Marine Food Chain

Today we constructed our own Marine Food Chain, and the students were eager to find out what animal would be at the top. We introduced four different levels: Primary Producers, Grazers, Piscivorous, and Top Predators. What began as a blank poster soon was filled with cut-outs from the marine creature templates we gave the students. As in the Ocean Regions lesson, when a student was finished with his or her creature, they came up to the poster to explain or deduce which level it belonged in and then placed it. The students were able to use process of elimination with a little guidance if they were unsure where their creature would be found in the Marine Food Chain. Students were excited to be reassured that creatures such as sharks and orcas belong in Top Predators, but ultimately they decided that humans were on top.