Lesson overview

In this lesson students will explore the interdependence of life on the reef and where different animals, plants and other organisms get their energy from through feeding and symbiosis. Students will learn about the different nature of primary production on the reef compared to terrestrial environments.

Learning outcomes

• Understand how different species get their energy through feeding
• Identify the range of primary producers in the ocean
• Explain how coral gets enough energy in nutrient poor waters
• Create a food web using species found on the coral reef
• Understand that different species are producers and consumers and note examples of symbiosis

Lesson steps

1. What consumers and producers live on the reef? (10 mins)
   Students watch videos which explore feeding patterns and discuss which species are carnivores, herbivores, producers and consumers.
   
2. What producers live on the reef? (5 mins)
   Students find out that most primary productivity in the ocean does not comes from plants and are introduced to plankton and its place in the food web.
   
3. Where does coral get its energy from? (15 mins)
   Students take part in an activity which demonstrates how coral sources it energy to build the reef.
   
4. How do species depend on each other on the reef? (20 mins)
   Students look at the food web on the reef and create their own food web.
   
5. How do living things on the reef depend on each other? (10mins)
   Students reflect on how different species are linked through the food web.

England

Biology Key Stage 3

• Interactions and interdependencies (Relationships in an ecosystem)
• The interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem, including food webs
• Material cycles and energy (Photosynthesis)
• Dependence of almost all life on Earth on the ability of photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, to use sunlight in photosynthesis to build organic molecules

USA

NGSS Grades 5-8 Science

• Life Sciences
  MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
  MS-LS1-5. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for how environmental and genetic factors influence the growth of organisms.
  MS-LS1-6. Construct a scientific explanation based on evidence for the role of photosynthesis in the cycling of matter and flow of energy into and out of organisms.
  MS-LS1-7. Develop a model to describe how food is rearranged through chemical reactions forming new molecules that support growth and/or release energy as this matter moves through an organism.
  MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
  MS-LS2-2. Construct an explanation that predicts patterns of interactions among organisms across multiple ecosystems.
  MS-LS2-3. Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and non-living parts of an ecosystem.
  MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
  MS-LS2-5. Evaluate competing design solutions for maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services.