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Creating Chains and Webs to Model Ecological Relationships

Varias cebras sobre un pastizal.

Topic

  • Ecology
  • Ecosystems
  • Matter & Energy
  • Scientific Skills & Literacy
  • Visual & Physical Models

Resource Type

  • Activities
  • Card Activities

Level

High School — GeneralHigh School — AP/IB
Used In
1 BioInteractive Playlists
Saved By
105 Users
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View in Spanish

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.

The “Resource Google Folder” link directs to a Google Drive folder of resource documents in the Google Docs format. Not all downloadable documents for the resource may be available in this format. The Google Drive folder is set as “View Only”; to save a copy of a document in this folder to your Google Drive, open that document, then select File → “Make a copy.” These documents can be copied, modified, and distributed online following the Terms of Use listed in the “Details” section below, including crediting BioInteractive.

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.

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

Terms of Use

Please see the Terms of Use for information on how this resource can be used.

Version History

Date Published 08.14.15
Date Updated 04.09.20

NGSS (2013)

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

AP Biology (2019)

ENE-1.H, ENE-1.N, ENE-1.O, ENE4.C, SYI-1.H, SYI-3.G; SP1, SP2, SP4, SP6

IB Biology (2016)

4.1, 4.2, C.1

AP Environmental Science (2020)

Topic(s): 1.9, 1.10, 1.11
Learning Objectives & Practices: ENG-1.B, ENG-1.C, ENG-1.D, SP1, SP2, SP4, SP5

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

Materials

Resource Google Folder (Link)
Educator Materials (PDF) 527 KB
Student Worksheet (PDF) 514 KB
Double-sided cards (PDF) 6 MB
Single-sided cards (PDF) 6 MB
Materiales para el educador (PDF) 302 KB
Hoja de trabajo para el estudiante (PDF) 290 KB
Tarjetas - ambos lados (PDF) 6 MB

Additional Materials

  • Gorongosa cards (24 total)
  • paper and pencil (or whiteboards and markers)

Use This Resource With

Video Resource
The Guide: A Biologist in Gorongosa

Educator Tips

Hear how educators are using BioInteractive content in their teaching.
Educator standing in front of several images of animals. Play Video Previous Slide Next Slide
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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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This Resource Appears in the Following Playlists

Showing of
Teaching Ecology Using Gorongosa National Park
6 Resources
By: BioInteractive
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