All lessons › Food chains and decomposers › Lesson 1
Australian primary science · Year 4 · Lesson 1 of 3
Food web what-ifs
Inquiry question: What happens in a food web when one living thing changes?
Marked no materials needed
Using a model
What students learn
Producers make their own food. Consumers eat other living things. Decomposers break down dead things. In a food web, a change to one living thing can affect many others.
Success criteria
- I can name a producer, a consumer and a decomposer.
- I can read a food web arrow as “is eaten by”.
- I can predict what happens when one living thing changes.
Preparation and materials
Before this lesson: Students know that animals need food and that plants need sunlight and water.
- iPads with Bottlebrush Education open (nothing else needed) — 13 (one per pair)
- Projector or big screen — 1
Teacher setup
- Open Living things › Lab › Food web what-ifs on your screen to demonstrate.
- Check the iPads are charged.
Safety and adaptations
Follow school science and equipment risk assessment procedures for the materials used.
Review your school policies and curriculum requirements before teaching.
How to investigate
The lesson sequence should leave pupils with evidence to interpret, not only an activity to finish.
- Pairs open Food web what-ifs and find the producer, the consumers and the decomposers.
- Write two food chains from the web.
- For each what-if, predict before tapping, then read the feedback.
- Record each what-if, the prediction and what the web showed.
- Press Try new what-ifs for more, then play Creature clues.
Teacher modelling prompt
On the big screen, read one chain aloud: “Grass is eaten by grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are eaten by blue-tongue lizards. Blue-tongues are eaten by kookaburras.” Then think aloud through the first What if? card. For example, for the drought card: “A drought means less grass. I follow the arrow from grass to kangaroo: less food, so I predict fewer kangaroos.” Tap your prediction and read the feedback. (The cards come up in a random order.)
Record and explain evidence
Recording question: What happens in a food web when one living thing changes?
| What if… | Living thing in the question | My prediction (up, down or same) | What the web showed | Producer, consumer or decomposer? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ________________ | ________________ | ________________ | ________________ | ________________ |
Example recording headings; record actual observations, including inconclusive results.
Discussion prompt
Follow the arrows. Whose claim fits the web?
Check understanding
What should pupils know? What is the difference between a producer and a consumer?
Explain with evidence: In the chain Grass → Grasshopper → Blue-tongue lizard, what happens to the lizards if the grasshoppers die out? Why?
Apply the idea: Draw a food chain with three living things from an Australian habitat. Label the producer.
Teacher answer guidance and saved classroom work are available through the main lesson experience where supported.