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Overview:
This lesson introduces students to the animals of Antarctica and to the Antarctic food chain. Students will draw pictures of a variety of animals and attach the pictures to a wall collage (be sure to set aside some space on one of the classroom walls). They will then listen to or read statements about each animal's diet and draw arrows to show which animals eat which. Students will end up with a food web that illustrates the importance of krill to the Antarctic ecosystem.
Connections to the Curriculum:
Geography, life science
Connections to the National Geography Standards:
Standard 8: "The characteristics and spatial distribution of ecosystems on Earth's surface"
Time:
Two hours
Materials Required:
- Computer with Internet access
- Drawing materials
- At least two large pieces of paper, cut into strips at least three feet long
- Small slips of paper (one for each student in your class)
[Note: Before class, write the name of one of the following animals on each of the slips of paper. If you have more than eighteen students in your class, choose a few of the animals to write on two slips of paper so that each student will get one slip.]
- Krill
- Fish and Squid
- Flying birds: skua, petrel, albatross
- Penguins: Adilie penguin, chinstrap penguin, emperor penguin, gentoo penguin, king penguin, macaroni penguin
- Seals: crabeater seal, fur seal, leopard seal, Weddell seal
- Whales: humpback whale, killer whale
Objectives:
Students will
- draw and cut out pictures of Antarctic animals;
- paste the animal pictures onto a collage;
- draw arrows to illustrate this ecosystem's food web; and
- write or discuss the question of how important krill is to the Antarctic ecosystem.
Geographic Skills:
Asking Geographic Questions
Acquiring Geographic Information
Organizing Geographic Information
Answering Geographic Questions
Analyzing Geographic Information
S u g g e s t e d P r o c e d u r e
Opening:
Ask students to point out Antarctica on a map or globe. Then ask them whether they know of any animals that live in Antarctica. If so, do they have any idea what these animals eat? Discuss their ideas as a class.
Development:
Closing:
Ask students to look at the collage and hypothesize what these animals eat. Based on their appearance, which animals do students think are most likely to eat a variety of other animals? Which do they think are most likely to be eaten?
Suggested Student Assessment:
Provide students with the following information about the Antarctic food chain. After you make each statement, have each student or group of students draw an arrow from their assigned animal to the animal or animals it eats. If an animal eats dead animals (carcasses), students should still draw arrows between those animals. [Note: The diets listed below are the animals' primary diets; some of them eat other animals once in a while.]
- Krill eat phytoplankton (tiny ocean plants).
- Gentoo penguins eat krill and fish.
- Adilie penguins eat krill.
- Macaroni penguins eat krill and squid.
- Chinstrap penguins eat krill and fish.
- King penguins eat fish and squid.
- Emperor penguins eat krill, fish, and squid.
- Crabeater seals eat krill.
- Fur seals eat krill, fish, and squid.
- Leopard seals each krill, fish, penguins, and other seals.
- Weddell seals eat krill, fish, and squid.
- Humpback whales eat krill.
- Squid eat krill and fish.
- Fish eat krill and other fish.
- Skuas eat krill, fish, and penguin eggs and chicks.
- Petrels eat fish, squid, krill, and dead seals, penguins, and whales.
- Albatross eat fish and squid.
- Killer whales eat fish, squid, Adilie penguins, emperor penguins, Weddell seals, crabeater seals, and leopard seals.
An alternate option would be to print the above statements on a piece of paper, cut the paper into sentence strips, and have each student select one strip. Students would then read the sentences and figure out where to draw the arrows.
Ask students to answer this question in a class discussion and, as an option, in writing: How important is krill in Antarctica? What do you think might happen if krill populations declined?
Extending the Lesson:
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