Discovering Riverine Food Webs

This lesson includes one in-class session before a field trip, one 2-3-hour field trip, and one post-field trip assignment. Prior to the field trip, the in-class session will cover a preparatory lecture and a pre-assignment that asks students to draw a river food web based on their current knowledge. For the field trip, students will travel to a wadable river to learn about river food webs. They will observe the organisms in and around the river using common sampling techniques, identify organisms using dichotomous keys, identify what trophic guilds organisms belong in, and take field notes. The class will be split into two groups that will rotate part way through the field trip. Each group will use 1. D-frame kicknets to sample aquatic macroinvertebrates and 2. Seine nets to sample fish (provided the instructor has the proper permits). After the field trip, students will use their field notes and observations to create a new drawing of a river food web and compare their pre- and post-field trip drawings and reflect on their experience. This lesson includes information on energy flow, trophic levels, and connectivity of organisms and ecosystems for a holistic perspective of riverine food webs. This lesson aims to provide students an introduction to exploring different riverine organisms and how these organisms are connected through diets. This lesson facilitates the use of observations and field notes, culminating in a synthesis of knowledge with the food web drawing, short story, and reflective questions. Materials include the Lesson Plan, Data Sheet, Post Assignment, Pre Lesson Presentation and two supplemental presentations for macroinvertebrates and fish morphology-diet information, optional journal articles for discussion, and dichotomous keys for several locations.