A forest food web with twelve organisms anchors this 3-page 5th grade science worksheet. Grass and oak tree (acorns) feed rabbit, grasshopper, mouse and deer, which feed frog, bird, snake, fox and hawk, while fungi sit at the side as decomposers. Page 2 asks ten questions on producers, herbivores, predators, a four-organism food chain and what happens if frogs or oak trees disappear. Page 3 holds the answer key.
“Identify producers, herbivores and top predators in a food web.”
Questions 1, 2 and 7 on page 2 ask for each.
“Trace energy through a food chain by following arrows.”
Questions 3, 4 and 6 ask students to follow arrows and write a chain.
“Predict how losing one organism changes a food web.”
Questions 9 and 10 remove frogs and oak trees.
A diagram with an arrow from each organism to the animal that eats it. A box below shows how to read the arrows, with grass giving energy to a rabbit. Fungi sit in a dashed box with a note that decomposers break down dead plants and animals.
Ten questions in two columns. Students name two producers and three herbivores, say what eats the mouse and the grasshopper, find the animal with the most food sources, and write a four-organism food chain with arrows.
Questions 7 to 10 ask for two top predators, the job of fungi, what happens to snakes if frogs disappear and which two herbivores lose food if the oak trees die.
Short answers for all ten, including three sample four-organism chains such as grass, grasshopper, frog and snake.
Arrow direction first
Read the Reading the Arrows box aloud before anyone starts. Students who point arrows from eater to food will get most of page 2 backwards.
Trace with a finger
Have students trace the hawk's three food sources with a colored pencil. It makes question 5 quick, and it shows why the arrows cross.
Remove one organism
After question 9, cross out the frog on a class copy and ask what else changes. Students usually find the effect on hawks and mice as well.
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