Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin and I'm so excited to be learning all about comparing different food chains with you, let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit "More about food chains." Your learning outcome is I can create my own food chains and use scientific language to compare them with others.

Now, I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging, but that's okay because it just means that we are going to work really hard together and we're going to learn lots of fabulous new things, let's begin.

So here are your keywords for today along with the definition for those keywords.

Now I am going to be referring to all of these keywords throughout today's lesson and their definitions.

However, if you find it helpful, you can pause the video here and you can jot these down.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

Now our lesson today has been split into two parts.

Let's begin with the first part, "Comparing food chains." So Jun and Sam are creating their own food chains, and Jun says, "Remember, a food chain begins with a plant.

This is called the producer in the food chain." And Sam says, "Yes, the animals are the consumers in the food chain.

These include predators and prey." I want you to explain to a partner what predators and prey are.

I'll give you some time now to do that.

If you need to, you can pause video here.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So before I tell you the definition for predator and prey, I just want you just to think which animals are prey in this food chain that Sam has created.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So the slug is the prey of the lizard, and the lizard is the prey of the peregrine falcon.

That's because the lizard hunts the slug and eats the slug, and the peregrine falcon hunts the lizard and eats the lizard.

So that's why the slug and the lizard are prey, because they are being eaten, hunted and eaten by another animal.

Now, which animals are predators in this food chain that Jun has created? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So the frog is a predator of the snail because it hunts the snail and then eats it.

And the tawny owl is the predator of the frog because the tawny owl is hunting and then eating the frog.

So which of these are included in a food chain? Is it A, producer; B, predator; C, prediction; or D, prey? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answers are A, B, and D, producer, predator, and prey.

Now Jun and Sam compare their food chains.

So let's firstly look for what is similar about them.

So we've got a dandelion plant and a slug, and a dandelion plant and a snail.

And Jun says, "The producer in both food chains is the dandelion plant.

So the consumers of the dandelion plant are both invertebrate animals." So these are animals without a backbone and they actually don't have any bones at all.

Now, Sam says, "Both of our food chains have three consumers.

The final predator in both food chains is a bird." Now have you noticed any other similarities? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So Jun continues to compare the two food chains.

So what is different about these two food chains? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So, "The first predator in our food chain are from different animals.

The lizard is a reptile and the frog is an amphibian." Have you noticed any other differences? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

So you might have also said that the snail has a shell on it while the slug doesn't.

Also, the lizard has a tail and the frog doesn't.

So there are other differences as well.

Now, true or false, food chains can be compared by looking only at what is similar.

Is that true or false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done, the answer is false.

Now let's see if you can justify your answer.

Is that because, A, food chains can be compared by looking only at what is different; or B, food chains can be compared by looking at what is similar and what is different? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So it's B, food chains can be compared by looking at what is similar and what is different.

So we are going to compare these two food chains and explain what is similar and what is different about them.

So I want you to try to include the words producer, consumer, predator, and prey.

So here you have got your two food chains.

You're going to compare these food chains and explain what's similar or different about them.

Just remember to include those keywords there as well.

So I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So the food chains are similar because they both include a fox as a predator.

Also, the predators in both food chains are all mammals.

The food chains are different because they start with different producers.

One has three consumers and the other has two consumers.

The first food chain includes an invertebrate as prey, the second food chain has only vertebrate animals as prey.

Remember, your invertebrate are those animals without a backbone and don't have any bones, and your vertebrate animals do have a backbone and they do have bones.

So now we are on to the second part of our learning today, "Same animal, different food chain." So Jun and Sam continue to compare their food chains.

Jun says, "Both of our food chains start with the same producer.

Do all food chains start with dandelion plants?" And Sam says, "Well, many animals depend on dandelion plants as food.

However, not all animals.

Animals that eat dandelion plants often eat other plants too." Which other plants can be found for slugs and snails? What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So Jun and Sam changed the dandelion plant for different producers in their food chain, so they've gone for an apple tree and lettuce.

They could have had other things such as spinach as well.

Those are, again, foods that slugs and snails might eat too.

So here we've got the apple tree, which is food for the slug.

