In this activity, students build their own food web using images of organisms from the marine ecosystem. This activity can be done indoors on paper or outdoors on a tarmac surface using chalk.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- understand the difference between a food chain and a food web
- understand that food webs are made up of producers, consumers and decomposers
- build and revise their own food web to show the interdependence of organisms in an ecosystem
- understand the potential impact of the removal or reduction of one species on the rest of the food web.
Marine trophic pyramid
Food webs throughout the world all have the same basic trophic levels. However, the number and type of species that make up each level varies greatly between different areas and different ecosystems.
Download a PDF of this diagram.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
- introduction/background notes
- what you need
- what to do
- discussion questions
- possible variations
- student worksheet
- trophic pyramid diagram
- tuna sandwich diagram (transfer of energy)
- organism cards (small)
- organism cards (large).
My kids have been making arrows to add to a poster of a foodweb and are then going to teach the lesson to another group within the class, they love the fact they are teaching others.
Year 5/6 teacher
Related content
Read about how one primary school teacher adapted this activity to focus on ecosystems within the school grounds.
Further explore marine habitats, marine food webs and Marine organisms and adaptations.
Activity ideas
Try these similar activities:
- Making a food web is a practical way for students to understand the complexity of food webs.
- Marine ecosystem this interactive diagram explores food webs and other aspects of life in the sea.
- Beach visits – habitats and food webs involves students in researching and then observing a range of organisms to understand the interconnected nature of ecosystems.
Useful link
This section on the Victoria State Government Science Continuum website has more information about common student alternative conceptions related to food webs.
