SHAWSHEEN VALLEY TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL
MCAS REMEDIATION DEPARTMENT CURRICULUM GUIDE
SUMMER MCAS PROGRAM
Goal Strand 6
General Objective Central Concept 6
Specific Objective 6.3
Students will create and identify food webs and trophic levels as wells their inter-relationships.
Ecology is the interaction among organisms and between organisms and their environment
Use a food web to identify and distinguish producers, consumers, and decomposers, and explain the transfer of energy through trophic levels. Describe how relationships among organisms (predation, parasitism, competition, commensalism, and mutualism) add to the complexity of biological communities.
MATERIALS

Animal cards that correspond with the animals in the lesson.
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Large paper
Learning Activity (FOOD WEB WARS
Purpose:
To learn about food webs and how energy moves through a food web by playing a modified version of the card game WAR.
Make a Food Web
Use the information below to create a food web.
Make sure you are neat and can read your food web as you will need it to play the game. The information shows which animals are in the ecosystem and who eats who.
Teacher Tips

My deck of cards was approximately
75.

Depending on the level of your class you might consider having the food web already completed or partially set up for them. It is large and confusing with a lot of interrelationships.
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

Assessment Methods

Ongoing assessment during the game.
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Extended Question worksheet
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End of unit Quiz
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

FOOD WEB WARS
Purpose:
To learn about food webs and how energy moves through a food web by playing a modified version of the card game WAR.
Step 1: Make a Food Web
Use the information below to create a food web. Make sure you are neat and can read your food web as you will need it to play the game. The information shows which animals are in the ecosystem and who eats who.
The animals are arranged into different levels which will help you arrange them in your food web.
LEVEL 1
Crops Berries Trees Grasses
LEVEL 2
Animal Food Sources mouse deer grass, berries, trees grass, berries, crops, trees grasshopper grass, berries, crops, trees rabbit chipmunk grass, berries, trees grass, berries, trees squirrel grass berries, trees
LEVEL 3
Animal bullfrog snake raccoon weasel
Food Sources grasshopper mouse, grasshopper crops, mouse, berries, trees mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel bear fox owl berries, mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel mouse, grasshopper, rabbit
LEVEL 4
Animal eagle
Food Sources mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, raccoon, weasel bullfrog hawk mountain lion coyote bobcat mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, raccoon, weasel, bullfrog mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake raccoon, weasel, deer mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, raccoon, weasel mouse, rabbit, chipmunk squirrel snake, raccoon, weasel.
DECOMPOSERS
Put these to the side of your food web.
Animal Food Sources indian pipes Everything once they are dead
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

mushrooms Everything once they are dead
Step 2: Play the Game using the rules below

This game will be played with a partner
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You will be given a stack of food web playing cards. Randomly separate these into two piles so each partner has a pile of cards
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Each player will be given 15 energy chips

Starting at the top of the deck each partner flips over one card. Check the food web to see which of the following situations applies and follow the instructions.
IF:

one card is the predator and the other card the direct prey the player with the prey card must give the player with the predator card TWO energy chips.
 each card is linked through a food chain, but there is not a direct predator prey relationship the player that has the animal/plant that is lower on the food chain must give ONE energy chip to the player that has the card that is higher on the food chain.

If each card is on the same level and shares a common food source you must play one round of rock paper scissor and the loser must give an energy chip to winner.

If a decomposer is flipped with ANY other card you must play a best of 3 rock paper scissor game. o If the player who has the decomposer card wins the other players animal/plant is dead and they must give TWO energy chips to the winning player. o If the player who has the animal/plant card wins NO energy chips given.
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If you flip two cards and they do not share a direct predator prey relationship, do not belong in a common food chain, do not compete for a food source and is not a decomposer NO energy chips are exchanged and you should flip the next card.
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Once you have gone through your deck of cards shuffle and deal again and continue playing.

If you run out of energy chips you must answer one of the “Get back in the game questions”
Choose one of the questions on the list to answer call your teacher over and if you answer correctly you will be given 4 energy chips and you may continue playing

The winner is the player who has accumulated the most energy chips by the end of the game.
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

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GET BACK IN THE GAME QUESTIONS
1.
Give an example of a producer in the food web.
2.
Give an example of a consumer in the food web.
3.
Give an example of an autotroph in the food web.
4.
Give an example of a heterotroph in the food web.
5.
Give an example of a food chain where the mountain lion is a tertiary consumer.
6.
Give an example of a primary consumer.
7.
Give an example of a secondary consumer.
8.
Give an example of an organism that makes its own food.
9.
Give an example of a food chain where the mountain lion is a quaternary consumer.
Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

10.
Give an example an organism that would be found in the 1 st trophic level.
11.
Give an example of an organism that would be found in the 2 nd
trophic level
12.
Give an example of an organism that would be found in the 3 rd
trophic level.
13.
Give an example of an organism that would be found in the 4 th
trophic level
14.
What is the name for organisms that feed on organisms once they are dead?
15. Explain why the arrows point in the direction they do in a food web.
Extended Thinking Questions
1.
In the game you had to play rock paper scissors when two animals shared a food source. Why do you think you did this?
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

2.
Why do you think you had to give 2 energy chips to a predator if you were a direct prey, but only one energy chip if you were in the same food chain?
3.
What organisms would be affected if the snake population was removed from the food web.
How would they be affected?
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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program

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Shawsheen Valley Technical High School MCAS Remediation Department Curriculum Guide: Summer MCAS Program