11–14 Teacher notes: Food web board game
Land, water and bees –
don’t take us for granted:
Food web board game
Teacher notes
Introduction
The aim of the presentation ‘Bees in the ecosystem’ and this associated game is to review the concept of
ecosystems, exemplified by food webs, and examine the position of bees, in particular honeybees, in a food web.
Students consider how the delicate balance of the food web will be disturbed by a reduction in bee numbers. The
importance of bees as crop pollinators and the effect of their loss is also touched on.
Activities
Food webs
The presentation includes a food web and some suggested questions. You could extend the food web (or ask the
students to do this) or consider other aspects of the ecosystem in that habitat (for example, shelter), and/or look at
the concepts of energy flow, trophic level and biomass.
Hedgerow food web
Challenge students to name some organisms they would find in a hedgerow (you may need to prompt them to
ensure that they think of a mixture of producers, consumers and decomposers). Ask each student to create a short
food chain or web, swap it with their neighbour’s and then discuss what they included. The class could then
assemble one large food web.
The board game
This board game covers the topic of food chains and webs within a countryside food chain. Consider extending this
by asking students to think about how they could make the game more challenging for other groups. Or suggest
that they play the game with younger or lower ability children to consolidate learning.
Equipment
A set of equipment includes:
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

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
the game board
predator–prey cards (front and back)
question cards (front and back)
game counters
dice
instructions
You need one set per six students.
11–14 Teacher notes: Food web board game
Planning
The board, predator–prey (PP) and question cards (front and back), and the counters will need to be
printed or photocopied, ideally onto card. By repositioning the page showing the fronts of the cards, the
printing or copying could be double-sided. The cards and counters need to be cut into individual items.
For repeat use they could be laminated, including the board.
Each group will require a board, six counters (one of each member of the food web), a set of PP and
question cards, a dice and a copy of the student activity sheet with the instructions on how to play the
game.
The instructions are given in the Student activity sheet.
This game is based on an idea by Katy Galloway (https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/woodland-food-webboard-game-6087310) and released under a CC-BY-SA licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
8
7
6
5
Rose
9
38
37
36
39
Aphid
60
2
START
35
34
33
32
59
58
57
56
31
Aphid
Thrush
40
55
PP
12
1
Bee
FINISH
11
3
Spider
PP
PP
10
4
30
PP
41
thrush
PP
54
29
53
28
PP
spider
13
42
ladybird
Ladybird
Spider
14
43
honeybee
45
46
47
26
Ladybird
48
49
50
25
21
22
23
24
Bee
PP
17
18
19
20
PP
3
51
Photos: Wellcome Trust / Wellcome Images; Stieber / Shutterstock.com; Erni /
Fotolia.com; Fedorov Oleksiy / Shutterstock.com; kernel / Fotolia.com; v_ridjin
/ Fotolia.com
Rose
6
rose
44
27
PP
aphid
15
52
Thrush
PP
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
Fronts for all cards
4
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
Predators
and prey
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
Predator and prey cards (PP)
A virus spreads
through the
honeybees, and
their numbers
decrease.
Honeybee – back 3
Good for: forward 2
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Aphid – more food.
Bad for: back 2
Thrush – less food.
Spider – less food.
Ladybird – more
competition for food.
A good season for
ladybirds. Many
eggs hatched.
Ladybird –
forward 2
Good for: forward 1
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Thrush – more food.
Spider – more food.
Bad for: back 1
Aphid – eaten by
more animals.
Many more thrush
chicks survive one
spring.
A lovely springtime.
Many plants grow
very well.
Rose – forward 2
Good for: forward 2
Everyone else –
more food.
Bad for:
No-one!
5
Thrush – forward 3
Good for: forward 1
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Aphid – eaten by
fewer animals.
Bad for: back 2
Ladybird – eaten by
more animals.
Spider – eaten by
more animals.
Honeybee – eaten by
more animals.
A good season for
honeybees. Many
larvae (baby bees)
survive.
Honeybee –
forward 3
Good for: forward 1
Thrush – more food.
