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Science lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 60 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 · 6 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? (The energy in plant food comes from the soil. / Plants do not need light to make food. / Plants get most of their mass by eating soil. / Plants make their own food using light energy.) → Plants make their own food using light energy.Prompt: Where does a tree's wood really come from?
  2. What do plants take in through their roots? (sugar / sunlight / carbon dioxide / water and minerals) → water and mineralsPrompt: Roots are in the soil.
  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 do not need light to make food. / Roots take in water and minerals. / Plants make their own food using light energy.) → Plants do not need light to make food.Prompt: One sentence repeats an old idea that experiments disproved.

Hook · 6 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 · 12 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 · 12 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. Why are there usually far fewer foxes than rabbits in a field? (Foxes do not like each other. / Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain. / Rabbits eat foxes. / Foxes do not need energy.) → Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain.Prompt: Animals use most of their food energy for moving and keeping warm.
  2. True or false? Plants get their energy from the soil. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Trace the energy back to the start of the chain.

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Why are there usually far fewer foxes than rabbits in a field? (Foxes do not need energy. / Foxes do not like each other. / Rabbits eat foxes. / Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain.) → Much energy is used up or lost at each step of a food chain.Prompt: Animals use most of their food energy for moving and keeping warm.
  2. True or false? Nearly all the energy in food chains comes from the Sun. (True / False) → TruePrompt: 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/ 8

  1. Question 1

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

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    How do plants store energy from sunlight?

    • A. They use it to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water.
    • B. They keep sunlight in their roots.
    • C. They do not store energy.
    • D. They turn sunlight into soil.

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Animals get energy directly from sunlight like plants.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    Why do the arrows in a food chain point from the food to the eater?

    • A. They show who is bigger.
    • B. They show the direction energy flows.
    • C. They show who is faster.
    • D. They point to the oldest animal.

  5. Question 5

    True or false? Plants are producers because they make food using light.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

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

    • A. True
    • B. False

  7. Question 7

    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

  8. Question 8

    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. B. False

  2. 2. A. They use it to make sugars from carbon dioxide and water.

  3. 3. B. False

  4. 4. B. They show the direction energy flows.

  5. 5. A. True

  6. 6. A. True

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

  8. 8. B. False