Objectives (5 minutes)

1. Understanding Food Chains: Making the students understand the concept of food chains, which are sequences showing the transfer of energy from one organism to another through food.

2. Identifying Components of a Food Chain: Enabling students to identify the components of a food chain, including producers, consumers, and decomposers.

3. Appreciation for the Importance of Food Chains: Encouraging students to appreciate the importance of food chains for the balance of ecosystems, emphasizing the concept of interdependence among living organisms.

Secondary objectives:

• Stimulating Critical Thinking: Fostering critical thinking among students by encouraging them to ask questions and reflect upon the presented content.

• Development of Oral Expression: Providing opportunities for students to express their ideas and understanding orally, contributing to the development of their communication skills.

Introduction (10 - 15 minutes)

1. Review of previous content: The teacher starts the class by reminding students about the concepts of living beings, plants, and animals and how they obtain the resources required to survive, such as sunlight, water, and food. This review is important to establish the foundation for understanding food chains. (3 - 5 minutes)

2. Problem-posing situations:

   • The teacher can present a situation in which a certain animal species has disappeared from a region and ask the students what they think could happen to the other animals and plants that live in that area. This can lead to a discussion about the interdependence of living beings and the importance of food chains for the balance of ecosystems. (3 - 5 minutes)
   • Another situation that can be proposed is as follows: what would happen if there were no more plants on Earth? Lead students to think about the importance of producers in the food chain. This activity can help to illustrate the concept of a food chain in a practical and applied way. (3 - 5 minutes)

3. Contextualization:

   • The teacher can contextualize the importance of studying food chains, explaining that understanding how different organisms relate in nature can help us make more conscious decisions about habitat conservation and the protection of biodiversity. (2 - 3 minutes)
   • Another way of contextualizing is talking about how human beings are also part of food chains. For example, human beings are primary consumers when they eat plants and secondary consumers when they eat animals that feed on plants. This can help students understand that all the creatures on Earth are interconnected in some way. (2 - 3 minutes)

4. Introduction to the topic:

   • The teacher can start introducing the topic of food chains, explaining that they are like "food lines" that show who eats whom in nature. This can be illustrated with simple examples, like "Grass is eaten by the rabbit, which is eaten by the fox."(2 - 3 minutes)
   • To pique students' interest, the teacher can share trivia about food chains, such as the fact that a single food chain can have many more organisms than just three, and that decomposers, like fungi and bacteria, are an important part of many food chains since they help break down dead matter and return it to the environment. (2 - 3 minutes)

Development (20 - 25 minutes)

1. Presentation of the Theory: Food Chains (10 - 15 minutes)

   • Recalling Concepts: The teacher starts a more in-depth explanation about food chains by reminding students that all living beings need energy to live and that this energy is obtained through food.

   • Definition of Food Chain: The teacher then defines the concept of a food chain as a sequence of living beings in which one serves as food for another.

   • Components of Food Chains: The teacher explains that food chains are composed of three types of organisms: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

   1. Producers: The teacher explains that producers are the organisms that produce their own food through photosynthesis. He uses examples of plants, algae, and some bacteria to illustrate this point.

   2. Consumers: The teacher then explains that consumers are the organisms that feed on other living beings. From this definition, the teacher divides consumers into three categories:

      • Primary Consumers: They are those that feed directly on the producers. Example: rabbits, cows, etc.

      • Secondary Consumers: They are those that feed on the primary consumers. Example: wolves, cats, etc.

      • Tertiary Consumers: They are those that feed on the secondary consumers. Example: eagles, snakes, etc.

   3. Decomposers: The teacher explains that decomposers are the organisms that feed on dead matter and help decompose the remains of living beings, returning nutrients to the soil or water. Examples: fungi, bacteria, etc.

   • Tracing Food Chains: Finally, the teacher shows how these three types of organisms can be connected in a food chain, with producers at the beginning, followed by consumers and eventually decomposers that recycle dead matter.

2. Practical Activities: Food Chains in Daily Life (5 - 10 minutes)

   • Creation of Food Chains: The teacher then proposes that the students create their own food chains, using drawings or magazine clippings of different animals and plants and organizing them in a sequence that shows who serves as food for whom.

   • Food Chain Game: The teacher can also propose a food chain game, where students should position themselves in a line, representing a food chain. The first student can be a producer (plant), the second a primary consumer (rabbit), the third a secondary consumer (wolf), and so on. This activity can help to visualize the idea of energy transfer among organisms.