The slug is food for the lizard, and the lizard is food for the peregrine falcon.

The lettuce is food for the snail, the snail is food for the frog, and the frog is food for the tawny owl.

And Jun says, "I know that a plant can be included in different food chains.

Can an animal be a part of different food chains too?" What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So Sam says, "Yes, a particular plant or animal can be part of many different food chains." Now who do you agree with? Jun says, "Each plant or animal can only be part of one food chain." And Sam says, "A plant or animal can be part of many different food chains." Who do you agree with? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done, Sam is correct.

A plant or animal can be part of many different food chains.

So Sam and Jun's favourite animal is a sloth, and a sloth can be part of many different food chains.

And Sam says, "We know that a sloth is a herbivore, but we don't know which plants are food for a sloth." How could Sam and Jun find out this information? What could they use? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So the children could carry out some research to help them identify a producer for their food chains.

Jun says, "We could visit a zoo to observe what sloths eat.

This would be a primary source of information." Sam says, "We don't live near to a zoo, so we could use secondary sources of information to carry out our own research." Now, which secondary sources could they use? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So Sam and Jun use a zoo's website as a secondary source to find out which plants are food for a sloth.

So they search, "Which plants does a sloth eat?" And the answer says, "Sloths mostly eat leaves from trees such as mangrove trees.

They also eat twigs, buds, fruit, and seeds, including cacao pods from cacao trees." Sam says, "I will choose a mangrove tree for the producer in my food chain." And Jun says, "I will choose a cacao plant for the producer in my food chain." To complete their food chain, Sam and Jun need to research which animals are predators of a sloth.

And their teacher arranges a video call with a zoologist.

Now a zoologist is a scientist who studies animals.

And here is a zoologist studying a sloth.

Now, people who work with or study animals are experts.

They can be used as secondary sources of information to help us learn about what animals eat.

Now, here is a zoologist, and this zoologist says, "An eagle is a predator of a sloth.

In fact, the harpy eagle is the most powerful eagle in the world and is a sloth's main predator.

Other predators of sloths are jaguars and snakes, including anacondas." Sam says, "I will choose a harpy eagle for the predator of a sloth in my food chain." And Jun says, "I will choose an anaconda for the predator of a sloth in my food chain." Now here are Sam and Jun's food chains they have created for a sloth.

So we've got a mangrove tree, which is food for the sloth, and the sloth is food for a harpy eagle.

We've also got a cacao tree, it's food for a sloth, and the sloth is food for an anaconda.

And Jun says, "I wonder how many other food chains a sloth can be part of." Maybe you could do some research and find out.

So let's do a quick checking of your learning so far.

Which of these are secondary sources of information about what animals eat? Is it A, people who work with and study animals; B, animals who live in zoos; or C, people who cook food in restaurants? So which of these are secondary sources of information about what animals eat? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answers.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is A, people who work with and study animals.

Now here is your second task for today.

It says, "Choose an animal with a partner.

Use secondary sources to create your own food chains for this animal.

And compare your food chains with each other.

Discuss what is the same and what is different about your food chains." So I'll give you some time now, I'd like you to pause the video and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So your animal may be different to a barn owl, but here is two food chains for a barn owl.

So you've got the grass, which is food for the grasshopper, the grasshopper is food for the mouse, and the mouse is food for the barn owl.

A dandelion plant is food for a slug, the slug is food for a shrew, and the shrew is food for the barn owl.

Now the animal my partner and I chose was a barn owl.

Our food chains were similar because they both included three consumers.

They both included a plant, an invertebrate, a mammal, and a bird.

Our food chains were different because they started with different producers and all the predators and prey were different to each other except for the final predator, the barn owl.

So now we are on to a summary of our learning for today.

A food chain includes a producer and consumers, including predators and prey.

Food chains can be compared by looking at what is similar and what is different.

A plant or animal can be part of many different food chains.

People who work with and study animals can be used as secondary sources of information about what animals eat.

Well done for today, you have worked so hard and you've really used your critical thinking and you've done some fantastic research using secondary sources to create your own food chains, well done.