Ocean Food Webs · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Ocean Food Webs

Science · Ocean Life · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In this path, what do zooplankton eat?

    AlgaeZooplanktonSmall fishTuna
    • Tuna
    • Algae
    • Small fish

  2. What is a food web?

    • Many food chains connected together
    • One single path of who eats whom
    • A map of the ocean floor

  3. In a food web, only one animal can eat each kind of prey.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Look at this path: algae, zooplankton, small fish, tuna. How many living things are in this one path?

    AlgaeZooplanktonSmall fishTuna

    Answer: ______________

  5. Which pair shows two different paths that both start with algae?

    • Algae to shark to tuna, and zooplankton to algae to crab
    • Tuna to shark to algae, and small fish to zooplankton to algae
    • Algae to zooplankton to small fish to tuna, and algae to small fish to shark

  6. If small fish disappeared from the ocean, what would most likely happen?

    • Zooplankton might increase and tuna would have less food
    • Nothing would change since fish are not important
    • Algae would stop making food

  7. Leo says a food web is just a food chain with a fancier name. What is wrong with what Leo said?

    • A food chain has more animals than a food web
    • Nothing, they mean the exact same thing
    • A food web shows many connected food chains, not just one path

  8. A fishing boat catches almost all the sardines in one area, and sea lions that eat sardines start to starve. What does this show?

    • Sea lions and sardines are not connected in the food web
    • Removing one species can affect other species far along the web
    • Sardines do not matter to the ocean food web
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Ocean Food Webs W1-mt_OnV_DTp5i8-s1

  1. Algae · Zooplankton eat algae, the tiny producers that make their own food using sunlight.
  2. Many food chains connected together · A food web links many food chains together, showing all the paths energy can take through the ocean.
  3. False · In a real food web, many different animals often eat the same prey, and one animal often eats many different foods.
  4. 4 · Count each living thing once: algae, zooplankton, small fish, and tuna makes four links.
  5. Algae to zooplankton to small fish to tuna, and algae to small fish to shark · Both paths start with algae, the producer, then energy flows up through different animals.
  6. Zooplankton might increase and tuna would have less food · Small fish eat zooplankton and get eaten by tuna, so losing them affects both what they ate and what ate them.
  7. A food web shows many connected food chains, not just one path · A food chain is one path. A food web shows how many chains connect and overlap in a real ecosystem.
  8. Removing one species can affect other species far along the web · Sardines connect many parts of the web, so removing them can hurt the animals that depended on them.
Worksheet · LightMySky