The Amazing Circle of Life!

Provided Resources

• A set of 1-6 hold up cards per group of 3-4 children from the Resource Pack - alternatively give each group a 1-6 set of digit cards or a number fan

Additional Resources

• A tub of cubes or counters (to award as game points)
• Specimens to show decomposers at work: some mushrooms, or better still some decaying wood that has some fungi growing on it (if you can find some), some mouldy or mildewed fruit, e.g. over ripe strawberries, plums or grapes with mouldy “bloom” on them, some mouldy bread in a sealed clear plastic bag, some soil with decaying leaf mould in it and ideally some creatures that are decomposers along with it, e.g. woodlice, centipedes etc.
• Magnifying lenses and/or binocular viewers
• Pencils & pens
• Paper

Weblinks
Food chains and food webs in animals from www.bbc.com

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