Unit 1 Activities  
1 What Makes Up a Rainforest? 9 Rainforest Cryptosphere
2 Viewing the Rainforest 10 Animal/Plant Relationships
3 Making a Glossary 11 Valuing the Rainforest
4 Maps, Maps, Maps 12 Rainforest Guided Walk
5 Ancient Forests 13 Animals and Palnts at Risk
6 Biodiversity 14 Reporting on an Animal at Risk
7 Rainforest Features 15 Music Inspiring Poetry
8 Rainforest Food Web 16 Producing a Brochure

Activity 8 - Rainforest Food Web

Focus
Tropical rainforest is the most complex ecosystem on earth. The relationships between its life forms can illustrated by a food web.

Backgorund
The short video Rainforest Food Webs is a useful introduction to this activity.

Rainforest Food Webs

The Rainforest Food Web Diagram shows predator – prey relationships in a series of interconnected food chains. Food webs are organised by trophic level starting with producers (plants) which are consumed by herbivores (Level 1 consumers) which in turn, are consumed by Level 2 consumers and so on.

Pedagogy/teaching strategies
Plants and animal lists are obtained using the Think–Pair-Share Strategy.

Activity sequence
1. List the names of Wet Tropics plants and animals from prior knowledge, reference books, videos, websites and tourist brochures.
2. Introduce the Rainforest Food Web Diagram to model the inter-relationships between producers, herbivores, carnivores and decomposers.
3. Teacher uses the Blank Food Web Activity Sheet together with some of the animals and plants that students have listed to demonstrate the construction of a food web.
4. Groups of three students use the blank Food Web Diagram to form a pictorial reproduction (collage) of a food web.
5. Groups present their food webs to the class and explain the relationships.

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