Creating Food Webs

Animals rarely exist in single, one-dimensional food chains. In order to demonstrate a more realistic representation of how energy passes from living thing to another, students will create a food web from different food chains in a single habitat. In a similar way to food chains, the arrows represent the flow of energy from one animal to another. The different colors are there to emphasize the different trophic levels, but are not necessary.

As an alternative to this assignment, give students the example food web and get students to identify different food chains from it. As an extension, get students to start to thinking how the population of one type of living thing affects another. For example if the number of Mussels increase, how will this affect the population of whelk?

Student Instructions

In the real world animals rarely exist in single food chains. Often animals need to eat different plants and animals to get all the nutrients they need. One way of showing more complex energy transfer relationships between living thing is using food webs. Create a food web from different food chains. Remember that all food webs start with energy from the Sun.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Use these food chains to put together your food web. Use Photos for Class to find images and label them with their names. Make sure to use arrows to show the flow of energy from one living thing to another.


• Sun → Phytoplankton → Zooplankton → Caridean Shrimp → Cod
• Sun → Phytoplankton → Zooplankton → Caridean Shrimp → Laughing Gull
• Sun → Phytoplankton → Mussels → Laughing Gull
• Sun → Phytoplankton → Mussels → Jonah Crab → Laughing Gull
• Sun → Phytoplankton → Mussels → Whelk
• Sun → Phytoplankton → Mussels → American Lobster
• Sun → Seaweed → Limpet → Jonah Crab
• Sun → Seaweed → Limpet → Whelk → Laughing Gull