Creating Chains and Webs to Model Ecological Relationships

Topic

Resource Type

Level

Potential to Adapt for Middle School High School — General High School — AP/IB

Used In

4 BioInteractive Playlists

Favorited By

26 Users

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Description

This hands-on activity allows students to build model food webs and then evaluate how ecological disturbances affect each trophic level.

Students begin the activity by identifying producers and consumers in the savanna ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Using a set of “Gorongosa cards,” they create food chains to show the flow of energy in the system, introduce an ecological force or disturbance (e.g., fire), and predict how that force would impact animals in the chain. Lastly, students will construct a more complex model of the flow of energy by depicting multiple relationships in a food web and again make a prediction about the impact of introducing an ecological force.

Student Learning Targets

Classify organisms based on their roles in the transfer of energy in an ecosystem.
Create a model (e.g., a food chain) showing feeding relationships among organisms.
Evaluate different models that depict relationships among organisms in a community.
Predict how ecological forces or disturbances may impact their models and justify their claim with evidence.

Details

Estimated Time

Two 50-minute class periods.

Key Terms

carnivore, consumer, energy flow, herbivore, omnivore, primary consumer, producer, quaternary consumer, rule of 10 percent, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer

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Version History

Date Published 08.14.15

Updated 12.17.19

Curriculum Connections

NGSS (2013)

HS-LS2-2, HS-LS2-4, HS-LS2-6; SEP2, SEP6

AP Biology (2015)

2.A.1, 2.D.1, 4.A.6, 4.B.3; SP1, SP6

IB Biology (2016)

4.1, 4.2, C.1

AP Environmental Science (2013)

II.A, II.B

IB Environmental Systems and Societies (2017)

2.1, 2.3

Common Core (2010)

ELA.RST.9-12.2, ELA.WHST.9-12.9

Vision and Change (2009)

CC5; DP1, DP3

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1-Minute Tips

Creating Chains and Webs to Model Ecological Relationships

Sheila Smith explains how she uses the "Creating Chains and Webs" BioInteractive activity to teach her students about the direction of energy flow in food chains and webs. She also uses the short film "The Guide" to introduce the topic.

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