LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Constructing a food web

Students will construct food chains and food webs in order to recognize the relationships between organisms.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 Science

By Lynn Pearson

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Learning outcomes

Students should identify and understand the relationships within a food web.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

1 hour

Materials/resources

  • index cards
  • writing utensils
  • glue sticks
  • string
  • pictures from magazines or other sources
  • hole punch

Pre-activities

Students should recognize the difference between producers and consumers, the energy flow through an ecosystem, trophic levels, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and biomes.

Activities

  1. Students will glue pictures of producers and consumers on their index cards (one per card). On the back of the card, students will name the organism, list the type of biome in which it is found, and the type of organism (producer or consumer). Note: you might want them to write about how the ecosystem would be affected if the organism disappeared from the food web. Designate two or three students to make a “sun” card.
  2. Students will begin constructing their food chains and webs by threading string through a hole punched in the card. Knot the string so that the cards will not slide.
  3. Students should make sure that each of the food chains begins with the sun and is followed by a producer and a consumer that are found in the same type of biome.

Assessment

The teacher will view the food chains and their connected food webs to see if the correct sequence is followed and if the organisms connected are of the same biome.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

Science (2005)

Grades 9–12 — Advanced Placement Biology

  • Goal 7: The learner will develop an understanding of basic ecological principles.
    • Objective 7.02: Examine the actions and interactions of communities and ecosystems.
      • Analyze energy flow.
      • Examine trophic structure.
      • Investigate water and element cycling.
      • Assess affects of abiotic and biotic factors.
      • Analyze relationships with in communities and ecosystems.
      • Recommended laboratory - Dissolved Oxygen and Aquatic Primary Production

Grades 9–12 — Biology

  • Goal 5: The learner will develop an understanding of the ecological relationships among organisms.
    • Objective 5.01: Investigate and analyze the interrelationships among organisms, populations, communities, and ecosystems.
      • Techniques of field ecology.
      • Abiotic and biotic factors.
      • Carrying capacity.