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7th grade Food webs: where energy and matter go in an ecosystem worksheet

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Food webs: where energy and matter go in an ecosystem

Grade 7 Science Worksheet - Building Confidence

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

  1. Ari reads a pond web with one arrow, from pond algae to tadpoles. What does the arrow show?

    • The pond algae get energy from the tadpoles
    • Energy moves in a circle between the two organisms
    • The tadpoles live inside the pond algae
    • The tadpoles get energy from the pond algae
  2. Bo sees an arrow from fallen leaves to fungi on a forest floor. Which way does the energy move?

    • Around and around, back to the leaves
    • From the fallen leaves to the fungi
    • Nowhere; arrows show which box is bigger
    • From the fungi to the fallen leaves
  3. In Esme's school garden web, an arrow runs from the sun to the bean plants. What role do the bean plants have?

    • Producer: it makes its own food using light
    • Consumer: it gets energy from other organisms
    • Decomposer: it breaks down remains in the soil
    • Producer: it takes its food from the soil
  4. In Tala's forest web, an arrow runs from oak seeds to mice. What role do the mice have?

    • Consumer: it gets energy from another organism
    • Producer: it makes its own food from light
    • Decomposer: it breaks down wastes and remains
    • Producer: the arrow points to it, so it is the food
  5. Jun's desert web has boxes for desert grass, grasshoppers and lizards, and one arrow from the grass to the grasshoppers. Which arrow is missing so energy reaches the lizards?

    • From the lizards to the sun
    • From the lizards back to the grasshoppers
    • From the lizards to the desert grass
    • From the grasshoppers to the lizards
  6. Zee studies a garden bed where fungi break down fallen leaves. Which missing arrow, labeled nutrients, shows matter returning to the soil?

    • No arrow is needed; the leaves just vanish
    • From the fungi to the soil
    • From the soil to the fungi
    • From the fungi to the sun
  7. Pia's pond web has an arrow from box B to the tadpoles. Box B is blank. Which word bank choice belongs in box B?

    • Pond algae
    • The sun
    • Frogs
    • Bacteria in the mud
  8. Forest floor web, not to scale. Boxes: moss (producer tag). Kira reads that moss on a forest floor is a producer. Which meaning matches the word producer?

    • It breaks down wastes and remains
    • It takes its food from the soil
    • It makes its own food using light
    • It gets energy from other organisms
  9. Desert soil web, not to scale. Boxes: fungi (decomposer tag). Milo reads that fungi in desert soil break down wastes and remains. Which meaning matches the word decomposer?

    • It is an extra the soil can do without
    • It breaks down wastes and remains
    • It gets energy from a plant
    • It makes its own food using light
  10. Noah draws arrows to join several food chains from a school garden. What is this joined drawing called?

    • A food chain
    • An energy loop
    • A food list
    • A food web
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7th grade Food webs: where energy and matter go in an ecosystem worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Food webs: where energy and matter go. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can read an arrow in a food web and say which organism gets the energy.
  • I can name an organism's role in a web: producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer or decomposer.
  • I can say that matter is used again and energy is not, and I can use the rule that about 10% of the energy passes up a level.

Standard: MS-LS2-3

Words to know

producer: An organism that makes its own food using light, such as a plant or algae

consumer: An organism that gets its energy from other organisms

first-level consumer: A consumer that gets its energy from a producer (the textbook says primary consumer)

second-level consumer: A consumer that gets its energy from a first-level consumer

decomposer: An organism, such as a fungus or bacteria, that breaks down wastes and remains

food chain: One path that energy takes from organism to organism

food web: Many food chains joined together by arrows

matter: The material things are made of; it is used again and again

Common mistakes

Your child pointed the arrow toward the food. Try tracing one arrow with a finger from the grass to the rabbit and say, 'the energy goes this way'. Ask, 'Who gets the energy here?'

Your child thought energy goes around in a circle. Say that matter, like the nutrients in a leaf, is used again, but the energy ends up as heat. Ask, 'Where does the energy leave the web?'

Your child thought all the energy passes to the next level. Try moving 10 coins out of 100 to show that only about a tenth moves up. Ask, 'Where did the other coins go?'

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with food webs: where energy and matter go in an ecosystem?

Your child pointed the arrow toward the food. Try tracing one arrow with a finger from the grass to the rabbit and say, 'the energy goes this way'. Ask, 'Who gets the energy here?'

Are these 7th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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