Lesson 2 of 6

Food webs

Goal: Combine food chains into a food web.

Puzzles for this lesson

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A barn owl flying low over a meadow, hunting

Most animals eat more than one thing, so food chains join up to make a food web.

  • A predator hunts and eats other animals. The animals it eats are its prey. A frog is both: it hunts grasshoppers, and owls hunt it.
  • A herbivore eats only plants. A carnivore eats only other animals. An omnivore eats both.
Fungi growing on a rotting log
Decomposers belong in every food web. Bacteria and fungi break down dead plants, dead animals and waste. This puts nutrients back into the soil for producers to use.

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Key words in this lesson

Food chain Shows what eats what, in one line that starts with a producer

Food web Food chains from one ecosystem joined together

Producer A green plant or alga that makes its own food

Predator An animal that hunts and eats other animals

Prey An animal that is hunted and eaten

Herbivore An animal that eats only plants

Carnivore An animal that eats only other animals

Decomposer Breaks down dead plants and animals, so nutrients are recycled

For teachers: AQA 3.9.1 · Pearson Edexcel 9.2 · Cambridge 7Be.02, 7Be.01 in part