Little Lab Coats
Ecosystems & Food Webs Reference Card
Grade 5 · LS1
Living things depend on energy, matter, and interactions with other organisms in their ecosystem.
Key vocabulary
ecosystemproducerconsumerdecomposer
What to notice
- Energy moves from the Sun to producers and then to consumers.
- A food web shows many connections, not just one chain.
- Decomposers recycle matter back into ecosystems.
- Changes in one population can affect others.
Materials snapshot
- Organism cards or pictures
- String or yarn for food web models
- Notebook
- Recycled containers or soil for mini ecosystem tests
Talk-about prompts
- What would happen if one population decreased?
- How is a food web different from a food chain?
- Why do decomposers matter?
- Where does the original energy come from?
Why it matters
Food webs help students understand that ecosystems are connected systems. Energy flow and matter cycling explain why changes in one place can ripple through the whole community.
Try this next: Observe a local outdoor space and sketch a simple food web using producers, consumers, and decomposers you notice.