Food Chain Webquest Name:____________ Homebase:__________ Date: _______________
Stop #1-Kids Corner Producers and Consumers
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/producersconsumers.htm
Producers/Consumers
1. Why are plants called producers? Plants are called producers because they make their own food.
2. In photosynthesis, plants use:
Carbon
Dioxide
+
Sunlight
+
Water
MAKE
Glucose
(sugar)
+
Oxygen
3. Why is photosynthesis so important? Photosynthesis is important because it is how the plants make
food for themselves, and ultimately for all organisms. It also produces oxygen for animals to
breathe. Without it, there are no other organisms!
4. Animals are called consumers because: they cannot make their own food so they need to consume or
eat other plants and/or animals.
5. Write down the three types of consumers and describe them.
Herbivores are animals that eat only plants.
Carnivores are animals that eat only animals.
Omnivores are animals that eat both animals and plants.
6. What do decomposers do? Decomposers eat dead plants and animals and in the process they break
them down into smaller molecules.
7. Why are decomposers so important? The smaller molecules (nutrients) that they produce are needed
by plants to grow properly. Without decomposers, ecosystems would break down and many
organisms would cease to exist.
8. The two types of primary decomposers are bacteria and fungi.
Stop #2 - Play the Producer/Consumer/Decomposer Game:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm
As you play, write down all the producers, consumers and decomposers in the chart below
Producers
grass
flower
algae
House plant
cactus
tree
Consumers
cat
cow
bird
fish
human
butterfly
Decomposers
mushrooms
worms
fungi
mold
bacteria
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Food Chain
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain.htm
What does a food chain show? A food chain shows how living things get food and how nutrients and
energy are passed on from one organism to another.
Click to learn about bigger food chains!
In the bigger food chain, what is the function of the mushroom and other decomposers?
They break down the dead hawk, and turn the remains of the hawk into smaller molecules
(nutrients), which are released into the soil, and then used by plants to grow.
Play the Food Chain Game and fill in the chart, like that of the example:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm
Food Chain
Producer
Primary
Consumer
Example
Simple
Bigger
Marine
Mixed
Full
Full Marine
With Human
Grass
Flower
Acorns
Algae
Flower
Plant
Plankton
Plankton
Grasshopper
Caterpillar
Mouse
Small fish
Insect
Grasshopper
Fish
Mussel
Secondary
Consumer
Snake
Bird
Snake
Big fish
Small fish
Lizard
Jellyfish
Small fish
Tertiary
Consumer
Hawk
XXXXX
Hawk
Dolphin
Big fish
Eagle
Turtle
Big fish
Quaternary
Consumer
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
Seagull
XXXXXXX
Shark
Human
Decomposer
Fungi
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
Mushrooms
Bacteria
XXXXXXX
Stop #3 - Chain Reaction http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm
1. What is bioaccumulation? (SCROLL DOWN!!!!!) The increase in concentration (amount) of a
substance in living organisms as they take in contaminated air, water, or food.
2. What northern animal gets the greatest concentration of toxins? The polar bear.
Why? When bigger animals eat smaller animals, the level of toxins in the food is added to
what’s already in their bodies (in their fat tissue), and polar bears are at the top of the food
chain, so their toxins are the highest.
3. What happens to the level of contamination of toxins as you move up the food chain? It increases.
4. Why would this be a problem for humans? Humans are usually at the top of the food chain, so we
can end up with high amounts of toxins in our bodies.
PLAY THE GAME, then Click on “Northern Food Chain”
1. Write down the order of things in the “Northern Food Chain”. The things in alphabetical order are:
algae, cod (fish), polar bear, seal, shrimp and sun.
Sun  Algae  Shrimp  Cod (fish)  Seal  Polar bear
2. When the fish (cod) is removed, what happens to each of the following organisms and why?
Shrimp Increase because there will be nothing there to eat them. Once all the algae die out, the
shrimp will decrease in numbers and/or move away.
Algae Decrease because there are so many shrimp that eat the algae.
Seals Since there are no more cod to eat, the seals move away to look for food to eat.
Polar Bears Since there are no more seals to eat, the polar bears either eat other things or move
away to find food to eat.
Click on “Forest Food Chain”
3. Write down the order of things in the “Forest Food Chain”. The things in alphabetical order are:
frog, grass, grasshopper, owl, snake and sun.
Sun  Grass  Grasshopper  Frog  Snake  Owl
4. When the frog is removed, what happens to each of the following organisms and why?
Grasshoppers Increase because there will be nothing to eat them. Once the grass disappears, the
grasshoppers will decrease in numbers and/or move away.
Grass There will be less grass because the extra grasshoppers will eat a lot of it.
Snakes They will move away since there are are no more frogs to eat.
Owls They will either eat other things or move away because there are no more snakes to eat.
