This is a fun idea to add to your unit on ecosystems. Make a life-sized version of an ocean food web for students to work their way through. How fun is this!
Setting Up
Print off the photos and at least 9 arrows. Set up the food web in a large open space. You can use sidewalk chalk instead of the paper arrows to make the area even larger for your whole class. You can draw large circles around each organism with sidewalk chalk so students know where to stand.
Idea #1
Students each represent a unit of energy. Where did they come from before arriving at the phytoplankton? Allow students to take any path they choose as long as they follow the arrows. Along the way, students record where they went. Then, students write about how energy was transferred.
Idea #2
Students are each a unit of energy. They begin at Phytoplankton. Leave 3 students at phytoplankton. The rest move to krill. At this point, the group separates into 3 groups. Group #1 moves to jellyfish. Group #2 moves to the squid. Group #3 stays at the krill.
Group #1 at the jellyfish separates into two groups. One stays at the jellyfish and the other moves on to the loggerhead. Again, separate the group at the loggerhead into 2 groups. One group stays behind and the other moves to the orca.
Group #2 at the squid separates into 3 groups again. 1/3 go to the orca. 1/3 go to the tuna. 1/3 stays at the squid. Lastly, half of the group at the tuna goes to the orca and half of the group at the tuna stays there.
Finally, talk about what happens to all of the energy when those organisms die. Where does it go? Into decomposers! Break out the bacteria card and have everyone join together again there.
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