This approach adapts Lesson 3 (food webs, decomposers) for students who need additional support, aligned with ABLEWA Stages A–D.
Least dangerous assumption
Every student can learn that living things depend on one another. Keep the big idea and make the connections physical and visible.
Multiple means of representation
- Use the string food-web activity as the main teaching tool — it is concrete and inclusive; the student holds string and feels the connection tug.
- Introduce decomposer with a real prompt (a photo of a mushroom, a real leaf breaking down in a jar) and one symbol.
- Sort indigenous vs introduced as a simple two-choice with real photos and, if helpful, only 4 clear cards.
Multiple means of engagement
- Give the student a defined role in the string activity (e.g. "you are the grass") with an adult beside them.
- Use a first-then and a visual timer; keep the discussion segment short.
- Watch a very short decomposition clip rather than a long one; pause and point.
Multiple means of action and expression
- When one living thing is "removed" in the string web, ask a yes/no: "Did it change the others?" — the felt tug is the evidence.
- Accept AAC / pointing to identify the decomposer and to sort one species as native or introduced.
- Offer a cut-and-stick web (join two ready-made chains) instead of drawing.
Success looks like (adjusted)
- Stage A–B: participates in the string activity; reacts to the change when a link is removed.
- Stage C: identifies a decomposer and sorts one species native/introduced with support.
- Stage D / towards Year 4: joins two chains into a simple web and says why a decomposer matters.