Science Geek
Build a Food Web Activity
Entangle your life science class in learning with this collaborative food web activity. Using pictures of the plants and animals native to a particular ecosystem, young biologists work in small groups to construct visual representations...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Modeling Food Webs in Darién, Panama
It's a jungle out there! Young biologists journey to Darien, Panama to examine the intricate relationships between the organisms that inhabit the jungle. Groups begin by demonstrating an understanding of energy flow in ecosystems, then...
Curated OER
The Absorption of Solar Energy
Two sequential parts to this lesson introduce your class to the electromagnetic spectrum, the ability to absorb radiant energy, and the pigments in leaves that are responsible for collecting sunlight to be used in the photosynthetic...
Curated OER
Use Concept Maps to Teach the Transfer of Energy
Practical tips, lessons, and ideas for teaching the transfer of energy.
Curated OER
Biomass Energy
Junior ecologists relate how food chains and food webs route matter and energy through an ecosystem. They trace feeding levels of a food chain or food web through a pyramid of energy. As a reinforcement activity, learners construct three...
Curated OER
Food Webs
Sixth graders discuss and describe consumers and producers. They discuss and describe predator-prey relationship. Students review food chains. They form a circle, and each student is given an ecosystem card. Student at the top is given...
Curated OER
Food Chains & Food Webs
Tenth graders examine how energy is lost through different trophic levels. In this trophism lesson students construct a food web and view a video.
Curated OER
Wetland Food Webs
Students study life science. In this food webs and food chains comparison lesson, students examine the wetlands to discover the relationships that exist between the animals that live there. They participate in group activities and...
Curated OER
Food Chains and Food Webs
Fourth graders study intertidal organisms and their role in the food web. In this food web lesson plan, 4th graders read the book The Sea That Feeds Us and discuss food webs. Students study pictures of intertidal creatures and discuss...
Curated OER
Go With the Energy Flow
Students explore energy and nutrient flow. In this science activity, students diagram the flow of energy through food chains and food webs. Students discuss the importance of energy flow in Earth's ecosystems.
Consortium for Ocean Science Exploration and Engagement (COSEE)
Arctic Smorgasbord
Though the walrus spends roughly one third of its time on land, it eats organisms that live on the bottom of the ocean. The first in a series of five, the lesson uses a variety of plant and animal cards to have scholars build an arctic...
It's About Time
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
Emerging biochemists more fully understand the flow of energy in ecosystems as they explore the laws of thermodynamics and relate them to energy transfer in food chains. They also investigate heat loss from the human body and how...
Polar Trec
Arctic Smorgasbord!
Two blooms of phytoplankton, instead of just one, now occur in the Arctic due to declining sea ice, which will have widespread effects on the marine life and climate. In small groups, participants build an Arctic food web with given...
Curated OER
Construction of Food Chains and Tracing Energy Changes
If you need a few basic activities for teaching food chains to your emerging ecologists, here they are. Three sheets of organism cards are included for learners to cut out and arrange according to trophic relationships. To make the most...
Curated OER
A Coastal Arctic Food Web
High schoolers create a food web of the arctic ecosystem. In this biology lesson plan, students explain how global warming affects this ecosystem. They explain how losing a species affects the entire community.
University of California
Energy and Biomass Pyramids
Young scientists play tag as they act out the food pyramid in the ocean ecosystem. Energy circles pass from the smaller prey to the predators and at the end of the activity, a data chart and analysis questions allow pupils to apply their...
Curated OER
Food Webs
Students research rainforest animals and use that information to make a flow chart to show the order in which energy is transferred through several organisms. They label the producers, consumers, and decomposers in their chart.
Eastern Michigan University
Energy Flow in a Wetland Ecosystem
How is energy transferred within an ecosystem? What would happen to a food web if one of the organisms was removed? Elementary or middle school ecologists examine these questions and more in a comprehensive 5E learning cycle lesson....
Curated OER
Food Web Follies
Seventh graders cut and paste animal pictures to create a food web and trace the path of energy. They write a paragraph explaining the importance of photosynthesis in all food webs.
Curated OER
Field Trip to the Watsonville Wetlands
Students explore the differences between food webs and food chains. In this wetland lesson students play a food web game and go on a scavenger hunt.
Curated OER
Forest Food Web Activity
Students gain knowledge of food webs and ecological interconnections in the forest, and place different life forms in their proper place in a food chain. Students appreciate the balance of nature and how humans are affected by extinct...
Curated OER
Tropical Forest Food Chain
Learners explore the interdependence of the animals and plants in tropical rainforests. They explore the importance of conserving biodiversity and tropical food chains. They create a tropical forest food chain and identify species that...
Curated OER
5 Step Food Chain Lesson
Have your class discuss food chains using this resource. Learners watch a presentation on the food chain and how we are dependent on the smallest life forms. They write newspaper articles and create an illustration describing the food...
Curated OER
Explore the Food Web
Students identify plants and animals in the journals of Lewis and Clark's expedition. They describe the various animal habits. Students interpret the behaviors of the animals discovered on the expedition. They design a food web using...