Unit Plan 12 (Grade 5 Science): Food Chains & Food Webs

Focus: Develop models to describe the movement of matter among plants (producers), animals (consumers), decomposers, and the environment (air, water, soil).

Grade Level: 5

Subject Area: Science (Life Science • Earth Systems Connections)

Total Unit Duration: 5 sessions (one week), 50–60 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students connect food chains and food webs to the idea that matter is recycled in ecosystems. They learn that plants make their own food from air and water, animals eat plants/other animals, and decomposers break down dead matter and wastes, returning materials to the environment. Using cards, diagrams, and whole-class webs made of string, students build models showing how matter (like nutrients) moves through living things and back into soil, air, and water. By the end of the week, they create and explain a Food Web Matter Model for a chosen ecosystem.

Essential Questions

• How do producers, consumers, and decomposers connect in food chains and food webs?
• How does matter move from plants to animals, then to decomposers, and back to the environment?
• Why are decomposers important for keeping matter cycling in an ecosystem?
• How can models (chains, webs, diagrams) help us see and explain the movement of matter in ecosystems?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Define and give examples of producers, consumers, and decomposers in a specific ecosystem.
2. Build and interpret food chain models (e.g., plant → herbivore → carnivore → decomposer) that show how matter moves from one organism to another.
3. Construct food web models using cards and arrows/string to represent multiple pathways for matter movement among organisms and the environment.
4. Explain, using words and diagrams, how decomposers break down dead organisms and wastes, returning materials (matter) to soil, air, and water.
5. Create and present a Food Web Matter Model Poster or mini-book that clearly traces matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment, aligned to 5-LS2-1.

Standards Alignment — 5th Grade (NGSS-Aligned)

• 5-LS2-1 — Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can name and give examples of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
• I can draw or build a model (food chain/web) with arrows showing how matter moves from plants to animals to decomposers and back to the environment.
• I can explain that matter is recycled and does not disappear—it moves between living things and soil, air, and water.
• I can present a Food Web Matter Model and explain how my arrows show the movement of matter in that ecosystem.