Virginia SOL LS.4.a
The Standard
photosynthesis is the foundation of virtually all food webs
Virginia Standards of Learning for Science · The student will investigate and understand that there are chemical processes of energy transfer which are important for life. Key ideas include
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how plants and algae capture light energy and store it as chemical energy in sugars. They trace energy in a food web back to a photosynthetic organism.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can identify producers in a food web and explain why consumers depend on them. The student can connect sunlight, photosynthesis, stored food energy, and feeding relationships.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think plants get food from soil or that animals receive energy directly from sunlight. They may also overlook algae and other aquatic producers when tracing energy through food webs.
How to Assess It
- Give students a food web with one producer removed. Ask them to predict two effects and explain how the affected organisms ultimately depend on photosynthesis.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Use organism cards and yarn to build a food web, then trace each energy path back to a plant or alga.
Write a response to this prompt: How does energy from sunlight become part of a hawk's body?
Play a food web relay where teams arrange sun, producer, and consumer cards in correct energy order.
Analyze a school lunch and trace the energy in three foods back to plants or photosynthetic aquatic organisms.
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Printable LS.4.a Worksheet
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