Science Lesson Summary and Reflection

Topic: Food Chains-Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers

For my science lesson, students explored the different aspects of a food chain. Students
furthered their understanding of how to classify a living organism based on where they obtain
their food source. Firstly, students learned that the energy contained in all food chains begins
with the sun. Additionally, students learned why plants are classified as producers because they
make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Moreover, students explored the
various levels of consumers based upon whether or not they consume another animal or
plant: omnivore (plant and animals), herbivore (plants only), and carnivore (animals only).
Some of the activities contained in the lesson include creating a food chain out of yarn. Each
student received a badge and assumed the role of being a producer, consumer, or decomposer.
Each chain began with the sun and proceeded to the next level of the food chain. Students also
had the opportunity to play a Kahoot! game related to the information learned throughout the
lesson. At the end, students were given an exit ticket style sheet to complete in order to assess
understanding.
Nonetheless, some of the difficulties that resulted during the lesson planning phase was
knowing where and how to get started. It felt a bit overwhelming when the teacher only gave me
a vague topic to complete a lesson on. I was unsure of how to make a lesson about food chains
more engaging to students than just the average video or article. I was very excited when I saw a
picture about how food webs and chains can be presented to students interactively. Usually, the
parts of an indirect lesson that give me the most trouble are the engage and explore elements.

However, once I am sure of how to possibly present information to students, I feel more
confident in what I am doing and the lesson starts to come together.
Throughout the duration of this particular lesson, students found out about the various
components of the food chain. Students learned how to classify living organisms based on
different factors such as if they produced their food within their own bodies through the process
of photosynthesis or relied on eating other organisms to obtain energy. Additionally, students
learned to categorize different consumers based on whether their energy came from an animal or
plant source. As such, Students furthered their understanding of omnivores, carnivores, and
herbivores. One of the surprises that occurred during the lesson happened at the beginning. After
showing students the video, Dont Flush the Tiger Forests I asked students if they knew the
term utilized to describe the cutting down of trees at alarming rates. A student then shouted out,
deforestation! Truthfully, I got excited to expand the lesson and was excited to know the
students familiarity with the meaning of the term. Another thing that surprised me was how
enthusiastic students were to participate in the yarn chain activity. This sense of excitement
demonstrated to me the importance of having students physically interact with the content and go
beyond the textbook.
Nonetheless, although educators can spend relentless hours perfecting their lesson--the
actual result can differ greatly. Teaching is one of the profession were a plan can change within
an instant. During my food chain yarn activity, I told students to stand near their seats. In my
method of thinking, I thought that having students move less would result in less confusion.
However, because the students were spread out in the classroom, it made it difficult to
successfully pass the yarn to the preceding level of the food change aka, another student. If I
was to reteach this lesson at any point of my teaching career, I would have student stand in a

circle where they can easily see all the different food chain badges and toss the yarn without
incident. This managerial error caused me to cut the activity short by a few minutes because I felt
that I was quickly losing engagement and control of the classroom.
In terms of technology, I think that my lesson had an appropriate balance of technological
tools. For instance, I had students watch a video about how humans affect the environment of
Tigers by using an unimaginable amount of paper. Moreover, the video helped students to realize
how deforestation and other man-made problems impact the balance of an ecosystem.
Additionally, I incorporated a PowerPoint in my lesson to help students understand the material.
Within the presentation, I included pictures of several producers, consumers, decomposers,
herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores. Lastly, instead of having students complete a worksheet
for guided practice, I had them play a ten question Kahoot! quiz. My cooperating teacher told me
how excited students get when playing a Kahoot! quiz. As such, I thought it would be
appropriate to have student interact with information through this medium.
The part that I remember most of this particular science lesson would be when we were
discussing Sumatra Island and the Sumatran Tiger. I think it was an effective decision to open up
with the issue of deforestation and relate it back to how it impacts the overall ecosystem.
Moreover, talking about an endangered animal helps students recognize the severity of losing a
vital food source and part of the food chain. As a learner, I realized the importance in practicing
the mechanics of an activity so it can run more smoothly. If I would have practiced the food
chain yarn activity better, it would have certainly been more effective. Nonetheless, the badges
which students wore during the yarn activity did help to an educational touch. Additionally, as a
learner, I have a better understanding in how students learn and the importance of incorporating
activities that cover all the kinds of learning styles. I tried my best to include all of the different

learning styles in my activities. As a teacher, I learned how to imperative it is to have a strong