======Interactive Food Web Game======


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**Materials: **{{$demo.materials_description}}\\
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**Alternative titles:** Ecosystem Connections Game
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====Summary====                   
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====Procedure====  
  - Prepare a food web diagram for an endangered species ecosystem.
  - Write the names of organisms from the food web onto index cards. Duplicate lower-level species like plants and insects to represent their abundance.
  - Distribute one card per student. Each student introduces their organism and its role in the ecosystem.
  - Give the student with the endangered species card a ball of yarn. They hold one end and toss the yarn to another student while explaining the connection between their organisms.
  - Each recipient keeps hold of the yarn and tosses the ball to another student, explaining connections, until all students are linked.
  - Once the web is complete, point out its complexity and connections.
  - Simulate extinction by cutting the yarn of the endangered species. Discuss how the network collapses and which organisms are most affected.
  - Encourage predictions about secondary effects, such as prey overpopulation or predator starvation.



====Links==== 
Food Webbing Activity - Carol G Cummings: 
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📄 An Interactive Food Web Game for the Classroom - ThoughtCo: [[https://www.thoughtco.com/interactive-food-web-game-1182042]]\\


====Variations====
  * Use different ecosystems (marine, forest, desert) to compare complexity of food webs.
  * Assign multiple endangered species and compare impacts when different links are removed.
  * Extend the game by introducing "environmental changes" (pollution, habitat loss) and cutting additional yarn strands.
  * Combine with digital food web diagrams for added visual learning.



====Safety Precautions====
  * Ensure students remain seated or in a clear area while tossing yarn to prevent tripping.
  * Supervise younger students when handling scissors and yarn.




====Questions to Consider====
  * What happens to the food web when one species goes extinct? (Connections break, and dependent species may decline or collapse.)
  * Why are lower-level species often duplicated in the game? (They are more numerous and support many higher-level organisms.)
  * How does the loss of a predator affect the population of prey? (Prey populations may increase, potentially leading to resource depletion.)
  * Why is it important to study food webs when protecting endangered species? (Conservation must consider all ecosystem relationships, not just the target species.)
  * How does this activity model real-world ecological interdependence? (It shows that all species are linked, and disruptions affect the entire system.)