Students will be able to name some animals & plants that live in or use wetlands, discribe the interdependence of the organisms involved in a food web, place themselves in the food web & discover sources of their own food & relate the importance of natural resources & our ability to affect them
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Large ball of string or yarn, large file cards, students bring a list of every item eaten in a recent meal, drawing paper, markers.
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Make a list of plants and animals that live in or use wetlands. Classify as carnvores, herbivores, etc. On large cards, write the names of each plant & animal on the list. Tape all on the board & ask students to choose the name of any plant or animal he/she likes. Tape cards to front of student's shirts. Have the class stand in a circle. Select a plant to begin making a web. Give that student a ball of string & ask him to wrap the end once around his hand then pass the ball to something that eats the plant, connecting one that is consumed by the other. This student should then wrap the string around his hand & pass the string to either something that this animal eats or to its own food source. Continue in this manner to create a "living" wetland food web. Once the web has been completed, have the students shift around until the web is taut. Discuss with students that sometimes the role of a plant or animal in the web will change, or it may be removed from the wetland's food web altogether. What effect will this have on the web? Example: a stream is blocked by a huge pile of garbage dumped there. Part of the stream that usually flows through the wetlande dries up (fish). Have student decide which organism would be affected by the change & have the student wearing this sign tug on the string. Anyone who feels the tug should raise his free hand. Then have each of these students tug on the string and so on. After the game, ask student to describe ways in which the food web is affected by changes in its links. Draw a diagram of a food web in you community. |
