → pond snail algae → pond snail mayfly larva → dragonfly larva tadpole → dragonfly larva mayfly larva → stickleback (small fish) dragonfly larva → stickleback (small fish) stickleback (small fish) → heron tadpole → heron Which of these does the heron eat? (tadpole / dragonfly larva / algae / pond snail) → tadpolePrompt: Find the arrows that point TO this animal.
2. Here is a woodland food web. (An arrow points from the food to the animal that eats it.) oak tree → caterpillar grass → rabbit oak tree → mouse grass → mouse caterpillar → blue tit rabbit → fox mouse → fox mouse → owl blue tit → owl Which of these is a producer? (owl / fox / grass / blue tit) → grassPrompt: Producers make their own food from sunlight.
3. Here is a pond food web. (An arrow points from the food to the animal that eats it.) algae → mayfly larva algae → tadpole pondweed → pond snail algae → pond snail mayfly larva → dragonfly larva tadpole → dragonfly larva mayfly larva → stickleback (small fish) dragonfly larva → stickleback (small fish) stickleback (small fish) → heron tadpole → heron A disease kills most of the dragonfly larva. Which animal loses one of its foods? (mayfly larva / pond snail / stickleback (small fish) / tadpole) → stickleback (small fish)Prompt: Which animals have an arrow coming from it?

• Show a food web and ask what would happen if one animal disappeared.
• Share the objective: Predict what happens when a food web changes. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Sea otters eat sea urchins, and sea urchins eat kelp. Hunters remove most otters. What happens to the kelp forest?
• Step 1: With fewer predators, urchin numbers rise and they overgraze the kelp.
• Step 2: So the answer is: Urchins increase and eat much of the kelp.
• Answer: Urchins increase and eat much of the kelp.
• 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. Sea otters eat sea urchins, and sea urchins eat kelp. Hunters remove most otters. What happens to the kelp forest? (The kelp grows faster. / Urchins increase and eat much of the kelp. / Nothing changes. / The urchins disappear.) → Urchins increase and eat much of the kelp.Prompt: Follow the chain: fewer otters → ? urchins → ? kelp.
2. True or false? Animals that eat many foods cope better when one food runs out. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Follow the arrows to see who depends on whom.

• 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. What is a likely knock-on effect: foxes are removed from an island? (insect-eating birds have less food / reef fish lose food and shelter / birds that eat small fish have less food / rabbit numbers rise and more grass is eaten) → rabbit numbers rise and more grass is eatenPrompt: Who eats what was lost or added?
2. Why is a food web with many links more stable than a single food chain? (If one food runs short, animals can eat something else. / Chains are always longer. / Webs have fewer animals. / Webs need no producers.) → If one food runs short, animals can eat something else.Prompt: Compare a fox that eats rabbits only with one that eats rabbits and mice.

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