Home›Lesson Plans›Science›Life Science · Grade 5

Ecosystems & Food Webs: How Matter Cycles Through Life

Students explore how energy and matter move through an ecosystem — from producers to consumers to decomposers and back again — discovering that in nature, nothing is ever truly wasted.

Grade 5Ecosystems45 minutes1 class period5E ModelExplicit teaching4 StandardsCommon Core
Start the Lesson
Assign or share this lesson
Share to Google Classroom Share to Microsoft Teams

Copy link works with Canvas, Schoology, Moodle and any other LMS — paste it in as a resource or assignment.

Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Name the roles: producers, consumers, decomposers.
  • ✓Explain how energy flows from the Sun.
  • ✓Explain that matter cycles through an ecosystem.
  • ✓Build a simple food web.
Essential Question

When a leaf falls or an animal dies, where does it go? How does matter move through an ecosystem so that nothing is wasted?

0
Lesson Phases
0
Vocabulary Terms
0
Standards Aligned
0
Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive Model

The Ecosystem Cycle

Project this and tap each role. Have students trace how energy and matter flow from producers through consumers to decomposers — and back again.

🔄 Explore the ecosystem — tap each roleTry it

The Lesson · 5E Model

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Engage — Where Does It Go?

5 min

A leaf falls to the forest floor — what happens to it?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Ask what happens to dead leaves/animals.
  • Introduce the idea of a cycle.
  • Set the goal: matter cycling.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Wonder where matter goes.
  • Predict a cycle.
  • Guess the roles.
2

Explore — Explore the Roles

12 min

Students investigate.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to the Ecosystem Cycle.
  • Have them record each role.
  • Trace the flow of matter.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Tap each role.
  • Record its job.
  • Trace the cycle.
3

Explain — Energy & Matter

12 min

Teacher explains.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Energy starts with the Sun and producers.
  • Matter cycles (nothing is wasted).
  • Decomposers return nutrients to soil.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Trace energy from the Sun.
  • Explain the cycle.
  • Explain decomposers.
4

Elaborate — Build a Food Web

11 min

Connect many organisms.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Have students build a food web (not just a chain).
  • Ask what happens if one part is removed.
  • Connect to real ecosystems.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Build a food web.
  • Predict a removal’s effect.
  • Link to a real ecosystem.
5

Evaluate — Exit Ticket

5 min

Three quick checks.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Hand out the exit ticket.
  • Look for cycle + roles.
  • Collect as formative data.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Name the roles.
  • Explain the cycle.
  • Trace energy.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core literacy. State-standard crosswalks available on request.

NGSS
5-LS2-1

Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.

NGSS
5-PS3-1

Use models to describe that energy in animals’ food was once energy from the Sun.

NGSS
5-LS1-1

Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

CCSS
RI.5.7

Draw on information from multiple sources to answer a question.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Role cards (producer/consumer/decomposer).
  • Sentence frame: “Energy flows from ___ to ___.”
  • Build a web with yarn and pictures.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with a simple food chain.
  • Provide role labels to match.
  • Focus on Sun → plant → animal.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Explain what happens if decomposers vanish.
  • Build a web with 6+ organisms.
  • Trace energy back to the Sun for any animal.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 📓Science notebooks
  • 💻The Ecosystem Cycle
  • 🧶Yarn (for a web)
  • 🖼️Organism cards
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

ecosystemliving things and their environment togetherproducera plant that makes its own foodconsumeran animal that eats other living thingsdecomposerbreaks down dead materialfood webconnected food chainsenergythe ability to do work; starts with the Sunmatterthe material living things are made ofnutrienta substance living things need to grow
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What are the three main roles in a food web?
Producers, consumers, and decomposers.
QUESTION 2
Where does the energy in an ecosystem originally come from?
The Sun — producers capture it, and it passes to consumers.
QUESTION 3
What do decomposers do for an ecosystem?
They break down dead plants and animals, returning nutrients to the soil so producers can grow again — cycling matter.

Going deeper? Model a matter cycle.

Have students draw a full matter cycle for a local ecosystem, showing how one atom might travel from soil to plant to animal to decomposer and back. A printable cycle template is in the Science library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Ecosystems & Food WebsFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
0

Nice work!

Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Ecosystems & Food WebsQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
0%

Nice work!

Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Ecosystems & Food WebsPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: consumer, decomposer, ecosystem, energy, food web, matter, nutrient, producer
  1. breaks down dead material
  2. the material living things are made of
  3. living things and their environment together
  4. connected food chains
  5. a substance living things need to grow
  6. a plant that makes its own food
  7. an animal that eats other living things
  8. the ability to do work; starts with the Sun

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What are the three main roles in a food web?
  2. Where does the energy in an ecosystem originally come from?
  3. What do decomposers do for an ecosystem?
Answer key — Part A: 1) decomposer · 2) matter · 3) ecosystem · 4) food web · 5) nutrient · 6) producer · 7) consumer · 8) energy
Part B: 1) Producers, consumers, and decomposers. 2) The Sun — producers capture it, and it passes to consumers. 3) They break down dead plants and animals, returning nutrients to the soil so producers can grow again — cycling matter.