Field Investigation Activity: Create a Food Web

Students find evidence of a food web that exists within the school’s outdoor classroom and create a model to show the transfer of matter and energy within the environment between producers, consumers, and decomposers.    

 
Click on the orange links to access free educational materials:    
 
Lesson Plans  |   ALSDE Standards Taught
 
Activity Page #1: Create a Food Web - General Plants and Animals (or as Word Doc)
 
Activity Page #2: Create a Food Web with Decomposers (or as Word Doc) 
with Answer Page #2
 
Outdoor Activity Materials:  activity pages, clipboards, pencils














 
Step 1: Engage through Discussion
     
Engage the students and capture their interests with an Interactive Q&A (or as PDF) that allows you to click through the questions one at a time.  You can gauge your students' understanding of the topic as they answer the questions. Print and use the Q&A Info Sheet (or as Word Doc) to anticipate the next question in the Interactive Q&A and to guide the conversation with the students.  (Note:  For the PowerPoint (PPT), click "Slide Show" & "From Beginning" to display the questions and answers separately.)
 
Use these tools to continue the discussion:
 
 
 
Step 2: Explore with Literature
   
As you read these books, you can further explore the topic and discuss your students' experiences and knowledge around the topic:

What are Food Chains & Food Webs (The Science of Living Things) by Bobbie Kalman ISBN: 978-0865058880 

Secrets of the Garden: Food Chains and the Food Web in Our Backyard by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld ISBN: 978-0385753647
Front Cover
 
 
 
Step 3: Explain with an Educational Video
Use these educational videos to help explain the topic in more detail:
 
Home Sweet Habitat 
by Crash course Kids #21.1 (4:41 min)
@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p15IrEuhYmo		 The Importance of Food Webs 
by Crash Course Kids #21.2 (3:51 min.)
@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vtb3I8Vzlfg		 The Food Chain 
by Odyssey Earth (4:49 min.)
@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZOvqYypOuo		 The Food Web 
by Odyssey Earth (3:07 min.)
@ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGODmyXkkPU
  
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Step 4: Elaborate with a Field Investigation in the Outdoor Classroom
   
Students apply what they have learned as they investigate the topic in your outdoor classroom and record their real-world observations on their activity page:
   
Version #1:
Create a Food Web - General Plant or Animal		 Version #2:
Create a Food Web - Decomposer
   
Activity Tip  
Version #1 - Create a Food Web: General Plant or Animal
Activity Page: PDF (as is)  /  Word Doc (editable)

Procedure
Outdoor Discovery:
  1. Students explore the outdoor classroom to create a food web on their activity page with plants and animals they find in their outdoor classroom.
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Have the students use the AWF's Dig into Plants and Wonders of Wildlife webpages along with any available field identification guides to identify the plants and animals they found.
  2. Next have them answer questions about potential changes in the foodwebs and the results of those changes.
  3. Last, they should answer the questions about the flow of energy within a food web on the activity page.
  4. Discuss how the the energy animals get from food was once energy from the sun.
  5. Discuss how matter and energy is transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers.
 
Version #2 - Create a Food Web: Decomposer
Activity Page: PDF (as is)  /  Word Doc (editable)

Procedure
Outdoor Discovery:
  1. Students explore the outdoor classroom to find a decomposer.
  2. Then they create a food web on their activity page with the plants, animals, and decomposers they find in their outdoor classroom.
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Students use the AWF's Dig into Plants and Wonders of Wildlife webpages along with any available field identification guides to identify their decomposer and the plants and animals they found.
  2. Have the sudents use the AWF's Wonders of Wildlife webpages for the Millipede, Red Wiggler Worm, and the Pillbug along with any available field identification guides to research their decomposer.
  3. Next have them answer questions about potential changes in the foodwebs and the results of those changes.
  4. Last, they should answer the questions about the flow of energy within a food web and the role of decomposers in the food web on the activity page.
  5. Discuss how the the energy animals get from food was once energy from the sun.
  6. Discuss how matter and energy is transferred among producers, consumers, and decomposers.
Optional Extension:  
Wildlife Identification Resources:
   
 
Step 5: Evaluate with an Assessment Activity
   
Review and assess the students’ observations and answers on their observation pages:
Evaluate the students' understanding of the topic with the following assessment tool:
 
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Questions? Contact us at oc@alabamawildlife.org.
 
 
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