Activity 3: Learning Strategies for Students with Limited English Proficiency

1. Point out new vocabulary in context. Practice using the words as much as possible.

2. In Step 1 students are asked to read through the steps of the activity and
predict what will happen. Ask the students to diagram what they will be
doing in Steps 2 to 6 as they read through the activity.

3. Presenting scientific data in graphical form is an important science skill.
Look through the assessment rubric for graphs provided in the Teacher’s Edition at the end of this activity. Make sure that students understand what is meant by each rubric element. It is helpful for students to review each step separately, because some students may be learning the vocabulary of graphing, while others may be learning the content. Provide students with examples of graphs with missing information (such as titles or units on axes) or that have been incorrectly graphed (a typical student error is to place uneven intervals along an axis).

4. You may wish to dramatize the loss of energy at each level of a food chain.
You will need to do this outdoors. Choose five students to represent five trophic levels. Provide each student with a large Styrofoam® cup. Use a pencil to poke holes in four of the cups. Ask the first student to stand beside a bucket full of water. The next three students should stand about 5 m apart from each other. The fifth student holds the cup without a hole and stands 5 m away from the fourth student. The first student begins by filling the Styrofoam cup with water, carrying it 5 m to the second student and then dumping the water into the second student’s cup. The second student carries his cup 5 m to the third student and dumps the water into her cup. The third student carries her cup to the fourth student and dumps it into his cup. Finally, the fourth student carries his cup the 5 m to the fifth student and dumps it into the cup without a hole. Have the students compare the amount of water contained in the last cup to the amount in a full cup. You can also equate the bucket of water to the Sun, since only a small part of the available sunlight enters the food chain.

If time permits, you can compare the amount of energy loss with fewer trophic levels.