Now that students are excited to learn about food chains and know what they are going to learn about, it is a perfect time to introduce some vocabulary words. Pulling sticks also positively influences classroom culture because it sets the expectation that every student adds value to the classroom discussion. This also benefits the teacher, who now is gathering formative assessment data on a broader selection of students. This random selection of students to respond raises accountability (everyone must be prepared to respond, so all are expected to do the thinking requested in the question) while ensuring that a small number of hand-raisers do not dominate classroom discussion.

I like to have students Think-Pair-Share after I've asked the question, but then I pull a name stick to select someone to respond. During the presentation, stop and check for understanding by asking the questions on the slides. To do this, I do a quick mini-lesson using the Background Information: Food Chains presentation.

The purpose of this section is to get all students to the same point of understanding on the underlying ideas of energy diagrams.ġ) The arrow goes the way the energy flows.Ģ) Energy diagrams show the flow of energy AND matter in an ecosystem.

Food chains diagrams