See Food!

Synopsis
This information text uses a straightforward chain story plot in order to introduce young readers to the
concept of a food chain. Food chains are multiple and complex, but for the sake of simplicity one possible
chain is traced right from the tiniest organism through to a human consumer. The concept of
photosynthesis is briefly explained, and then the focus quickly moves to consumption. Each creature eats –
and in turn is eaten by – another one further along the chain. A glossary and explanation of all the creatures
described in the book is available on the publisher’s website.

Writing Style
See Food is written in a direct, informative style. Facts are introduced, then elaborated upon briefly and
clearly, with phonetic pronounciation notes for scientific names as required. The author also makes subtle
use of literary devices such as active and evocative verbs and repetition-with-addition to bring the subject
matter to life.

Author Inspiration
The author has two main passions in life – animals and food. She and her zoologist husband, Gerald
Kuchling live, breathe and work animals! In order to fuel all this work, Guundie lovingly cooks delicious
(slow!) food. She regularly wows dinner guests with sumptuous meals, and her cakes are eagerly
anticipated. In writing this story she has combined both these interests into a single book that explores
how all animals, including people, derive energy through food chains.

Editorial Comment
The author reminds readers that this is only one possible chain – and that many, many other combinations
are possible.

Study Notes/Activities for Teachers
See Food is pertinent to all the primary curriculum learning areas. The story lends itself to encouraging
students to show their understanding of the link between systems and living things in the environment. The
story and learning experiences which can be devised are especially relevant to Value 5, Environmental
Responsibility.

Reading the story

Before reading activities
Explore the relationship with students between the title and the text. Tell students the story title (or ask them
to read the title) and invite them to guess what the book might be about. Ask them if they know of other
titles which use homophones (e.g. “new/knew”) and word plays used in the title (e.g. “Antz/Ants”).
Introduce the idea of food chains and the role they play. Ask students to suggest the elements in the food
chains of dinosaurs.
Ask students if they know the song “The little old lady who swallowed a fly” as this is an example of a food
chain. The words for can be found at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/rhymes/ladyfly/Ladybird.shtml

During reading activities
As they listen to the story ask students to mime the actions (bobbing up, sliding along, etc.). Ask the
students to be the chorus for the sounds written as flashcards or read out as “sound bites”: Lap! Snap!;
Chop! Chop!; Ooh! Chew!; Slosh! Gosh!; Crunch! Munch!; Flip! Sip!; Whack! Thwack! Snack!; Slam!
Cram! Poke! Choke!

After the reading
After reading the story the following activities which are grouped in the key learning areas are suggested:

Science

Food chains
For the science learning area the story can be used as a basis to explore the concepts of
photosynthesis, producers, consumers, food chains, communities, webs, marine life and
energy. Information on each individual species can also be researched either through printed materials or
on the Web.

Ask students to list and classify the various sea creatures mentioned in the story.
Students can then choose one of the sea creatures in the story (or visit a local aquarium) and write a
description of the creature (colour, shape, movement, habitat, characteristics). Ask students to locate their
chosen creature within the food chain (which animals are its prey/predators).

The significance of colour and its function for living things
Ask which of the five senses are favoured in the story. Talk about the colours of the different creatures in
the story and their descriptors (e.g. this violet snail). Discuss whether the colours of the sea creatures
depicted in the story reflect their true colours.

Ask students to share their ideas and discuss reasons for the variety of colours present in
ocean/reef-dwelling animals. (e.g. for the identification of the creature’s own species, to scare/deter
predators; for camouflage, to entice potential prey, etc.).

The following weblink contains some information about the use of colour and depicts animals using
camouflage:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/animal-camouflage.htm

English

Writing: Conveying meanings through active and descriptive words
Ask students to list the eating verbs in the story (e.g. gobbles up, munches). Discuss words which are
unfamiliar and ask students to mime the animal’s eating action.

Talk about the meanings of the movement verbs used by the author (comes bobbing, hovers along, jumps
up, is rushing by, sneaks up, slides by, comes tromping). Mime the different actions and ask students to
guess them.

Ask the students to rank the descriptive words the author uses according to different states/degrees of
hunger (e.g. is ravenous, is peckish, is famished, is starving, is voracious, is greedy, has cravings).

