Seaweed in the food chain (US)

In this lesson, students will be immersed in, and connect with, the documentary film 2040, focusing on the topic of food chains and food webs. Students begin by completing a Flipped Classroom preparation activity to introduce the topics of food chains and food webs. Students then explore how seaweed farming could improve marine food webs as well as benefit human populations. Finally, students are asked to think about what other actions humans can take to improve marine food webs and to communicate their ideas through a poster or infographic.

Subject:

Science

Levels:

Years 9-10

Film:

2040

Topic:

Time required:

1hr 30mins

Country:

United States

Lesson plans include:

Other , Fact sheet , Worksheet , Activity

Overview

In this lesson, students will be immersed in, and connect with, the documentary film 2040, focusing on the topic of food chains and food webs. Students begin by completing a Flipped Classroom preparation activity to introduce the topics of food chains and food webs. Back in the classroom, students are asked to share what they learned about food chains and webs before exploring energy flow and trophic levels in a marine food web. They then participate in an activity to demonstrate how food webs can collapse when organisms within the food web experience a decline in numbers.

Students then explore how seaweed farming could improve marine food webs as well as benefit human populations. Finally, students are asked to think about what other actions humans can take to improve marine food webs and to communicate their ideas through a poster or infographic.

Teacher Involvement:

Medium – oversee activities and facilitate class discussions.

Learning intentions:

Students will understand what a food chain is and what a food web is.
Students will understand how marine food webs are vulnerable to human activities.
Students will understand actions that humans can take to improve marine food webs and habitats.

Credits and acknowledgements:

Cool.org prepared the 2040 Curriculum Guide. Together Films adapted these lessons for US educators and will do an annual review of these resources to ensure they are still in line with the US Curriculum.

US Educator Note: Australian educational standards have been adapted and aligned by discipline, and when possible, to US standards.

Cool Australia, GoodThing Productions and Regen Studios would like to acknowledge the generous contributions of Good Pitch Australia, Shark Island Institute, Documentary Australia Foundation, The Caledonia Foundation, Global Health Film and our philanthropic partners in the development of these teaching resources.

Watching the film

Watch the full film with your class by filling in this form. If you have any questions, please contact the Together Films team at 2040@togetherfilms.org

The Schools Version of 2040 includes an educational licence and is for US elementary and secondary schools that wish to utilise the film as a learning tool or host on-site screenings for the school community.