Interactive Google Slides Lab • Creature Identification, Food Web Construction & Stomach Content Analysis.
This digital modeling lesson introduces students to dichotomous keys and food webs through a structured scientific investigation set on a fictional planet. Rather than completing isolated worksheets, students work through a coherent storyline that requires them to classify organisms, analyze traits, and construct a functioning food web from evidence.
Students begin by learning how dichotomous keys work using simple shapes before applying that process to classify unfamiliar alien organisms. They then transition into food web construction by analyzing organism traits and dietary evidence, allowing both skills to build toward a single culminating model.
The storyline provides context, but the work remains rigorous and skill-driven. Students must observe carefully, justify classification decisions, and apply ecological reasoning throughout the lesson.
Students practice:
• Creating and using dichotomous keys
• Observing and recording distinguishing traits
• Applying classification logic
• Interpreting feeding relationships
• Constructing and analyzing food webs
• Making predictions about ecosystem interactions
Students:
Learn how dichotomous keys work using geometric shapes
Create their own dichotomous keys to classify alien organisms
Use their keys to identify unknown organisms
Review food web structure and vocabulary
Analyze organism diet evidence
Build a complete food web model for the alien ecosystem
Extract food chains and make ecological predictions
✔ Google Slides student lesson
✔ Organism classification cards
✔ Food web construction activities
✔ Structured modeling tasks
✔ Student-ready answer key
✔ Printable literacy-based exit ticket
✔ High engagement without sacrificing rigor
✔ Strong focus on scientific reasoning and modeling
✔ Makes abstract classification skills concrete
✔ Builds toward a meaningful final product
✔ Supports visual and logical learners
✔ Easy to assign digitally or use in class
Teachers use this lesson when students need:
• Practice with dichotomous keys
• A deeper understanding of food webs
• A modeling-based ecology activity
• A narrative framework that supports scientific thinking
• A lesson that integrates classification and ecosystem relationships
This lesson combines classification, energy flow, and model construction into a single cohesive investigation. Students are not memorizing definitions — they are building systems and reasoning from evidence.
Click here for a lesson preview
NGSS Alignment (High School):
HS-LS2-3
HS-LS2-6
NGSS Alignment (Middle School):
MS-LS2-3
MS-LS2-4
Science & Engineering Practices (SEPs):
Developing and Using Models; Analyzing and Interpreting Data; Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Constructing Explanations
Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs):
Patterns; Energy and Matter; Systems and System Models; Cause and Effect
Common Core (Literacy in Science):
RST.6-8.3, RST.9-10.3
RST.6-8.7, RST.9-10.7
WHST.6-8.2, WHST.9-10.2
Interactive Google Slides Lab • Creature Identification, Food Web Construction & Stomach Content Analysis.
This digital modeling lesson introduces students to dichotomous keys and food webs through a structured scientific investigation set on a fictional planet. Rather than completing isolated worksheets, students work through a coherent storyline that requires them to classify organisms, analyze traits, and construct a functioning food web from evidence.
Students begin by learning how dichotomous keys work using simple shapes before applying that process to classify unfamiliar alien organisms. They then transition into food web construction by analyzing organism traits and dietary evidence, allowing both skills to build toward a single culminating model.
The storyline provides context, but the work remains rigorous and skill-driven. Students must observe carefully, justify classification decisions, and apply ecological reasoning throughout the lesson.
Students practice:
• Creating and using dichotomous keys
• Observing and recording distinguishing traits
• Applying classification logic
• Interpreting feeding relationships
• Constructing and analyzing food webs
• Making predictions about ecosystem interactions
Students:
Learn how dichotomous keys work using geometric shapes
Create their own dichotomous keys to classify alien organisms
Use their keys to identify unknown organisms
Review food web structure and vocabulary
Analyze organism diet evidence
Build a complete food web model for the alien ecosystem
Extract food chains and make ecological predictions
✔ Google Slides student lesson
✔ Organism classification cards
✔ Food web construction activities
✔ Structured modeling tasks
✔ Student-ready answer key
✔ Printable literacy-based exit ticket
✔ High engagement without sacrificing rigor
✔ Strong focus on scientific reasoning and modeling
✔ Makes abstract classification skills concrete
✔ Builds toward a meaningful final product
✔ Supports visual and logical learners
✔ Easy to assign digitally or use in class
Teachers use this lesson when students need:
• Practice with dichotomous keys
• A deeper understanding of food webs
• A modeling-based ecology activity
• A narrative framework that supports scientific thinking
• A lesson that integrates classification and ecosystem relationships
This lesson combines classification, energy flow, and model construction into a single cohesive investigation. Students are not memorizing definitions — they are building systems and reasoning from evidence.
Click here for a lesson preview
NGSS Alignment (High School):
HS-LS2-3
HS-LS2-6
NGSS Alignment (Middle School):
MS-LS2-3
MS-LS2-4
Science & Engineering Practices (SEPs):
Developing and Using Models; Analyzing and Interpreting Data; Engaging in Argument from Evidence; Constructing Explanations
Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs):
Patterns; Energy and Matter; Systems and System Models; Cause and Effect
Common Core (Literacy in Science):
RST.6-8.3, RST.9-10.3
RST.6-8.7, RST.9-10.7
WHST.6-8.2, WHST.9-10.2
