All organisms, or living things, have quite similar characteristics. Students will discover that organisms have to breathe, eat, move, grow, and reproduce in order to survive. Third grade ecologists will learn that a community includes populations of living things that interact with one another. Students will learn that an ecosystem includes communities of living and nonliving things that are adapted to live in a specific environment. Our ecologists will then learn the delicate balance that takes place in food chains and food webs, and learn that consumers rely on producers and other consumers for food energy.
What You Can Do at Home
Activities
You and your child can take a walk in your backyard or nearby park. Make a list of all the plants and animals that you see. Transfer that list onto index cards by placing the name of each plant and animal on its own index card. Attach a string to each index card. On each card, write the name of the animal on one side and on the other side ask your child to identify if the animal is a herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or decomposer. Ask your child to create food chains or a food web by connecting the index cards and hanging them up to make a mobile.
Websites
EcoKids- Create a food chain using this interactive site.
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/play_chainreaction.cfm
Kids Corner - Food Chain
This site will introduce all the many important parts of a food chain/web including producers, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers. Try out all the different links about food chains/webs.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain.htm
Scholastic Studyjams: Food Chains - Learn how food chains are made of producers, consumers, and decomposers.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-chains.htm
Scholatics Studyjams: Food Webs - This video explains how animals and plants depend on each other in a community.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-webs.htm
Suggested Reading
Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. Learn about how Alice's family plants and garden and all the animals that come to eat there.
Forest Food Webs (Early Bird Food Webs) by Paul Fleisher. Learn about the forest environment and the food chains that exist in the forest.
For a list of science nonfiction books, please click on the link titled Favorite Links and Books to Read. Click on the sublink Grades 3-5 Science Nonfiction Books, where you will find a detailed list of books related to many different topics in science.
What You Can Do at Home
Activities
You and your child can take a walk in your backyard or nearby park. Make a list of all the plants and animals that you see. Transfer that list onto index cards by placing the name of each plant and animal on its own index card. Attach a string to each index card. On each card, write the name of the animal on one side and on the other side ask your child to identify if the animal is a herbivore, carnivore, omnivore, or decomposer. Ask your child to create food chains or a food web by connecting the index cards and hanging them up to make a mobile.
Websites
EcoKids- Create a food chain using this interactive site.
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/play_chainreaction.cfm
Kids Corner - Food Chain
This site will introduce all the many important parts of a food chain/web including producers, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers. Try out all the different links about food chains/webs.
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain.htm
Scholastic Studyjams: Food Chains - Learn how food chains are made of producers, consumers, and decomposers.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-chains.htm
Scholatics Studyjams: Food Webs - This video explains how animals and plants depend on each other in a community.
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-webs.htm
Suggested Reading
Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. Learn about how Alice's family plants and garden and all the animals that come to eat there.
Forest Food Webs (Early Bird Food Webs) by Paul Fleisher. Learn about the forest environment and the food chains that exist in the forest.
For a list of science nonfiction books, please click on the link titled Favorite Links and Books to Read. Click on the sublink Grades 3-5 Science Nonfiction Books, where you will find a detailed list of books related to many different topics in science.