Implement this Lesson:
Use this lesson when discussing ecosystems, habitats, or other environmental TEKs. This lesson can be used as part of a larger local theme i.e. Oceans Week. The duration of this lesson can vary based on student and teacher needs.
Learning Objective:
The student will describe the flow of energy within a food web, including the roles of the Sun, producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)
Science TEKS
3.1(A): Ask questions about organisms, objects, and events in the environment.
3.10(A): Collect information from observations using simple equipment.
3.9(A): Explore how adaptations enable organisms to survive in their environment.
3.15(A): Organize information to create a visual display or map.
3.7(B): Communicate and justify a solution.
3.11(B): Identify and discuss how different forms of energy can be used.
3.14(A): Identify the importance of conservation.
3.8(A): Collect and record data.
4.11(A) Identify and explain advantages and disadvantages of using Earth’s renewable and nonrenewable natural resources such as wind, water, sunlight, plants, animals, coal, oil, and natural gas
4.11(B) explain the critical role of energy resources to modern life and how conservation, disposal, and recycling of natural resources impact the environment
4.11(C) determine the physical properties of rocks that allow Earth’s natural resources to be stored there
4.12(A) investigate and explain how most producers can make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide through the cycling of matter
4.12(B)* describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy through food webs, including the roles of the Sun, producers, consumers, and decomposers
4.12(C) identify and describe past environments based on fossil evidence, including common Texas fossils
4.13(A) explore and explain how structures and functions of plants such as waxy leaves and deep roots enable them to survive in their environment
4.13(B) differentiate between inherited and acquired physical traits of organisms
5.10(A) explain how the Sun and the ocean interact in the water cycle and affect weather
5.10(B) model and describe the processes that led to the formation of sedimentary rocks and fossil fuels
5.10(C) model and identify how changes to Earth’s surface by wind, water, or ice result in the formation of landforms, including deltas, canyons, and sand dunes
5.11(A) design and explain solutions such as conservation, recycling, or proper disposal to minimize environmental impact of the use of natural resources
5.12(A) observe and describe how a variety of organisms survive by interacting with biotic and abiotic factors in a healthy ecosystem
5.12(B) predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the cycling of matter and flow of energy in a food web
5.12(C) describe a healthy ecosystem and how human activities can be beneficial or harmful to an ecosystem
5.13(A) analyze the structures and functions of different species to identify how organisms survive in the same environment
5.13(B) explain how instinctual behavioral traits such as turtle hatchlings returning to the sea and learned behavioral traits such as orcas hunting in packs increase chances of survival
Ocean Food Chains in Texas Bays
Texas bays are like giant dinner tables for all kinds of animals! Every creature has a special role in the food chain, which shows “who eats what” in nature.
Step 1: Sunlight and Plants
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The food chain starts with the sun.
- Sunlight shines into the shallow bay waters.
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Sunlight helps seagrasses and plankton, marsh plants, and seagrass that grow in the shallow waters.
🦠 Step 2: Phytoplankton are the main producers
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Tiny plants called phytoplankton float in the water and use sunlight to make food.
- They are called producers because they make energy that other creatures can eat.
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Because they’re so tiny, one drop of water can hold thousands of phytoplankton.
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They form the base of the food chain, just like grass in a field feeds cows.
Step 3: Zooplankton
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Tiny animals called zooplankton eat the phytoplankton.
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Even though they are small, plankton are super important—they feed almost everything else in the bay!
- Zooplankton are tiny drifting animals. Some will forever be small, but other are baby animals. Baby shrimp, crab larvae, redfish, oysters and many, many others start out as microscopic zooplankton.
Step 4: Small Eaters (Primary Consumers)
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Shrimp, crabs, oysters, and small fish (like anchovies and mullet) eat plankton and plant bits.
Step 5: Bigger Predators (Secondary Consumers)
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Redfish, spotted seatrout, and flounder eat shrimp and smaller fish.
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Blue crabs can also catch fish if they get the chance.
Step 6: Top Predators
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Bottlenose dolphins, bull sharks, and ospreys (fish-hunting birds) are at the top of the food chain.
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They eat the big fish and help keep the bay ecosystem balanced.
Step 7: Decomposers
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When plants and animals die, tiny bacteria and fungi break them down.
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This releases nutrients back into the water, which helps plankton grow again.
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In our local bays blue crabs, shrimp, and other animals act as decomposers. Water bacteria and fungus are also huge consumers.
Possible Books:
- Who Eats What? by Patricia Leuber
- Whale Fall Cafe by Sewell, Jacquie, Tavis, Dan
- Plankton is Pushy by Jonathon Fenske
- Tiny Titans by Mary Cerullo
Materials:
- Microscopes
- plankton samples
- wet mount slides
- construction paper cut into strips
Lesson Plan:
Engage:
- Begin by discussing the importance of food chains and marine food chains
- Have a brief discussion about food chains and possibly complete a KML chart.
- Show images of plankton found in Texas to spark interest and curiosity
- If possible go on walk to wetlands
Explore:
- Students use microscopes to look at different types of plankton
Explain:
- Teacher explains that phytoplankton are the consumers are marine food chains. Zooplankton are the next step up in marine food chains.
- Can you this slide show to help illustrate the points
Elaborate:
- Create a construction paper food chain with plankton as consumers and zooplankton as the next step
Evaluate
- Observation Log: Provide a space for students to write or draw their observations about the food chains
- Discuss the connection between land and ocean food chains
- Students can research facts about marine food webs.