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DISCUSS:

Which living things should you be able to find near you, next time you spot a squirrel?

Ask the questions:
1) What does it eat?
2) What is it eaten by?

Here's what we think...

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DISCUSS:

1) What animals might live in your neighborhood? Come up with 3 places where you could look.

2) Ask the food chain questions: "What does it eat?" and "What is it eaten by?" Does this lead you to think of any new animals to look for?

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Extend this lesson

Assessments

View all extensions

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Extensions

Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration you just completed.

Activity Extension: See Teacher Tips for a way to extend the Eat or Be Eaten game to include food webs.
Activity: Invite pill bugs into your classroom.
Activity: Combine art and science with a collage.

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#Activity: Pill Bugs!

Pill bugs (also known as roly polys) are a kid-friendly critter for classroom observation.

This video shows how simple setting up a pill bug habitat can be.

For more information on these critters, check out “The secret life of pillbugs” on The Infinite Spider, a science & nature blog.

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12 of 12

the movement of material through an ecosystem, such as through food chains and food webs

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Image & Video Credits

Mystery Science respects the intellectual property rights of the owners of visual assets. We make every effort to use images and videos under appropriate licenses from the owner or by reaching out to the owner to get explicit permission. If you are the owner of a visual and believe we are using it without permission, please contact us—we will reply promptly and make things right.

Exploration

Park Shanghai by Iakov Kalinin

iridescent pigeons by Denis Omelchenko

pigeons city landscape by Maglara

pigeons flying city by F. Alzheimers , used under CC BY

spooked pigeons by F. Alzheimers , used under CC BY

blue sky by Elliot Brown , used under CC BY-SA

red tailed hawk soaring by Ferris Akel

pigeons eating crumbs by Victoria Zinchenko

old man pigeons by Garry Knight , used under CC BY-SA

pigeon in hand by schankz

Pigeons in Tarnów by Aktron , used under CC BY-SA

hawk in motion by Phoo Chan

hawk in the city by Gavin Nevill

hawk perched/hunting by jeremy Seto , used under CC BY-SA

hawk cliffs by Jodie Wilson , used under CC BY-SA

hawk superimposed over skyscraper by TheBrockenInaGlory , used under CC BY-SA

skyscraper by Andreas Øverland , used under CC BY-SA

pigeon skyline by Zero One , used under CC BY-SA

hawk pouncing city by EarnestTse

pigeon walking by petrovichlili

light tan squirrel by DesignFife , used under Public Domain

squirrel by Eric Isselee

black cat by Ermolaev Alexander

nuts by Dionisvera

chain links by ClkerFreeVectorImages , used under Public Domain

red house by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , used under Public Domain

flipping over log by Hidden Villa's Science and Nature Video Series

city view of hill by Kevin Wong , used under CC BY-SA

caterpillar mini by Unsplash , used under Public Domain

lights-bugs by Leonid Eremeychuk

brick + butterfly by Leonora Enking , used under CC BY-SA

salamander by breki74 , used under CC BY-SA

salamander crawling by BrunoExplorations , used under CC BY

salamander crawling by PaddyDillon777 , used under CC BY

salamander by Vitalii Hulai

beetle by Henrik Larsson

caterpillar by Didier Descouens , used under CC BY-SA

log by ScarletKelley

nest of blue eggs by Unsplash , used under Public Domain

rabbit by PublicDomainPictures , used under Public Domain

arizona/desert house by jessicakirsh

cityscape by Yoshikazu TAKADA , used under CC BY-SA

countryside by MaxyM

suburbs by Lindasj22

Activity

pigeons by cybervelvet

crow sketch by MaKars

dead leaves by abramsdesign

fence lizard by Neil Lockhart

jumping spider by hin255

mouse sketch by chronicler

pigeon sketch by MaKars

spider by Potapov Alexander

cat sketch by onot

clover sketch by Val_Iva

cricket sketch by United States Department of Agriculture , used under Public Domain

lunch leftovers by Aleks Melnik

opossum by Apostrophe

snail sketch by onot

sparrow sketch by Teagan White

swallowtail butterfly sketch by Essentials

ant sketch by Tropinina Olga

daddy long legs sketch by Pearson Scott Foresman

flower garden sketch by Gulnara Khadeeva

gopher by Lenny712

hawk sketch by Kerris Paul, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , used under Public Domain

