In this activity, students build a food web that represents the Aotearoa New Zealand bush ecosystem. Students use images of organisms within the ecosystem to explore the relationships between them.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
- understand the difference between a food chain and a food web
- describe some of the relationships between organisms within the New Zealand bush ecosystem
- explain why birds have an important role in the New Zealand bush ecosystem
- explain possible outcomes of an imbalance of diversity within our ecosystems.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
- introduction/background notes
- what you need
- what to do
- discussion questions
- ecosystem organisms – student worksheet
- organism cards
- food web example.
Related content
Read these articles for some background information:
- Predation of native birds
- Protecting native birds
- Birds’ role in ecosystems
- Native bird losses affect plant species
- Mistletoes and mutualism
- Pollination
We re-purposed the popular Building Science Concepts Book 3: Birds: Structure, Function, and Adaptation with an article and interactive linking this great resource with Hub content.
Check out this collection of food web related resources we curated on Pinterest.
Activity ideas
Try these related activities with your ākonga:
- Constructing food webs
- Biodiversity battleships
- Conserving native birds – unit plan
- Making a food web
- New Zealand bush ecosystems
- Making a food web (focus on the Antarctic ecosystem, but cold be adapted)
