Name_________________________________________Date_______________________Block_________
Design a Food Web Project
You will be working in your groups to create a food web of a mountain ecosystem. Your food web must contain correct
relationships between at least 35 different organisms across all trophic levels. The mountain ecosystem organisms are
listed on the back. You will need to complete two portions of this assignment; a group and individual assignments.
Group Assignment DUE DATE__________________________________:
1. Conduct research and complete the table on the back by listing all food an organism will eat.
2. On a piece of butcher paper write the names of your organisms in/near appropriate trophic level. (Producers
near bottom, carnivores near top…)
3. Identify the niche (role) of each organism in the ecosystem. Do this by writing (P) for producer, (C) for a
consumer, (D) for decomposer (S) for scavenger/detritivore.
4. Circle the name and niche of each organism.
5. Draw/print a picture for each of the organisms in your food web.
6. Draw arrows to show the flow of energy from one organism to another. (Arrow to what eats the organism)
7. Write the names of each group member and the group # and block on the front of each food web.
Food Web Grading Rubric (this will be used to evaluate your food webs created in your group assignment)
Criteria
All organisms names
labeled
AD
30+
PR
20-30
BA
15-20
MI
>15
Lines show energy flow
30+
20-30
15-20
>15
Pictures of organisms
30+
20-30
15-20
>15
Organism Niche Labeled
30+
20-30
15-20
>15
Colorful and neatly
organized
Neat/ colorful/
Organized
Acceptably organized &
colored
Some color /
rushed
Rushed/
no color
Individual Assignment (TYPE AND SUBMIT ON DUE DATE__________________________:
1. Write out 3 food chains from your team’s food web. Do not copy another group members chain (DO YOUR OWN!) On
each food chain identify and producer and three levels of consumers
i.
ii.
iii.
2. Name 2 organisms at the top of your food chain.
3. What do you think would happen if all the producers became extinct?
4. What do you think would happen if all the decomposers became extinct?
5. What would happen to your food web if a non-native beetle killed off all of the oak trees.
6. Why do you think food webs with many species are more resilient (tough, durable) than those with only a few
species?
Mountain Food Web Organizer (DO THIS BEFORE CREATING YOUR WEB SHOWING THE FLOW OF ENERGY)
An x = a plant
Organism Name
Gets its energy from
Organism Name
Bats
Salamander
Mountain Lion
Rainbow Trout
Black Bear
Berries, larvae, mammals
Bobcat
Red Fox
May Fly larvae
Aquatic plants
Dead plants and animals
Black laurel
x
Worms
Umbrella Magnolia
X
Copperhead snake
Rhododendron
X
Woodchucks
Birch
X
Frogs
Frazier Fir
X
Loblolly Pine
X
Black Oak
X
Butterfly
Flowering plants
Mosquito
Squirrels
Mushrooms, acorns
White Tailed Deer
Sedge Grass
X
Yellow Ladies Slipper
x
Nandina
x
Honey Mushrooms
Lichens
Decomposer
Gets its energy from
Herbaceous plants