Lesson Planning

Teaching

• To identify a variety of decomposers and scavengers including fungi, bacteria, invertebrates and birds.
• To understand the crucial role played by decomposers in recycling nutrients back to the soil at the end of the food chain and use appropriate scientific vocabulary to explain this.
  

Activities

1. Play a team game to help identify a variety of decomposers and learn more about them (Yrs 3&4)
2. Make some close observations of decomposers and the evidence of the decomposition process using magnifying lenses (Yrs 3&4)
3. Write an explanation of the role of decomposers either by doing a cloze procedure (Yr3) or by using key words to write an explanatory paragraph (Yr4)
4. Take part in a Circle of Life Quiz to review their knowledge and understanding of this block of learning (Yrs 3&4)

Investigation
How is the circle of life completed? Understand the role of decomposers in returning the nutrients to the soil. What is the role of the sun? How can we show this in dance? Plan the sequence with music – some with whole class some sections in groups.
Year 3 /Year 4 Work together in mixed groups with higher expectations of year 4s

Vocabulary
Scavengers, decomposers, breakdown, recycle, plus all vocab previously taught in this block