Ask students to write down the eaten/consumption words in the story (e.g. is finished, is no more, gone, is
taken, is eaten, consumes, is caught, that’s the end of, catches). Ask the students to write a few sentences
from the point of view of one of the story animals to describe how they felt before, during and after they
were eaten. (I was floating minding my own business when all of a sudden …)

Ask students to write down the eating words in the story (e.g. swallows, feeds on, gobbles up, chews,
scoffs, munches, is hungry, nibbles up, consumes, chews, snaps up, snacks on, is guzzled up, tucks into,
eats up). Talk about the differences in meaning.
Show images of different animals eating and ask students to write different captions for them using a
variety of eating words.

Creating a story

Ask students either individually or as a group project to write an alternative food chain story and create a
new set of illustrations for the story.

Alternatively they could create a story and invent a fictional food chain (e.g. on a planet). In writing the story
they would need to describe the environment that supports the food chain (e.g. on the chosen planet).

Encourage students to invent some verbs or eating sounds to describe the actions of their
imagined/actual creatures.

Ask students to write a new blurb for the outside cover of their story.
Take a class vote and email the ‘most popular’ story to the author: squiggle@guundie.com

Ask students to write an alternative title for their story. Place students in groups and ask them to exchange
and explain their titles. Take a vote on ‘the best’ title and ask students to give reasons for their choice.

Society & Environment

Viewing project: Come sea food sighting to discover one the ocean’s food chains

Ask students to obtain some travel brochures by visiting travel agencies or using websites.

Students can then create a brochure and add pictures of scenery and flora and fauna to entice tourists
(e.g. for Ningaloo Reef). Include a few sentences in the brochure to explain the food chain in that region.

Useful weblinks:

Ningaloo Reef:
http://www.users.bigpond.com/ningaloo/

NatureBase:
http://www.calm.wa.gov.au/

Great Barrier Reef:
http://www.great-barrier-reef-diving.com/

General:
http://www.fishbase.org/search.cfm

English

Speaking and listening

Hold a group discussion and report back: How important is the ocean? What happens when one element
in the food chain is eliminated? (e.g. after a cyclone, through an oil spill, pollution, or over-fishing).

Hold a group discussion about the importance of maintaining the food chain. Discuss how students can
keep the ocean clean. Ask groups to write a list of do’s and don’ts.

Languages Other than English (LOTE)

Ask students to think about the animal sounds in the story. Invite bilingual children to make different animal
sounds (e.g. in French a chicken sound is cockerickoo; in German it is kickerickee; in Japanese it is
kokekoko).

See the following weblink for ideas:
A directory of sound clips and sound effects web sites:
http://www.webplaces.com/html/sounds.htm

Ask students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to talk about different food chains in
their cultures. Invite a bush food expert to talk about bush tucker.

Mathematics

Ask students to count the number of sea creatures/animals in the story.
Students can interview other students in the class to find out how many of the animals in the story they have
seen when they have been snorkelling, or visiting an aquarium, or going on an underwater boat trip.

Art activities

Ask students to draw their favourite food and then illustrate it by working back along the food chain (e.g.
icecream: milk, cow, grass, seed).

Ask different students to make cut outs (with the centre removed as in the story) to size for each element in
the food chain. Then ask each student in the class to place the animals one upon the other as they move
down the food chain. The cut outs can then be made into mobiles and hung up in the class.

Ask students to list the items needed to create an underwater seascape in the classroom. Then they can
make one using as much recycled material as possible.

Drama

Younger children can be placed in two lines facing each other and each individual can be asked to play
the role of one the sea creatures. As the story is being read and they move along the food chain each child
can mime simple actions in the story as their animal appears and is eaten.

On a second reading, students can be asked to mime the actions to correspond with the words which
show different degrees of hunger (e.g. gobbles up, is ravenous), or the different movements (comes
bobbing, hovers along, jumps up, is rushing by, sneaks up, slides by).

All the students can form a chorus and repeat the eating sounds.

Cooking

Plan a menu at home with family members that uses as many elements in the food chain as possible.

Make some sushi with seaweed, fish, rice, avocado etc.

Marketing and Promotion

This interesting and beautifully illustrated information text will find a ready education market at the primary
level. In addition, it will be an apt gift for children interested in ocean life and science. As well as in general
bookstores, this book will be available in The Australian Geographic shops, museum shops, aquariums,
and zoos.