Ecosystems and Food Webs

Name:

Date:

Page 1 — Learn About Ecosystems

Learning goals: I can describe an ecosystem, identify living and non-living factors, explain food chains and food webs, and suggest ways to care for the environment.

Instructions: Read each question carefully. Circle the best answer or write a complete response.

1. What is an ecosystem?

Only the animals in an area

Living and non-living things interacting in an area

Only the weather in an area

A single plant

2. Which two are abiotic factors?

Sunlight

Water

Grass

Rabbit

3. Match each word to its meaning. Write the correct letter on the line.

1. Habitat ______

2. Producer ______

3. Consumer ______

4. Decomposer ______

A. An organism that breaks down dead matter

B. The place where an organism lives

C. An organism that makes its own food

D. An organism that gets energy by eating

4. Complete the sentences using these words: biotic, abiotic, habitat, ecosystem.

A forest is an ____________ because living and non-living things interact there.

A frog’s ____________ may be a pond.

Plants and animals are ____________ factors. Rocks and air are ____________ factors.

Page 2 — Food Webs, Adaptations, and Responsibility

Instructions: Use arrows to show the direction of energy. Remember: arrows point from the food to the eater.

5. Build a food chain using these organisms: grass, grasshopper, frog, snake, hawk.

__________ → __________ → __________ → __________ → __________

Which organism is the producer? ____________________

Which organism is the top consumer? ____________________

6. Study this pond food web. Draw arrows to show who eats whom: algae, insect, small fish, frog, heron.

Algae is eaten by the insect and the small fish. The insect is eaten by the frog. The small fish and frog are eaten by the heron.

7. Sort each organism into the correct group: maple tree, deer, mushroom, fox, grass, earthworm.

Producers: __________________________________________

Consumers: _________________________________________

Decomposers: _______________________________________

8. A beaver’s large teeth help it cut branches, and its webbed feet help it swim. How do these features help the beaver survive?

9. A stream near a town is filled with litter. Name one possible effect on the ecosystem and one action people could take to help.

10. Creative design task: Design a healthy British Columbia ecosystem. Include at least one producer, two consumers, one decomposer, two abiotic factors, and arrows showing a food chain.

Page 3 — Review and Teacher Answer Key

Student review: In one or two sentences, explain why removing one organism can affect an entire food web.

Teacher Answer Key

1. Living and non-living things interacting in an area.

2. Sunlight and water.

3. 1-B, 2-C, 3-D, 4-A.

4. ecosystem; habitat; biotic; abiotic.

5. Grass → grasshopper → frog → snake → hawk. Producer: grass. Top consumer: hawk.

6. Algae → insect; algae → small fish; insect → frog; small fish → heron; frog → heron.

7. Producers: maple tree, grass. Consumers: deer, fox. Decomposers: mushroom, earthworm.

8. The teeth help the beaver gather food or build a home. Webbed feet help it move through water and escape danger.

9. Accept answers such as polluted water harming plants or animals; actions may include removing litter, using less plastic, or organising a clean-up.

10. Check that the design includes all required parts and correctly shows energy moving from food to eater.

Review. Accept answers explaining that organisms depend on one another for food or that a population change can affect predators, prey, and other parts of the web.