Food Chains vs. Food Webs

Through all my teachings in 4th grade science, one concept for the students year after year is a difficult one to grasp. I find students when learning about food chains and food webs have a much easier time understanding what a food chain is. They are able to articulate that concept with great ease. And each year when we move on to food webs, most students, want to explain a food web as a bunch of food chains. While I get what they are trying to explain, there are some holes in that explanation.

This year with a 4th grade class we used a Science A-Z book called Food Chains and Food Webs. The students were broken into small groups and assigned one chapter from the book to read. They either read Food Chains or Food Webs on that first day. After they completed reading their assigned chapter students had a task to complete using the graphic organizer below. The focus of the chapter on food chains was how energy is passed from one living organism to the next. The food web chapter focused more on how complex a food web is and how it shows the relationship between organisms.

Food Chain/Food Web Graphic Organizer

After each group completed their graphic organizer, each group was to make a quick video explaining what either a food chain or food web was, as well as provide an example of each.

The next day with the students, they were given the chance to switch roles. The groups that read about food chains, now read about food webs and vice versa. After they read we provided an opportunity for some discussion to take place in their group to help clear up some misconceptions.

The final steps of our plan combined some groups and allowed for more guided discussion to help further clear up some still lingering misconceptions. These conversations were facilitated by myself and the classroom teacher. Once we felt confident the students then had to make one last video explaining the difference between a food chain and food web. Students again used PicPlayPost to complete their final product.