Stop #4 - Food Chain Puzzle
http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/foodpuzzlechain.html
1. Complete Q #1-10. Then, show your teacher the page saying, “You have 100%......” get their initial___
Stop #5 - Food Chain http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/science/living_things/food_chains/play.shtml
2. What’s at the top of the
Stop #6 - Food Web
land food chain? Common buzzard
the sea food chain? Orca
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorer/ecosystems/be_an_explorer/map/foodweb_play.htm
1. Complete the food web. Show your teacher the “Food Web Certificate of Achievement!” Get their initial___
2. Who is the greatest threat to the food web? humans
3. What happens if vegetation (plants) decreases? The other organisms will have to move away to look
for sources of food and their homes, otherwise they will die.
4. What do you think would happen to the populations in the food web if the soil became polluted from the
disposal phase of the materials economy?
If the soil became polluted from the disposal phase of the materials economy, the different
populations of the food web will decrease in number or move away from their present habitat.
5. Which organism would be affected the most and why? The top predator (jaguar) would be most
affected because of bioaccumulation, the build up of pollutants (toxins) through the food web.
6. In this 2-organism food chain, A  B, which organism is being consumed? B Which is the consumer? A
In food web and food chains, the arrows point towards the consumer or the user of energy
In food web and food chains, the arrows point away from the organism being consumed or the giver of
energy.
Stop #7 – Reflection (using your brains)
____________________________
______________________________________________________
2a) What effect are humans having on organisms on Earth? ________________________
2b) What are some things that humans are doing to have that effect? ____________________
______________________________________________________
2c) What are some things that you and/or people could do to lessen that effect? _______________
______________________________________________________
1. How can one organism affect another organism?
Stop #8 – Brain Pop on Ecosystems
1. Watch the Brain Pop on ecosystems http://www.brainpop.com/science/ecologyandbehavior/ecosystems/
The password and login are both: ismanila. Then complete the following:
a) Define the following terms:
Community – consists of all the living things in an ecosystem
Ecosystem - a group of living and non-living things that interact with each other.
Habitat – where an organism in an ecosystem lives
Population – a population is ALL of one type of organism within an ecosystem.
b) Provide at least one example of the following that were given in the above Brain Pop.
Ecosystem – Desert, pond, lake, river, rainforest, Community - the desert community
Population- Kangaroo rat or owl or cactus or….
Habitat – the desert or………
c) Write the letter(s) C, E, H or P (representing Community, Ecosystem, Habitat or Population) that best
represents the following:
P
H
C
C
E
E, H
H
H
P
E
d) Take the graded quiz: http://www.brainpop.com/science/ecologyandbehavior/ecosystems/quiz/
until you get a perfect score. Show to your teacher or screenshot & email the page that says,
“You scored 10 out a possible 10”, and then get a teacher initial _____
2. Watch the Brain Pop on Tropical Rainforests. http://www.brainpop.com/science/earthsystem/tropicalrainforests/
What does the coffee industry do that affects the rainforest ecosystem? They cut down trees in the rainforest
to make way for coffee plantations.
What effect does this have on the organisms (plant and animal) that are in the rainforest ecosystem? It causes
all populations to decrease in numbers.
Why? No rainforest = less habitat = fewer producers and therefore fewer consumers
Stop #9 – BBC Food Chain http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zq4wjxs/activity
1. Which animal is the predator? the fox_
Which animal is the prey? the rabbit
a) If the number of foxes increase, what happens initially to the number/amount of
i) rabbits decrease
Why? because more foxes are eating them
ii) grass increase
Why? because less rabbits are eating the grass
b) Then what happens, to the number of foxes? They decrease
Why? because there are less rabbits for them to eat.
c) Then what happens, to the number of rabbits? They increase
Why? because there are less foxes eating them.
d) Draw and label what a biomass pyramid will always look like.
Secondary consumer (top predator)
Primary consumer (prey)
Producer
e) What would happen to organisms in the food web if the soil became polluted as a result of the extraction
or disposal phase of the materials economy? The different populations of the food web will
decrease in number or move away from their present habitat.
f) Which organism would be affected the most and why? The top predators (owl, fox) would be most
affected because the amount of pollutants (toxins) increase as you move up a food
chain/web
g) Arrange the following organisms in order from lowest to highest concentration of mercury.
small fish, tuna, plankton, large fish plankton, small fish, large fish, tuna
What is this process (the one happening with the mercury and the food chain) called? Bioaccumulation
Hint: Go back to Stop #3 of this webquest!
h) What would/could happen if humans ate large amounts of contaminated tuna?
They could get very ill/sick and even die.
i) What stage(s) of the materials economy could cause this type of pollution?
Extraction, production, disposal,
j) http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zq4wjxs/test
Complete the test, until you get a perfect score. Show us or screenshot/email it. Get a teacher initial ____