Module 6: Earth's Spheres & Food Chains-Science 5A - Course Guide

Module Overview:

In this module, students will learn about the four “spheres” of Earth, water on planet Earth, the flow of energy, food chains, and ecosystems.

Module Materials:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Material(s)
1	Living on Planet Earth	pen or pencil;
2	Water on Planet Earth	plate ice pot with lid water stovetop oven mitt pen or pencil
3	Introduction to Ecosystems	pen or pencil;
4	Living and Nonliving Parts of Ecosystems	pen or pencil;
5	The Sun’s Role in Ecosystems	pen or pencil;
6	Consumers	pen or pencil;
7	Food Chains and Food Webs	pen or pencil;
8	Phytoplankton	pen or pencil;
9	Extreme Organisms	pen or pencil;

Module Objectives:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Objective(s)
1	Living on Planet Earth	Differentiate between Earth’s spheres.
2	Water on Planet Earth	Identify the steps of the water cycle. Describe why water is essential for life. Differentiate between various bodies of water.
3	Introduction to Ecosystems	Differentiate between ecosystems, populations, communities, and organisms. Define producers, consumers, and decomposers. Recognize that fossils can be used as evidence to learn what life and the environment were like on Earth long ago.
4	Living and Nonliving Parts of Ecosystems	Differentiate between biotic and abiotic factors. Identify the importance of the presence of all biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem. Define photosynthesis.
5	The Sun’s Role in Ecosystems	Describe the flow of energy from the Sun to all living things.
6	Consumers	Identify consumers and differentiate between the subcategories of consumers. Describe the flow of energy from producers to consumers in an ecosystem.
7	Food Chains and Food Webs	Differentiate between food chains and food webs. Describe the energy flow through food chains and webs.
8	Phytoplankton	Identify what phytoplankton is and its role in a marine ecosystem. Describe a marine food chain / web.
9	Extreme Organisms	Identify extreme organisms. Define the adaptations of extreme organisms.

Module Key Words:

Key Words
hydrosphere biosphere atmosphere geosphere greenhouse effect water cycle water vapor estuary population community producers consumers decomposers fossils ecosystem biotic abiotic photosynthesis chlorophyll predator prey autotroph heterotroph herbivore omnivore carnivore food chains food webs biomass phytoplankton zooplankton marine snow thermocline niche thermophile

Module Assignments:

Lesson #	Lesson Title	Page #	Assignment Title
2	Water on Planet Earth	10	Assignment
5	The Sun’s Role in Ecosystems	5	Assignment
9	Extreme Organisms	6	Assignment

Learning Coach Notes:

None

Module Guiding Questions:

When a student starts a lesson ask them questions to check for prior knowledge and understanding and to review concepts being taught. At the end of the lesson ask the questions again to see if their answer changes.

Lesson Title	Question
Living on Planet Earth	What do you know about Earth’s interconnected dynamic systems?
Water on Planet Earth	What is the Water Cycle?
Introduction to Ecosystems	What is an ecosystem?
Living and Nonliving Parts of Ecosystems	What are biotic and abiotic factors in an ecosystem?
The Sun’s Role in Ecosystems	Where does all energy come from?
Consumers	What is a consumer?
Food Chains and Food Webs	How are populations within an ecosystem related?
Phytoplankton	What is phytoplankton?
Extreme Organisms	What are extreme organisms?

Module Video Questions:

When a student watches a video take time to ask them questions about what they watched. Suggested questions for the videos in this module are listed here. Suggestion: Have the student watch the entire video first all the way through. Then have them watch the video a second time, as they watch it pause the video and ask the questions.

Lesson Title	Video	Question
Living on Planet Earth	Earth's Spheres	What is the geosphere? What is the hydrosphere? What is the atmosphere? What is the biosphere?
Water on Planet Earth	Water on Planet Earth	What is the source of energy that triggers the water cycle? What are the steps in the water cycle?
Introduction to Ecosystems	Introduction to Ecosystems	What is an ecosystem? What is an organism? What is a population? What is a community?
Living and Nonliving Parts of Ecosystems	Living and Nonliving Parts of Ecosystems	What is an ecosystem? What are examples of living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem? What are biotic factors? What are abiotic factors?
The Sun’s Role in Ecosystems	Sun's Flow of Energy	Where does all of the energy come from? Why are leaves green? What is chlorophyll? What is photosynthesis? What are producers? What are consumers?
Consumers	Consumers	What is a consumer? What is an herbivore? What is a carnivore? What is an omnivore?
Food Chains and Food Webs	Food Chains and Food Webs	What is a food chain? What is a food web? What provides energy for all living things?
Phytoplankton	Phytoplankton	What is phytoplankton? Why is phytoplankton important?
Extreme Organisms	Extreme Organisms	What is a niche?

Module Suggested Read Aloud Books:

Take time to read to your student or have them read aloud to you. Read a different book each day. While reading the book point out concepts being taught. You may purchase these books or find them at your local library. Suggested things to discuss while reading the book:

What is the main idea?
What are three things new you learned?
How does this book relate to what you are learning about?

#	Book	Author	Lexile Level
1	Earth's Geosphere	Jenna Tolli
2	Earth's Hydrosphere	Amy Hayes
3	Earth's Biosphere	Charles Hofer
4	Earth's Atmosphere	Melissa Raé Shofner
5	Exploring Ecosystems with Max Axiom, Super Scientist	Agnieszka Jòzefina Biskup
6	How Ecosystems Work	Julie Lundgren	900L
7	What If There Were No Bees?: A Book About the Grassland Ecosystem	Suzanne Buckingham Slade	890L
8	The World of Food Chains with Max Axiom, Super Scientist	Liam O'Donnell
9	Who Eats What?: Food Chains and Food Webs	Patricia Lauber
10	What Are Food Chains and Webs?	Bobbie Kalman	NC940L

Module Outing:

Take some time to apply what your student is learning to the real world. Suggested outings are below.

#	Outing
1	Take your student to a local recycling center to see how it works and discuss how recycling helps with the environment.