Food Web Project

This project will be used to show mastery of some of the the content in Chapter 1, specifically Lessons 2 and 3. You will be creating a food web using poster board and pictures or drawings of all the organisms that make up a food web.  This assignment also includes a writing element.

Your project will have 10 total specimens.  All of your specimens must be found in the same ecosystem.  Example:  An ocean ecosystem may include seaweed, barnacles, coral, octopus, shark, whale, etc.  Pick an ecosystem that you find interesting.  Some possibilities are: forest, jungle/rain forest, desert, ocean, mountain, pond, etc.  You must label your poster as to what SPECIFIC ecosystem you are showing.  For example, Amazon Rainforest, Great Barrier Reef, Mississippi River, California’s Northern Coast, Sahara Desert. You will lose points if it is not labeled properly.

Specimens - 100 points

Your 10 specimens are to be divided up in the following manner:

Energy Source:

The sun must be located somewhere on your poster.  This does NOT count as one of your 10 specimens. 

Producers:

4 must be included. 

Consumers:

5 must be included.  

Decomposers:

1 must be included. 

Identification - 50 points

Identification of your specimens must be accurate.  Each specimen must be correctly identified with its specific name. For example, not a fox, a Red Fox.

Labels - 50 points

Each specimen must be accurately labeled as to its role within your food web.  (producer, consumer, decomposer).  Use correct vocabulary.  Print very neatly or type on a word processor.  Print, cut, and glue.  Remember, neatness counts!

Links – Energy Transfer - 50 points

You will connect all your specimens with lines showing the transfer of energy.  Arrows must point the correct direction and be biologically accurate in terms of predator-prey and producer/consumer relationships.  Use a ruler to achieve neat, straight lines (you may have curved lines if you are neat about it).

Presentation - 50 points

Your food web must be done on white poster board, unless your specific ecosystem demands a certain color (light blue for ocean, light brown for desert).  The presentation portion of your grade will be based on neatness, effort, arrangement of specimens, and creativity. 

Writing Element - 100 points

On the front of your poster you must include a 2 paragraph description of your food web and the ecosystem it exists in.Your writing may not hang off the edge of the poster.

· What is the overall structure of the text?

· What key words and details support the text structure you chose?

· How do the headings in the text complement the text's structure?