Visit Alaska… virtually! Discover the food chains that keep harbor seals and sea lions surviving in the frigid waters off Alaska.

Using interactive video conferencing equipment, students will be able to expand their scientific experience via live, multi-media presentations. Using inquiry-based learning, these conferences incorporate live animals (whenever possible) and current research programs happening at the dynamic Alaska Sea-Life Center!

Producers are vital in every ecosystem. They are the first link in all food chains. They are living things that are able to convert non-living energy into a form of usable energy. Examples include plants in forests and tundras, algae in ocean ecosystems, and a combination of both in wetlands.

Consumers are animals that are unable to convert energy from non-living sources. For this reason they eat producers or other consumers. Primary consumers eat the producers, so they are the second link on the food chain. Consumers that eat other consumers are called secondary or tertiary consumers and are the third or fourth links in the food chain.

The food chain can be followed from link to link. However, the actual exchange of energy in an ecosystem is not so simple. Many animals eat multiple producers or consumers. For this reason it is necessary to show the relationships in a food web, with many interconnected food chains.

NOTE: This session uses ZOOM for communications

A teacher guide, and a kit containing stickers and handouts will be provided for this lesson.

No prior knowledge is required.

In this program students will:

• Learn how energy is transferred from non-living sources to animals in a food chain and food web
• Learn to complete a food chain and identify the roles of animals in the food chain
• Explore the adaptations of Alaskan animals and how these adaptations are important to their survival

In this video conference students will:

• Participate in an interactive live webinar with an Alaskan presenter and be able to see Alaskan sea life creatures such as seals and sea lions
• Complete a food web diagram using the stickers provided

Science: Science understanding

• Living things have characteristics that distinguish them from non-living things and things that were once living, including fossils (VC2S4U01)
• Plants and animals have different life cycles; offspring are similar, but not identical, to their parents (VC2S4U02)
• Consumers, producers and decomposers have different roles and interactions within a habitat; food chains can be used to represent feeding relationships (VC2S4U03)
• Organisms have evolved over time, as seen in fossils and scientific records; the structural features and behaviours of living organisms enable them to thrive in their environments (VC2S6U02)
• Habitats can be described by their physical conditions; changing the physical conditions of a habitat, including by human activity, may affect the growth and survival of organisms (VC2S6U01)