How do I teach students that organisms ultimately get their energy from the Sun in a simple and clear way? This was a question I asked as I worked to teach NGSS PS3-1 to my 5th graders. I love simple, visual notes that provide activities and clarity.
With some work and creativity, I created the Cycles of Matter & Flow of Energy Sketch Notes resource. This includes printable and digital notes for Google Classroom along with a printable and Google Forms self-grading quiz, and link to a Kahoot!
These notes begin with students choosing an animal and researching what the animals eats. Does the animal eat plants or other animals? The 2 page version is available for free on TPT. All five pages including the quiz, slide show, and Kahoot are available for purchase.
The color version is for Google Classrom. The prinable version is black and white.
Click Here for the freebie! Students then move on to find out what animals use energy for.
Students can draw and label pictures on the printable version or use icons from
www.thenounproject.com on the digital version.
Here is an example of a completed page. I just love the simplicity of using The Noun Project and copying and pasting icons. Fun and easy! Students can see that animals get food from other animals and/ or plants. They use that energy to grow, move, keep warm, and repair their bodies.
Students also learn about consumers, producers, and decomposers. Students learn that consumers eat plants, animals, or both. Students then follow an animal and follow it's food chain until it gets to sunlight. Plants make their food using sunlight.
This is an open ended activity with many correct answers. If the students are completing this digitally, they are encouraged to use The Noun Project again to get icons. Searching for images on the web works also. Here is an example of a completed page.
In addition to five pages of notes, this resource comes with a slide show that guides students as they fill out the notes. It also comes with a link to a Kahoot, a printable quiz, and a self-grading quiz on Google forms. Who doesn't love a self-grading quiz?
