Best for
Ecology, food-chain, and human-impact units where students need a more complete systems view than a single straight-line food chain.
Science • Years 5-9 • Energy flow and ecological change
Ecosystems and Food Webs
Use this handout to help ākonga trace how energy moves through ecosystems, build a food web, and predict the ripple effects when one part of the system changes.
Free systems-thinking page, premium custom-web pathway
This page already includes the role overview, draw-on web space, and disturbance prompts. Te Wānanga can rebuild it around your chosen local ecosystem, species set, or restoration scenario.
- Swap the sample organisms for species in your local wetland, ngahere, or harbour.
- Create a junior version with picture cues and fewer organisms.
- Save your adapted web builder in My Kete for repeated use.
Kaiako planning snapshot
- Use length: 35-55 minutes.
- Grouping: Shared modelling, then pairs or small groups for the web task.
- Prep: Optional local species cards or images.
- Teaching move: Keep reminding students that arrows show energy transfer, not “who is friends with who”.
Resources already provided
- Trophic-role summary
- Food-web organism bank
- Draw-and-label space
- Ripple-effect questions
- Teacher-only curriculum companion
The web-building, explanation, and extension tasks are all included on this page.
Ngā Whāinga Akoranga / Learning Intentions
- We are learning how energy moves through an ecosystem.
- We are learning the difference between producers, consumers, and decomposers.
- We are learning how one change can affect many parts of a food web.
Paearu Angitu / Success Criteria
- I can build a food chain or food web using correct arrows.
- I can identify the roles of organisms in the system.
- I can explain a ripple effect caused by change or disturbance.
Curriculum integration / Te Mātaiaho alignment
Use the companion page to connect this handout to ecology, interdependence, and system-change reasoning. The real value is in helping students explain consequences, not just label levels.
Food webs in an Aotearoa context
Ecosystems in Aotearoa can look very different from place to place, but the same core idea remains: living things depend on each other and on the wider conditions of their environment.
Kaitiakitanga matters here because when one part of the system is harmed, the effects are often wider than they first appear. A food web is a useful way to make those connections visible.
Roles in a food web
Producers
Plants and algae that make food using sunlight.
Consumers
Animals that eat other living things for energy.
Decomposers
Organisms that break down dead material and return nutrients to the system.
Build a wetland food web
Raupō
Algae
Insects
Snails
Pūkeko
Tuna / eel
Harrier / kāhu
Decomposers
Use arrows to show how energy moves between these organisms. Add one more organism from your own knowledge if you can.
Ripple-effect thinking
Scenario
A wetland is drained or polluted, so insect numbers drop sharply. What effects might this have on other parts of the web?
Your explanation
Support, core, stretch
Support
Start with one simple chain before adding extra connections to make a web.
Core
Build the web and explain one ripple effect using cause-and-effect language.
Stretch
Explain why decomposers matter and how a human action could affect multiple levels at once.
Students may respond with labelled diagrams, arrows, oral explanation, or fuller writing depending on readiness.
Hononga Marautanga · Curriculum Alignment
Science — Pūtaiao
Level 3–4: Investigate how living and physical systems work; understand relationships between organisms and their environments; collect, interpret, and evaluate scientific evidence to explain natural phenomena.
Social Sciences — Tikanga ā-Iwi
Level 3–4: Understand how human activity affects natural environments; explore the connection between ecological health and community wellbeing; recognise the role of cultural knowledge in environmental decision-making.
Aronga Mātauranga Māori
Mātauranga Māori is a sophisticated knowledge system built through centuries of careful observation, hypothesis, testing, and refinement — the same processes that define scientific inquiry. Māori knowledge of ecology, weather patterns, seasonal change, and animal behaviour guided sustainable resource management for generations before Western science arrived in Aotearoa. Understanding science through a dual-knowledge lens — bringing mātauranga Māori and Western science into dialogue rather than hierarchy — produces richer, more contextually grounded understanding. The concept of kaitiakitanga reminds us that scientific knowledge carries obligations: understanding how natural systems work means accepting responsibility for how we treat them.
Ngā Rauemi Tautoko · Support Materials
This handout is designed to be used alongside the broader unit resources available at Te Kete Ako handouts library. Related resources from the same unit are linked in the unit planner. All resources are provided — no additional preparation is required to use this handout in your classroom.
📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot
Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions
Students will engage with this resource to build understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand's ecosystems, biodiversity, and the role of kaitiakitanga in environmental stewardship.
Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria
- ✅ Students can explain key concepts from this resource using their own words.
- ✅ Students can connect the content to real-world environmental contexts in Aotearoa.
Differentiation & Inclusion
Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters, word banks, or graphic organisers to scaffold access for students who need it. Offer entry-level and extension tasks to address a range of readiness levels.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key vocabulary and provide bilingual glossaries where available. Allow students to respond in their home language first.
Inclusion: Use accessible formats — clear font, adequate whitespace, structured tasks. Neurodiverse learners benefit from chunked instructions and choice in how they demonstrate understanding.
Prior knowledge: Best used after the relevant lesson sequence. No specialist prior knowledge required for entry-level engagement.