Grade Five
Wetland Ecosystems
Name
Date
For the following quiz, carefully read each question and answer it to the best of
your ability. Raise your hand if you have any questions or need clarification
during the quiz. When you are finished hand in your quiz and read silently.
You will have 40 minutes to complete your quiz. Good luck!
Targeted Outcomes:
5-10.3 Identify some plants and animals found at a wetland site, both in and
around the water; and describe the life cycles of these plants and animals.
5-10.4 Identify and describe adaptations that make certain plants and
animals suited for life in a wetland.
5-10.6 Identify the roles of different organisms in the food web of a pond:
producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Matching
1. Match the organisms listed below to their physical adaptation by placing the
organism’s number next to the correct adaptation. Note: one of the organisms
listed does not match any of the adaptations. (6 marks):
1. Snail 2. Beaver Duck 3. Water Strider 4. Frog 5. Minnows
6. Backswimmer 7. Muskrat
___4___ a. Streamlining legs are elongated and flattened.
___6___ b. Poisonous stinger on mouth.
___5___ c. Gills – obtains oxygen directly from water.
___2___ d. Oil in feathers/fur for protection from cold and water.
___3___ e. Water repellant hairs.
___1___ f. Hard shell protects soft body tissue from predators.
1
Multiple Choice: circle the best answer. 1 mark each.
2. Many birds live in wetlands. A characteristic that is not an adaptation to
facilitate life in the wetlands is
A.
B.
C.
D.
hollowed bones
oiled feathers
webbed feet
long legs
Use the following food chain to answer questions 3 and 4. The direction of the
food chain indicates the direction of energy flow.
Sun
algae
water fleas
damselfly
nymph
stickleback
fish
bacteria
3. In this diagram, the
A.
B.
C.
D.
bacteria is a producer
algae is a decomposer
damselfly nymph is a primary consumer
stickleback fish is a secondary consumer
4. If you were to add another decomposer to this food chain, you could add
A. horsefly
B. waterlily
C. mushrooms
D. fairy shrimp
__________________________________________________________________
5. A plant adaptation that you would not expect to see in a wetland would be
A.
B.
C.
D.
hollow stems
long, thin leaves
thick, fleshy leaves
short, fibrous roots
2
Use the following information to answer question 6.
Megan made a life cycle diagram of an organism that could be found in a
wetland. She forgot to add one stage to her diagram.
6. The stage missing from Megan’s diagram is
A.
B.
C.
D.
eggs
pupa
larva
adult
Short Answer
7. Ethan drew a picture of a pond for science class. In his picture he included a
duck, marsh hawk, duckweed, and some flat worms.
a. In Ethan’s drawing what is the producer? (1 mark)
Duckweed
b. What two characteristics allow you to know it is a producer. (2 marks)
Duckweed is a plant and produces its own food. It gets its energy from
the sun.
3
8. Label each stage of the following life cycles. (2 marks per life cycle = 0.5
marks per life cycle stage) egg, tadpole, pollywog, adult
a.
b. egg, larva or maggot, pupa, adult
4
9. Using the organisms listed in the box, create a food chain containing a
producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer and a decomposer. You can
only use each organism once. The direction of the food chain indicates the
direction of energy flow. (4 marks)
Bulrush, Flatworm, Redwinged Blackbird, Duckweed, Dragonfly,
Copepod, Muskrat, Stonewart, Moss, Marsh Hawk, Water Beetle,
Weasel, Mayfly, Leech, Fisher-spider, Scud
Sun
Producers
Primary Consumers
Bulrush
Duckweed
Moss
Mayfly
Muskrat
Redwinged
Blackbird
Water Beetle
Stonewart
Secondary
Consumers
Dragonfly
Fish-spider
Marsh Hawk
Decomposers
Weasel
Scud
Copepod
Flatworm
Leech
10. For the following organisms, label one of the two adaptations indicated, and
write a sentence to explain how that adaptation allows the organism to survive in a
wetland environment. (2 marks each = 4 marks)
a. Waterlily
5
Leaf shape displaces water. This allows the leaf to float on the surface of the water
where it can easily absorb sunlight.
Long, hollow stem. This allows for oxygen to be easily transported to the roots,
plant can survive in deep water.
b. Muskrat
Thick fur. Repels water and keeps the animal warm while swimming.
Partly webbed feet. Allow the animal to paddle through the water efficiently,
requiring less energy.
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