A Hands-On Food Web

Take the food web off the page and make a 3-D version.

Cut strips of paper.  Label each strip with one organism found on the food web.

Begin assembling the strips of paper together in a chain - looping together the organisms that are in direct relationships with one another.

Then start adding in the other organisms found in the food web, looping them in the appropriate places. 

The finished product isn't a whole lot to look at, but this activity is really about the process. 

After the food web is finished, you could rip out one of the links and talk about what would happen if that part of the food web was no longer available (a favorite standardized test question).   

Food Chain to Food Pyramid

Turn a food chain into a food pyramid.  You'll want to use a food chain that has 3 levels of consumers in it. 

The food chain I used when making this example was:
Sun --> Seeds --> Mouse --> Weasel --> Fox

Begin with a square piece of paper.  Fold the paper along the diagonals and add lines as seen in the drawing below:



In the middle lined section, fill in the following (beginning at the botton/largest spot):

• Producers
• Primary Consumer
• Secondary Consumer
• Tertiary Consumer

On an ajoining side, fill in the corresponding organism (seeds, mouse, weasel, fox).

The other lined section can be used to represent another food chain.

When all sections have been filled in, cut along one of the diagonals (adjacent to the blank section) until you reach the center point. 

Then fold the pyramid, tucking the blank side underneath, so a pyramid is formed. 

This visual representation helps students remember that it takes a lot of producers to feed one primary consumer, many primary consumers to feed one secondary consumer, and so on. 

Food Webs/Chains: Producer/Consumer Collage

A simple activity to make sure students know the difference between producers and consumers. An activity in and of itself for younger students. For older students, a way to check mastery of the terminology before delving into more complex relationships.

Divide a piece of paper in half. Label one side “producer” and the other side “consumer”. Search through magazines and newspapers to find images and/or words that name producers and consumers. Cut out and glue to the appropriate side of the paper. You may choose to add a “decomposers” category as well.