4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Review Games
Description
Students review the differences between producers and consumers by playing an interactive game
called Word Harvest. Then the students act out energy transfer by playing an interactive Food
Chain game.
Materials
Index cards (per group)
Marker (per group)
Two buckets (per group)
Green construction paper (per group)
Signs for grasshoppers, 16, shrews, 6, and hawks, 3 (per group)
Baggies (per group)
Safety pins (per student)
1 Attachment: Word Harvest Game Directions (per teacher)
1 Attachment: Food Chain Game Directions (per teacher)
1 Attachment: Food Chain Game Chart (per student)
1 Attachment: Food Chain Game Worksheet (per student)
Procedure
1.  Tell the students that they are going to play a game called Word Harvest. You can take them
outside or use a large space indoors.
2.  Describe the World Harvest Game Instructions. Make sure to review the following
vocabulary words: producer and consumer. Play the game and discuss the results of the
game.
3.  Remind the students that every organism can be classified as a producer, consumer, or
decomposer. All of these organisms interact to survive. Tell them that they are going to “act
out” this interaction.
4.  Assign each student a role (grasshopper, shrew, or hawk) and give each student the
corresponding sign. Have the students pin the sign on their shirt or top using a safety pin.
5.  Go over the instructions for the food chain game with the class.
6.  After the game is over, return to the classroom to debrief. Complete the attached chart with
the class and discuss.
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4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Guiding Points
•  Tell the students that they didn’t harvest examples of decomposers during the Word Harvest
game. Discuss what a decomposer is and its importance within an ecosystem. Discuss examples
of decomposers such as mushrooms and worms.
Guiding Questions
1. Grasshoppers, how did you feel when you were picking up your food? Did you have to compete
for resources? How did you feel once the shrews entered the game?
2. Shrews, were there enough grasshoppers for everyone? Did everyone get a chance to eat?
What would have happened to you if you were injured in some way? Would it have been easier or
harder to compete for food?
3. Hawks, did you have to worry about being hunted? Why not? What would be a problem for a
hawk in an ecosystem?
4. Let’s say that something happened to the grasshoppers and they all died within this ecosystem.
What would happen to the grass? What would happen to the shrews? Would this cause a problem
for the hawks?
Attachments
Word Harvest Game Directions
Food Chain Game Directions
Food Chain Game Chart
Food Chain Game Worksheet
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4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Attachment: Word Harvest Game Instructions
Preparation
•  Using the list below, write each producer and consumer on an index card.
•  Label two additional cards, “Producer” and “Consumer.” Attach each label to a bucket or
container. Spread out the index cards in a large, open area. Set out the buckets about 10-15 feet
away from where the index cards are spread out.
Producers
Consumers
potato plant
tomato plant
wheat
grass
lemon tree
lily pad
carrot plant
strawberry plant
corn plant
apple tree
peanut plant
raspberry bush
shrew
hawk
whale
owl
gorilla
deer
rabbit
caterpillar
raccoon
human
coyote
grasshopper
Activity Directions
1.  Divide the students into two groups. One group will be assigned to harvest the “producer”
cards, while the other group will be assigned to harvest the “consumer” cards. Make sure to
review the definition of a producer and a consumer.
2.  When the teacher says, “go,” each group of students will take turns (relay style) running to the
area where the cards have been laid out.
3.  When a member of the group gets to the area where the cards are spread out, the student will
search for an example of a “producer” or a “consumer” and will pick up the word. They will run
back and place their card in their group bucket.
4.  Go through each bucket after the students have finished harvesting all the organism cards. The
team that finishes first earns 5 points. Each correct card in their bucket adds another point. The
team with the most points wins.
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4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Attachment: Food Chain Game Directions
Preparation
•  Create cards for the game: Grasshoppers (16), Shrews (6), Hawks (3)
•  Cut up 200 pieces of green construction paper into approximately 1 x 1-inch squares.
•  Assign each student a role and pin a role card on their shirt. Spread out the green squares in a
large, open area.
Activity Directions
1. Review procedures with students. When you say, “go,” the grasshoppers will run to the open
area where the green squares are spread out and gather up as much grass (green squares) as
they can. Grass is placed in the baggies.
2. After 30 seconds, the teacher will tell the shrews to GO. The shrews need to find a grasshopper
to “eat.” They are to gently tap a grasshopper on the shoulder in order to “eat” them. Once the
grasshopper is tagged, they need to turn over their baggie of grass to the shrew. The grasshoppers
will then go and sit on the sidelines.
3. Thirty seconds after the shrews are released, the hawks will be released. They will then try to tag
the shrews and collect their bag(s) of food. The grasshoppers and shrews should still try to collect
whatever they can.
4. Continue for 30-45 seconds and say, “STOP.”
5. Instruct the students who are still in play (have not been eaten) to carry their food bags with them
to the classroom. Keep this group separate from the group that has been eaten.
6. Tell students who do not have food bags to sit on one side of the room and students who have
food bags to sit on the other side.
7. Instruct the students who have bags of food to count how many pieces of food are in their bags.
8. As a class, fill out the chart. On this chart, list how many organisms in each category you started
with and how many you ended with. Discuss the questions as a class. Pass out the student
worksheet and have students complete it in groups.
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4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Attachment: Food Chain Game Chart
Directions: As a class, tally up how many organism there were at the start of the
activity and at the end of the activity. Fill in the chart and answer the questions.
Number at Start
Number at End
Grass
Grasshoppers
Shrews
Hawks
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think there were more grasshoppers than shrews at the
beginning?
2. Why was the number of hawks the same in the beginning and at the
end?
3. Why was it important for the shrew to take the grasshopper’s bag of
grass when he was tagged? What does this demonstrate?
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4.9AB: Producers, Consumers, and Food Webs
Organisms and Environments
Attachment: Food Chain Game Worksheet
Directions: Use the words below to fill in the food chain.
Shrew
Grasshopper
Sun
Hawk
Grass
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