mole by Pearson Scott Foresman / papapishu , used under Public Domain

oak tree sketch by marijaka

beetle sketch by ClkerFreeVectorImages , used under Public Domain

cockroach sketch by evgdemidova

frog by frankes , used under Public Domain

parlsey plant by warszawianka

robin by palform

rotting log sketch by ClkerFreeVectorImages , used under Public Domain

salamander by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , used under Public Domain

caterpillar by Kirsanov Valeriy Vladimirovich

earthworm sketch by Morphart Creation

garter snake sketch by The Popular Science Monthly , used under Public Domain

grass sketch by onot

honeybee by panki

pillbug sketch by Eric Isselee

squirrel sketch by diana pryadieva

vegetable garden by dedMazay

Other

Unit: red-tailed hawk by Robert L Kothenbeutel

Credits

“I really liked how the kids had to listen to each other in the game to see if they drew a card that they would need. I saw students working together to figure out who ate who. Great collaboration and engagement!”

“Students liked the examples and images. They could relate to the topics and easily understand them. The also enjoyed the game and learning about different animals and their place in their food chains.”

“Students loved the game! The next day, they worked with a partner to create the longest food chain they could with the cards. Then they presented them to the class and peers could “challenge” their choices. So much great vocabulary and reasoning came out of this lesson!”

“Students loved making the food chains. They were asking great questions about what animals ate what and had good arguments. They were talking and providing justifications for why they were adding an animal to their food chain. I think they really did learn and took a lot away from this mystery. ”

“The video was really engaging. We discussed possums instead of squirrels as they are native to our local area (Sydney, Australia) which worked well. The 10-12 year olds I teach were thoroughly engaged in the game and it really cemented the concept of Food Chains to them. They have asked if we can play the game again.”

“The students loved the game. They were having so much fun while they were learning. Also, the video was very understandable for my students (SDC 4th-6th grade). We paused it and talked about it. Students started finding predator/prey situations on the playground, etc. It was a great lesson- thank you!”

“The students had wonderful discussions during the introduction and continued through the "Eat or be Eaten Game." It also raised questions about the biospheres in the anchor lesson and if the food chain items needed to be part of their list of twenty.”

“My students thoroughly enjoyed the Eat or Be Eaten game! They had fun while learning how organisms fit together in a food chain!!! They had the opportunity to play the game again the next day after finishing an assignment. They were just as engaged the second time around as they were the first!”

“I loved the card game-it can be used again and agin and gives a visual for the food chain. I love the reading integrated into the cards. I found it opened up discussion about the students own neighborhood or area and what wildlife they have seen and what they may be eating. The videos are ALWAYS so helpful in providing visual background knowledge for all students in an accessible format.”

“Watching the kids' understanding grow of what eats what and how to make the longest food chain. Also, reading and listening practice as they had to read the cards aloud and listen for what other students said. ”

“Students were engaged and wanted to continue playing to make longer and longer food chains. They actually read the information about each animal since it helped them get higher scores. The videos were short and engaging and explained the information well. I had no questions about how to play the game or about the information presented! Everyone listened.”

Eat or Be Eaten Cards printout Print on card stock if possible.	Print 8 copies
Eat or Be Eaten Score Card worksheet	30 copies
Eat or Be Eaten Teacher Tips worksheet	1 copy
Rules Of The Game worksheet	8 copies
Scissors	30 scissors

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Why would a hawk move to New York City?

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predator

prey

herbivore

carnivore

omnivore

consumer

producer

food chain

model

food web

matter

matter flow

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30 mins

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Open-and-go lessons that inspire kids to love science.

Sign up now for tons of free lessons like this one!

Why would a hawk move to New York City?

Vocabulary

Readings

Assessments

Below are ideas for extending this topic beyond the activity & exploration you just completed.

predator

prey

herbivore

carnivore

omnivore

consumer

producer

food chain

model

food web

matter

matter flow

Image & Video Credits

Featured Reviews

Activity Prep

15 mins

30 mins

Share this lesson

Student link

Google Classroom

Email parents

Extend this lesson

Vocabulary

Readings

Assessments

Activity

Mini-lessons

Transcripts

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