3. Guided Discussion: Reflection on the Activities (5 minutes)

   • Reflection on Activities: The teacher concludes the development session with a guided discussion, asking students to share their food chain creations and explain why they chose certain organisms for each position in the chain. The teacher can also ask the students what they found most challenging about the activity and what they learned new about food chains.

   • Connection to the Theory: The teacher can then draw a connection between the practical activities and the theory presented, reinforcing the idea that food chains are a visual representation of how energy flows between living beings in an ecosystem.

#Feedback (10 - 15 minutes)

1. Group Discussion: (5 - 7 minutes)

   • The teacher should promote a group discussion, where each team presents its created food chain, explaining their choices and the logic behind them. This can be an opportunity for students to learn from others and discover different ways to visualize food chains.

   • During the presentation, the teacher should ask questions to stimulate students' thinking, such as "Why did you put the lion as a secondary consumer and not as a primary consumer?" or "What would happen if we removed the rabbit from the food chain?". These questions should help students think about the interactions and dependencies among the different organisms in a food chain.

2. Connection to the Theory: (3 - 5 minutes)

   • After the presentations, the teacher should resume the key concepts of the class, reinforcing the definition of a food chain, the three types of organisms that compose it (producers, consumers, and decomposers), and the importance of energy in the transfer from one organism to another.

   • The teacher should draw a connection between the practical activities and the theory, explaining how the food chain creations by the students illustrate the concepts learned.

3. Final Reflection: (2 - 3 minutes)

   • To conclude the class, the teacher should ask the students to reflect for a minute on what they have learned. This reflection time can be done in silence, with students thinking about the activities of the class and what they discovered.

   • After this minute of reflection, the teacher can ask some students to share their reflections. This can help the teacher evaluate the effectiveness of the class and identify which concepts need to be reinforced in the next classes.

4. Feedback: (1 - 2 minutes)

   • The teacher should end the class by expressing his feedback on the students' performance, highlighting the positive aspects, such as active participation, creativity in the creation of the food chains, and the understanding demonstrated during the discussion.

   • In addition, the teacher should mention the points that need to be improved, encouraging the students to continue studying and engaging with the topic of food chains.

This feedback is important to consolidate students' learning, allowing them to reflect on what they learned and how they can apply this knowledge in the future. Furthermore, the group discussion and the teacher's feedback help create a positive and encouraging learning environment.

Conclusion (5 - 7 minutes)

1. Summary of the Class: (2 - 3 minutes)

   • The teacher should start the conclusion by summarizing the main points addressed in the class, reinforcing the definition of food chains, the three types of organisms that compose them (producers, consumers, and decomposers), and the importance of energy in the transfer from one organism to another.

   • The teacher should review the activities carried out, highlighting the most important conclusions reached by the students in their food chain creations and in the food chain game.

2. Connection between Theory, Practice, and Applications: (1 - 2 minutes)

   • The teacher should explain again how the theory presented in the class was applied in the practical activities, demonstrating how the food chain creations by the students illustrate the concepts learned.

   • In addition, the teacher can mention some practical applications of food chains, such as the importance of understanding these interactions in the conservation of ecosystems and in food production.

3. Extra Materials: (1 - 2 minutes)

   • The teacher should suggest some extra materials for students who wish to learn more about the subject. This could include books, documentaries, online educational games, and reliable websites with information on ecology and food chains.

   • Some examples of materials could be:

     • Book: "The Food Chain" by Paul Fleisher.
     • Documentary: "The Food Chain" from the National Geographic series "Earth from Space".
     • Online game: "Ecokids Food Chain" available at www.ecokids.ca.

4. Importance of the Subject: (1 minute)

   • Finally, the teacher should reinforce the importance of studying food chains, explaining that understanding how different organisms relate in nature is fundamental to the comprehension of ecosystems and to the conservation of biodiversity.

   • In addition, the teacher should highlight that food chains are not only a theoretical concept but a practical tool that can be used to understand and solve real-world problems, such as the consequences of climate change and habitat loss.

This conclusion is an opportunity to reinforce the students' learning, encourage them to continue exploring the subject on their own, and show the relevance of what was learned for their lives and for the world around them. Furthermore, by providing extra materials, the teacher is empowering students to continue learning and delving into the subject outside the classroom.