Week 5

 This week in lab we started with checking on our fast plants. Our plants had grown since the last week we checked on them and they seem to be progressing nicely. I am interested to see if flowers will begin to appear and how high the plants will get. Next, we did an inquiry to evaluate a lesson plan using the 5E model as a guide. This was a very useful activity to see a real lesson plan and measure the effectiveness of the lesson in terms of the 5E model. 

We also learned about ecology which is the study of the relationship between living organisms including humans and their physical environment. Ecology contains biomes, habitats and ecosystems. Within habitats food chains exist which describe who eats whom. In lab we did a jamboard activity to develop a food chain model for a particular habitat. My table made the food chain for a rain forest. 

I was able to connect this information to what I had already learned from my experiences of learning about food chains in elementary school. The general idea of a food chain is something that we learn early on, however, there were many other elements and details that I had either not learned or forgotten. The specific terms like producers, primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, to describe the different levels was one thing that I needed a refresher on. I also enjoyed learning about the energy that is actually retained. Most organism only retain about 10% of energy from the things they eat. Apex predators retain far less, around .1%, and therefore need to eat much more than everything else in the habitat. 

I would like to apply this activity of building food chains into my future teaching. I think it would help students have a better understanding of how the living things in a habitat interact with each other and attain their energy necessary to survive. It also allows for them to be creative as there are a number of different habitats they can choose and animals within those habitats. It could lead to them discovering something new.