Food Web Relationships - producer/consumer, predator/prey, or parasite/host "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe" -- John Muir

1. Get the facts about - Food Chains and Webs

Food Chain and Food web | Meadow Food Chains, Kalman, Bobbie

Exploring Meadow Food Chains by Katie Kawa

Food Chains in a Meadow Habitat by Isaac Nadeau, Dwight Kuhn (Check your library)

2. Read the folk tale Sly Fox by Beulah Murrelle

3. Create a matrix (Need help? - Matrices @ Math Dude)

Use the first row to label the Columns -

Animal Species - Predator - Prey - Producer - Consumer - Parasite - Host.

Down the first column, enter each animal species mentioned in the story.
(Skip the one in the simile.)
Or select 7 species found in meadows, fields and fencerows in your local/state.

Enter 1 animal species in each row starting in row 2.

Use the matrix to sort out the relationships.

For each species :

Ask yourself - Is it a predator? If yes, place a checkmark in the cell.
If no, leave the cell blank.

Continue through each column and do all animal rows.

Examine the matrix - What have you found?

How many of the animals are predators?

What percentage of the animals are prey?

How many of the animals are producers?

What percentage are consumers?

Which relationship is represented the most in the story?

Which relationship is represented the least in the story?

What conclusion(s) can you come to using the information?

Extend your efforts:

Draw a food web of fields & meadow organisms. Show the flow of energy.
(You do not have to draw pictures. Use public domain images. If you prefer, type the names and draw the arrows using the draw arrow tool.)

(doc. / pdf version of this activity for printing)