Spider – more food.
Bad for: Back 1
Aphid – more
competition for food.
Rose – eaten by
more animals.
A parasite causes
many aphids to die,
and their numbers
decrease.
Aphid – back 2
Good for: forward 1
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Honeybee – less
competition for food.
Bad for: back 2
Ladybird – less food.
Spider – less food.
Very little rain;
plants find it hard to
grow.
Rose – back 2
Good for: forward 2
No-one!
Bad for: back 2
Thrush – less food.
Spider – less food.
Ladybird – less food.
Aphid – less food.
Honeybee – less
food.
A warm season for
aphids. Many
mature quickly and
reproduce.
Aphid – forward 4
Good for: forward 2
Ladybird – more
food.
Spider – more food.
Bad for: back 2
Honeybee – more
competition for food.
Rose – eaten by
more animals.
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
Predator and prey cards (PP)
A new disease
attacks thrushes,
and their fledglings
die.
Thrush – back 3
Good for: forward 1
Spider – eaten by
fewer animals.
Ladybird – eaten by
fewer animals.
Honeybee – eaten by
fewer animals.
Bad for:
No-one!
A warm season for
spiders. The spider
population matures
through the
summer.
Spider – forward 4
Good for: forward 2
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Thrush – more food.
Bad for: back 1
Honeybee – eaten by
more animals.
Aphid – eaten by
more animals.
Ladybird – eaten by
more animals.
A cold snap causes
spider numbers to
decline.
Female ladybirds
stop mating. The
population declines.
Ladybird – back 4
Good for: forward 1
Aphid – eaten by
fewer animals.
Bad for: back 1
Thrush – less food.
A warm summer
leads to an influx of
foreign ladybirds
and more spiders.
Lots of snow.
Animals and plants
that live above
ground freeze.
A very mild winter.
All plants survive
and grow well next
year.
Bad for: back 3
Good for: forward 4
Everyone, since there
Everyone, since there
are no plants growing
is lots of food.
or food to eat.
6
Ladybird and spider
– forward 2
Good for: forward 1
Rose – eaten by
fewer animals.
Thrush – more food.
Bad for: back 1
Honeybee – eaten by
more animals.
Aphid – eaten by
more animals.
Spider – back 3
Good for: forward 1
Honeybee – eaten by
fewer animals.
Aphid – eaten by
fewer animals.
Ladybird – eaten by
fewer animals.
Bad For: back 1
Thrush – less food.
Rose – eaten by
more animals.
Roses develop a
root disease and
die.
Rose – back 2
Good for: forward 2
No-one!
Bad for: back 2
Thrush – less food.
Spider – less food.
Ladybird – less food.
Aphid – less food.
Honeybee – less
food.
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
Question cards
Question: In a food
chain, what do we
call the plant that
provides the initial
energy?
Answer: the
producer
FORWARD 3
Question: What
name do we give to
an animal that eats
only the producer?
Answer: herbivore
or primary
consumer
Question: What
name do we give to
an animal that eats
only plants?
Question: What
name do we give to
an animal that eats
only animals?
Answer: herbivore
Answer: carnivore
FORWARD 2
FORWARD 2
FORWARD 1
Question: Name
Question: Name
one food chain from one food chain from
this game.
this game.
Question: What
name do we give to
an animal that eats
both plants and
animals?
Answer: omnivore
FORWARD 2
7
Answers:
rose → honeybee →
thrush
rose → honeybee →
spider → thrush
rose → aphid →
spider → thrush
rose → aphid →
ladybird → thrush
Answers:
rose → honeybee →
thrush
rose → honeybee →
spider → thrush
rose → aphid →
spider → thrush
rose → aphid →
ladybird → thrush
FORWARD 4
FORWARD 2
Question: What
name do we give to
an animal that eats
the second
consumer?
Answer: tertiary
consumer
FORWARD 2
11–14 Student activity sheet: Food web board game
Counters
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
thrush spider
ladybird
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
aphid
rose
8
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee
bee