Second level 2-02a Self-led activities
1. Have a short mini-beast hunt in a suitable area then give each child an animal or plant card. The children have to act like their animal or plant and join together in groups to form that simple food chain without talking to each other. For example, a plant, slug, bird and cat should be in a group of four by the end of the game. Time: 30mins.
2. Play the food chain frenzy game. The purpose of this game is to consolidate ideas about food chains and to collect data about population numbers. Please note the following instructions may appear complex but do persevere because this activity is straightforward and very effective in communicating quite sophisticated ideas to a young audience. 1. Divide the pupils into three equally sized groups: grass, rabbits and foxes. 2. ‘Grass’ has to remain stationary and is identified by pupils wearing a ‘blade’ tucked into their waistbands. Blades are made from strips of material or sports sashes. ‘Grass’ can be eaten by ‘rabbits’ who steal their ‘blades’. 3. The ‘rabbits’ wear ‘tails’ tucked into their waistbands. ‘Tails’ are made from strips of material or sports sashes of a different colour. During the game ‘rabbits’ should move around and try to eat as much as possible by going to the ‘grass’ and stealing their ‘blades’. ‘Rabbits’ can be eaten by ‘foxes’ who steal their ‘tails’. 4. ‘Foxes’ are not given a sash to wear and must chase as many ‘rabbits’ as possible and eat them by stealing their ‘tails’. 5. Begin and end the game by blowing a whistle. 6. After the first round the role that pupils assume alters as shown in the table below.
If you have been eaten you become
Grass Rabbit Fox
Rabbit Fox
No change
If you have not been predated upon and have eaten a meal
No change Rabbit Fox
If you have not been predated upon and
have not eaten any prey Grass
Grass Grass
7. Record the new number of each type of organism (grass, rabbit and fox) on a record sheet. 8. Several short rounds of this game should be played and the new numbers of organisms recorded after each. 9. The population numbers for each organism can then be plotted on line graphs and compared. What patterns can you see? Discuss. Time: 20mins.
3. Build mini-beast homes by piling together twigs and dead leaves into bundles. Tie these together with garden string. These can either be hung from trees or hidden under bushes. Time: 20mins.
www.lowcarbon.co.uk/education/mini-beast-homes
Equipment: • Bug pots, trays, magnifying glasses and bug ID sheets. • Food chain animal or plant cards. • Garden string and scissors. • Whistle. • Strips of material or sashes for food chain frenzy game (10 of each colour).
www.damstodarnley.org
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