The local nature center has dropped its habitat exhibit cards, and 5th grade students sort the 15 organisms back into place. Cards range from corn and algae to a black bear, a vulture, and bread mold. Each goes under Producers, Consumers, or Decomposers, which ties the sort to NGSS 5-LS2-1 and the way matter cycles between air, soil, and living things. On this 3-page sheet, two follow-up questions ask for the trickiest card and a local example for each role.
5-LS2-1
“Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.”
The Sorting Area, where each card is placed by how it moves matter, and question 1, where the vulture and earthworm test the line between consumer and decomposer.
Fifteen cards to sort, including Hawk, Mushroom, Earthworm, Fern, Wolf, and Dung Beetle.
A three-column table for Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers. The key places four producers, six consumers, and five decomposers.
Question 1 asks which card was hardest to place and why. Question 2 asks for one new example from where students live in each column.
Card sort
Print the Organism Cards on card stock and cut them apart. Groups sort on their desks first, then copy the result into the Sorting Area.
Class vote
Hold a vote on the vulture before you reveal the key. It eats dead animals, so many students call it a decomposer, but the key lists it as a consumer.
Local link
Question 2 works best after a walk around the school grounds. Students can add a plant, an animal, and a fungus they actually saw.
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