Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 06 — Energy from Eating

Learners follow a food chain and explain that animals get energy from eating plants or other animals: the sun gives the grass its start, the rabbit gets energy from eating plants, and the fox gets energy from eating other animals. They build and draw a simple chain with arrows showing which way the energy moves.

D10 P4: Contextual & Ecological Awareness D10.S3 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

Where do animals get their energy, and what is one example?

energyeatplantanimalplant-eateranimal-eaterfood chain

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

A food chain of four parts with arrows showing the direction energy moves. The sun gives energy to grass, the grass is eaten by a rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by a fox. Each part is labeled: sun, plant (grass), plant-eater (rabbit), animal-eater (fox). The note says animals get energy from eating plants or other animals. Word labels carry the meaning so it prints in grayscale.
A food chain of four parts with arrows showing the direction energy moves. The sun gives energy to grass, the grass is eaten by a rabbit, and the rabbit is eaten by a fox. Each part is labeled: sun, plant (grass), plant-eater (rabbit), animal-eater (fox). The note says animals get energy from eating plants or other animals. Word labels carry the meaning so it prints in grayscale.

Lesson 6 — Energy from Eating

Summary

Learners discover that every living thing needs energy, and that animals get their energy from eating plants or other animals. They follow a simple food chain — the sun gives the grass its start, the rabbit gets energy from eating the grass, and the fox gets energy from eating the rabbit — and draw it with arrows showing which way the energy moves.

Objectives

  • Explain that animals get energy from eating plants or other animals, and give one example. (D10.S3.02.02)

Connection

Where does your energy come from? From the food you eat. Every animal is the same: a cow gets energy from eating grass; a rabbit gets energy from eating plants; a fox gets energy from eating other animals. All animals get energy from eating — plants, or animals that ate plants. That is the chain of energy that runs through every meadow, forest, and sea.

Materials

  • Food-chain picture cards (sun, grass, a rabbit, a fox)
  • Paper and crayons

Preparation

  • Prepare the food-chain cards: sun → grass → rabbit → fox, plus arrow cards showing the direction energy moves.
  • Prepare examples of plant-eaters (a cow, a rabbit, an elephant) and animal-eaters (a lion, an owl, a fox).
  • Set out paper and crayons.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). Keep it concrete and gentle: energy is what lets a body move, grow, and live, and eating is how animals take it in. The standard asks only that learners say animals get energy from eating plants or other animals and give one example — do not push toward the full detail of how plants make food (that comes in Grade 3). Use a food chain as a story of energy moving, not a scary story of eating: say “the fox gets energy from the rabbit,” not gory detail. Offer chains from many biomes — grass → rabbit → fox; sea plants → fish → shark; grass → zebra → lion — so no single place is the default. A light ethical thread: every living thing takes energy to live, and all of it belongs to one connected living world (this returns in Lessons 7–8 and the capstone). Honor every body: describe each card in words for a learner who is blind or has low vision; a non-speaking learner places the cards in order and points to the arrow to show the direction energy moves; acting out each part works for learners who learn best by moving.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). What gives you energy to run and play? (Food.) Every animal gets energy the same way — by eating.
  2. Meet the chain (10 min). Lay out the cards. The sun gives the grass its start. The rabbit eats the grass and gets energy from the plant. The fox eats the rabbit and gets energy from the animal. The arrows show which way the energy moves.
  3. Say where the energy comes from (10 min). Together, finish the sentences: “The rabbit gets energy from ___ (eating plants).” “The fox gets energy from ___ (eating other animals).” Point or act each one.
  4. Meet more eaters (8 min). Name a few more: a cow and an elephant are plant-eaters; a lion, an owl, and a shark are animal-eaters. Say where each gets energy.
  5. Draw a chain (10 min). Draw a food chain of your own — sun, a plant, a plant-eater, an animal-eater — with arrows showing which way the energy moves. Label each part.
  6. Close (2 min). Animals get energy from eating plants or other animals. Every meadow, forest, and sea is threaded with this chain of energy — all connected, all alive.

Differentiation

  • Support: Order the given chain (sun → grass → rabbit → fox) and say one sentence: “The rabbit gets energy from eating plants.”
  • Blind/low vision: Order the chain by feel (raised cards or named objects) and say each part and where its energy comes from.
  • Deaf/hard of hearing / non-speaking: Place the cards in order and sign or point to the arrow to show the direction energy moves; a partner says the sentence.
  • Motor differences: Direct a partner’s hands to lay out the chain and draw while the learner says or points to where each part gets energy.
  • Extension: Build a second chain of your own choosing and tell where its plant-eater and animal-eater each get energy.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner explain that animals get energy from eating plants or other animals, and give one example with the direction energy moves?
  • Artifact (portfolio): The drawn food chain with labeled parts and arrows.

Home connection

At home, name one food you ate today and trace it back: did it come from a plant, or from an animal that ate a plant? Tell a grown-up the chain of energy that ended on your plate.

Resources