Yellowstone Food Web

National Science

Content Standards:

Life Science:

• Populations and

Ecosystems

Unifying Concepts and

Processes:

• Systems, Order,

and Organization

Vocabulary:

Producer

Carnivore

Omnivore

Herbivore

Interdependence

Materials:

• Copies of animal

sheet

• Color pencils

• Construction paper

Introduction: The students will create a food web diagram. This

lesson takes about one or two 80 minute classes to teach the

concept and work time on making the assignment.

This can be done prior to or after playing WolfQuest.

This activity could be done before or after playing

WolfQuest.

Objectives:

At the end of this activity, the student will:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of energy flow in an ecosystem.

2. Know that all species depend upon the other for survival.

3. Demonstrate knowledge of terms; omnivores, carnivores,

herbivores, and producers.

Procedure:

1. Students should cut out squares and glue onto a large piece

of paper forming a large circle.

2. Using the provided data sheet, students should begin to

create arrows showing what is eating what. For example, is a

wolf eats elk, the student should draw a line connecting the

elk box to the wolf box. The arrow shows the flow of energy,

in an ecosystem the animal that is eating is obtaining the

energy. Thus the arrow for our above example should be

pointing towards the wolf, not the elk.

3. Once the arrows are drawn, the students need to determine if

each species is a producer, omnivore, carnivore, or

herbivore. To demonstrate knowledge students should color

all producers green, omnivores blue, carnivores red, and

herbivores yellow.

Possible extensions:

 Allow students to create food web using different

materials: string, plastic animals, etc.

 Allow students to research and add to the web.

Increase amounts of plants, animals.

 Allow students to create a food web for an ecosystem in

your area. (marine ecosystems, freshwater lakes/rivers,

prairies, deserts, etc.)

Procedure (continued):

8. Have students work on critical thinking skills by asking them to

examine what would happen if one species was taken away

(extinct) from the web. What if something new was added

(exotic species)? What effects would that have on the food

web?

Snowshoe Hare

Stink Beetle

Western Meadowlark

Berries

Pocket Mouse

Bison

Flowers/Nectar

Spotted Skunk

Roots

Coyote

Monarch Butterfly

Rattlesnake

Deer Mouse

Raccoon

Ground Squirrel

Broad-Tailed

Hummingbird

Bull Snake

Elk

Leaves/Grasses

Seeds/Nuts

Wolf

Twigs

Shrubs

Mule Deer

FOOD WEB ASSIGNMENT

ANIMAL

WHAT IT EATS

Stink Beetle

leaves/grasses

Monarch

Butterfly

leaves(as a caterpillar), nectar

Broad-Tailed

Hummingbird

nectar

Western

Meadowlark

insects, seeds

Snowshoe Hare

leaves/grasses, flowers, berries,

shrubs

Pocket Mouse

insects, seeds

Deer Mouse

seeds/nuts, berries,

leaves/grasses, insects

Ground Squirrel

leaves/grasses, seeds/nuts,

berries, insects

Raccoon

fruits, nuts, grass, insects, bird

eggs

Spotted Skunk

mice, bird eggs, insects, grasses,

berries

Mule Deer

shrubs, twigs, grasses

Bull Snake

ground squirrels, mice

Rattlesnake

ground squirrels, mice

Bison

grasses

Elk

grasses, twigs, berries

Wolf

elk, mule deer, bison

Coyote

scavenger: will eat almost anything

animal or vegetable; prefers

rodents, rabbits

Using the above data chart, create a food web:

• Cut out each of the organism pictures and glue onto large paper.

• Draw arrows that show the flow of energy. (Arrow goes to the eating animal)

• Color Producers (Green) [Organisms that produce energy]

• Color Herbivores (Yellow) [Animals that eat only plants]

• Color Carnivores (Red) [Animals that eat only animals]

• Color Omnivores (Blue) [Animals that eat both plants & animals]