Create a Food Web
1 Background
d
All plants and animals nee
to live.
energy from their food
e
Plants (producers) produc
sun.
e
their own energy from th
by
Animals get their energy
ey
Th
.
eating other organisms
chain
are consumers. A food
rgy, or who eats who.
ene
of
shows this transfer
rts with the sun, as the
A food chain always sta
t
producers. Consumers ea
source of energy for the
o have few
e top are predators wh
the producers and at th
many food
an ecosystem, there are
natural threats. Within
s the
e a food web, which show
at
cre
to
ed
ink
erl
int
ins
cha
particular
ce between species in a
interconnections and relian
m
ecosystem to recover fro
habitat. The ability of an
.
ed
erv
ns
co
vital and must be
threats, its resilience, is
6 Reflect
Subject/Topic:
2 Set the Sc
ene
Write the following on
the board: sun, grass,
cow, human. Ask child
ren to explain the
connection. Add this wi
th arrows to show
who eats who. Introd
uce/revise the terms
producer and consum
er. Ask children to
identify examples of
each in the given
food chain.
5 Extend
b Elements
Children to use Food We
of the food
sheet to draw a diagram
web created.
cause the
being removed. Consider what could
Discuss the impact of the shellfish
hing, damage
a particular species (pollution, overfis
of
s
ber
num
in
n
ctio
redu
or
on
ncti
exti
problems.
think of ways we can prevent these
to habitats) In pairs, ask children to
food web
s) as one approach to protecting the
Introduce Marine Protected Areas (MPA
uss the
MPAs visit www.mcsuk.org/mpa Disc
in certain areas. For information on
nct?’,
pen if one of the animals became exti
following questions: ‘What would hap
als?’ ‘What can we do to
‘How would this impact the other anim
to identify actions we can all
reduce this risk?’ Encourage children
take to make a difference.
A project made
possible by
Food chains and webs,
biodiversity, UK marine
life
Suitable for: Older years
3 Resources
ments
Worksheet: Food Web Ele
4 Investigate
Move to an open spac
e - a school hall or
classroom with table
s moved is ideal. Ask
children what they th
ink a food web is (a
connection of food ch
ains) Display the Food
Web Elements sheet
on the whiteboard.
Identify any unknown
animals. Allocate each
child an element of th
e food web. These sh
ould
be printed and attach
ed with tape to each
child.
Draw attention to th
e smaller text showing
where the organism
gets its energy. Remind
children this is really
important for the ga
me.
Start with the ‘sun’ st
anding at the front. As
k
who gets their energy
from the sun (plankt
on
and seaweed) Connec
t these to the sun us
ing
string. Now ask who
gets their energy fro
m
seaweed, link with st
ring. Ask who gets en
er
gy
from plankton and lin
k. Continue until all ch
ild
ren
are linked together us
ing string, then remo
ve
‘Shellfish from the we
b. Children to identify
impacts (animals feed
ing on shellfish would
have
less food, possibly im
pacting their number
s.
Creatures that shell
fish feed on would be
come
more popular. Each ele
ment affects the othe
rs.
They are all reliant on
one another.
seaweed
sun
Provides all energy.
n.
Eats plankto
worms
Eats plankton.
Eats porpoises, dolphins,
cod,
seal and otter.
Orca
d shellfish.
Eats fish an
cod
Eats sand eels.
herring
Eats fish.
seal
Eats fish.
dolphin
Eats sand eels.
puffin
sand eel
Gets energy from the sun.
Food Web Elements
ark
basking sh
n.
Eats plankto
plankton
Gets energy from the sun
.
haddock
.
and shellfish
Eats worms
porpoise
Eats fish and octopus.
otter
s., sea urchin
Eats octopu
and crab.
Food Web Elements (continued)
edible crab
Eats shellfish.
shellfish
n.
Eats plankto
starfish
Eats shellfish.
whelk
.
Eats shellfish
eider duck
Eats shellfish.
jellyfish
flatfish
Eats shellfish.
turtle
sea eagle
Eats fish.
gull
s, fish and
Eats octopu
seaweed.
human
Eat plankton.
Eats jellyfish.
Eats seaweed.
sea urchin
Eats shellfish.
hermit crab
birds.
Eats fish and
octopus
Eats crab and shellfish.
tuna
Eats fish.