What’s For Lunch?

An Awesome Activity with Food Webs!

Review Key Terms: Trophic Levels

• Producers

• Consumers

• Decomposers

• Scavengers

Sample Food Web• Using the following organisms, try to organize the

organisms into a food web.

– human– bald eagle– phytoplankton– mayfly– trout– dragonfly– frog– snake– salamander

Human Bald Eagle

Phytoplankton Mayfly

Trout Dragonfly

Frog Snake

Salamander

Sample Food Web• Using the following organisms, try to organize the

organisms into a food web.

– human– bald eagle– phytoplankton– mayfly– trout– dragonfly– frog– snake– salamander

What’s the first step?

What else do you need to know?

Sample Food Web• Using the following organisms, try to organize the

organisms into a food web.

– Human – loves to eat fish– Bald eagle – enjoys a good salamander, as well as fish– Phytoplankton– Mayfly – loves little sea critters– Trout – loves sea critters, mayflies, and dragonflies– Dragonfly – shares an interest with the mayfly– Frog – likes mayflies and dragonflies– Snake – loves Kermit and salamanders– Salamander – Kermit shares the same diet

Does yours look like this?

Directions• Check that you have 17 biota cards and a blank

sheet of paper.

• Make sure there are no repeats within your cards.

• Separate the cards into consumers, producers, and decomposers.

• USE A PENCIL FOR THIS ACTIVITY!

GREAT BULRUSHScirpus validus

DESCRIPTION

The great bulrush is a tall, marshland reed. It grows up to 2.5 meters in height. It is characterized by a round, green stem, a singleleaf, and loose clusters of green flower spikes. The bulrush grows in thick stands in one or more meters of water.

HABITAT

The great bulrush is found in the mud of shallow, fresh or brackish marshes.

BIOTA CARD

MAJOR FOODS:

Directions

• Create a food web using the 17 biota cards, starting with the sun at the top center of the paper.

• Place the producers underneath the sun.• From here, you need to create a food web for

the marsh.• Draw the arrows showing how the energy

flows (from organism being eaten to the organism that eats it).

GOOD!!

Energy

BAD BAD BAD!

Energy

Part A

• Creating a Food Web-– Fill in the chart after you have finished mapping

out the 17 biota cards.– Before you proceed to the questions, you need to

have Mr. Gendreau or Mr. Winther check your food web chart! DO NOT CONTINUTE until this is done.

Organism Arrows In Arrows Out

Mosquitoes 3 7

Things that the organism eats Things that eat the organism

Complete the chart for all 17 organisms on the Biota Cards

Part B

• Local Extinction-– What does the insecticide do to the populations of

mosquitoes and leaf beetles?– To illustrate the effect, use a GREEN colored pencil

and trace around the mosquito and the lines coming out of the mosquitoes.

– What does the green represent?

– REPEAT for the leaf beetle.

Example

• Did the eradication of those two populations affect consumers?– Circle them with an ORANGE colored pencil and

draw over the lines coming out of the organism.

Example

Finishing up…

• Answer all the questions on the lab worksheet, in complete sentences.