Welcome to Pond Quest! Animals usually eat a variety of food, and they may eat at different places on the food chain. An ecosystem may have a great many food chains. One little pond, for instance, could have many hundreds of plants and animals in it. Animals in one chain might eat animals from other chains. Thus, chains might overlap to form a food web. You have been asked by the Fish and Wildlife Department to save a pond that has had many species die due to an imbalance. You and your ecocrew need to bring a balance back to this dead pond.

You and the members of your group will be researching various plants and animals that belong in a successful food web. Your ecocrew needs to find at least three plants, three herbivores, two omnivores, and three carnivores that are going to be brought to the pond so life can be sustained. You are going to create information

cards about each member of your food web. Your group will be responsible for creating a poster that you will present to the class. You need to be sure that the members of your food web support one another's eating habits, in order to bring this pond back to life.

1. Identify three pond plants, three pond herbivores, two pond omnivores, three pond carnivores, and one land carnivore that will fit into a sustaining food web. Use the resources in the resource section to help research the various plants and animals. You will be given a food web journal and I suggest that you enter all of the information that you gather about various plants and animals into that journal.

2. On several index cards identify the plants and animals that you have chosen to fit into your food web. The following information needs to be addressed on the card.

Name of plant or animal: Common Name: Scientific Name: Eats: Eaten by: Actual size: Interesting Fact about Species: Herbivore, Omnivore, Carnivore?

 3. Place the various cards that you have filled with information into a possible food web arrangement. Conference with Ms. Mitchell and explain why this would be a successful food web.

4. After your food web arrangement has been approved you and your group members will start creating the actual species that you have chosen. You can use various materials: fabric, construction paper, or any other material that will help you create 2 - D models of each species. (Be sure that the species that you create are small enough to fit onto the piece of poster board that is provided).

5. On a piece of poster board your ecocrew needs to place the various species so that they fit into the web, using yarn or another type of string you need to show the connections between the various species.

6. Match the information index cards that you filled out with the correct species on your card board. Identify with name tags which species are producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers.

7. Your EcoCrew will now present your pond proposal to the rest of the teams that have set out on the same mission as you.

8. Good luck! The success of this pond survival is dependent on you!

 1. When you enter a website that you have linked from the resource section read through the page and explore many different types of species before chosing the right one for your food web.

2. Split the research amongst group members, this will save a lot of time.

3. Put all information that you have gathered into your food web journal, this will keep all you information together and organized.

4. Work as a team, cooperation is going to save the life of the pond.

5. Talk to your group members about what you find, a piece of information that you find may not be useful to you but may be essential in the completion of you project.

6. Have fun exploring ponds, although I have provided many sites for you to explore there are many more, and you can find useful information in books and encyclopedias as well.

Information Technology

1.18 Students use computers, telecommunications, and other tools of technology to research, to gather information and ideas, and to represent information and ideas accurately and appropriately.

 Presentation

1.15 Students use verbal and nonverbal skills to express themselves effectively.

a. Share information;

b. Use accepted conventions of the English language (e.g. grammar, usage, word choice, pronunciation) in formal settings (e.g. class presentations);

d. Make effective use of such devices as pace, volume, stress, enunciation, and pronunciation;

Poster

7.13 Students understand the characteristics of organisms, see patterns of similarities and differences among living organisms, understand the role of evolution, and recognize the interdependence of all systems that support life.

a. Identify characteristics of organisms.

cc. Describe, model and explain the principles of the interdependence of all systems that support life and apply them to local, regional, and global systems.

 Congratulations! Your incredible efforts creating a successful food web for a pond has saved our pond, the entire Fish and Wildlife Department thanks you. As you have discovered it is very important to keep a balance of species in ponds and other ecosystems in order for them to strive and survive. If you are interested in helping the Fish and Wildlife department with a forest in the Northeast Kingdom that they are trying to save please submit your ideas to Ms. Mitchell (for extra credit of course). She will collect the various ideas for the forest and send them to us right away. Thank you again it is always so nice to have the help and support of Vermont students.