WOW Game Title: Food Web Tag
Physical Education Game: Tag Game
Content Area: Science
TEKS Focus: Ecosystems
Adaptations for Survival
Physical Education Unit: Cooperation, Cardiovascular Endurance, Underhand Rolling,
Throw and Catch
Grade: 4
Resource: Seaside Naturalist by Deborah A. Coulombe
Food Web Tag by Pam Atkins
Equipment/Materials: 10 cones, 1 tennis foam ball per student for outside play or
1 bean bag per student for indoor play, 12 shoe boxes or flying discs, 1 Food Web Chart:
plankton, shrimp, redfish, dolphin, shark, whale, human (See next page on how to make
chart.)
Set Up: Flat rectangular coned area (4 cones on points of rectangle); large circular coned
area in center of rectangle (6 cones used to make a circle in the center). Before teaching
this game to students, tell them the game is like a video game with different levels.
Plankton level is the lowest and human level is the highest. Due to complexity of this
game, teach part 1 the first day, then add part 2 the second day.
Activity:
Part 1:
All students begin the game at the plankton level. The game begins when the teacher
asks the class “What’s the name of the game?” The class responds by yelling out “Food
Web Tag Go!”
While staying within the rectangular boundary, all students will begin rolling the
ball (outside) or sliding the bean bag (inside) across the ground surface trying to tag
another student’s foot. If a student tags another student’s foot with the ball/beanbag, then
the student tagger moves up to the next level of the food chain which is shrimp. Students
tagging other students continue to move up the food chain. If a student tagger gets
tagged, then he/she must go down a level. Once the shark level is achieved, then the
student must go into the “shark circle” within the rectangle and do 20 ball/beanbag tosscatches (above head level) consecutively in place before exiting the circle as a shark.
(Shark status is symbolized by student placing a one-handed dorsal fin on his/her own
head while trying to tag others.) NOTE: If student drops the ball/beanbag during the 20
toss-catches, then the student has to go back to PLANKTON LEVEL and begin the
game over.
©PAtkins
Part 2:
Once shark status is earned, the student must tag 3 more species in the ocean to before
moving up to whale level. For example, if a shark has tagged two species and then gets
tagged by another, the shark is down to one tag and must now tag two more species to get
a total of three tags. NOTE: Once shark level is achieved no species except WHALE or
HUMAN can send shark back to plankton level.
Once at whale level, the student must symbolize this level by holding a onehanded blow hole symbol over his/her head. To achieve Human level, the whale must
also tag 3 species. Again, if whale is tagged then he/she loses a tag from the total tags.
Once whale is achieved no species except HUMAN can send whale back to plankton
level.
Once HUMAN level is achieved, then HUMAN must get a boat (shoe box or
upside down flying disc). Human places one foot in boat and “scoots” around the
“ocean” trying to tag all other species in the food chain. If any species are tagged by
human, they automatically go back to plankton level! Once all boats are taken by
humans, the game is over then resets for another game.
Variations:
 Food Web Tag may also be played without equipment and by students gently
tagging each other. Students achieving shark level may do 20 curl-ups, 20 pushups or 20 jumping jacks instead of 20 toss-catches.
Review Questions:
Skill Focus: Let’s do a pulse check. Ready….Count. Is this game considered
aerobic or anaerobic exercise? Did you play the game honestly and safely?
Academic Focus: What is a food chain? What makes a food web?
Sample Chart:
HUMAN (get boat!)
↑
WHALE (3 tags)
↑
SHARK (20 toss-catch + 3 tags)
↑
DOLPHIN
↑
REDFISH
↑
SHRIMP
↑
PLANKTON (start here)
©PAtkins