Write a concise paragraph on the definition of a food web. Indicate that producers are plants, herbivores are plant-eaters, carnivores are meat-eaters and omnivores eat plants and meat. Herbivores, carnivores and omnivores are considered to be "consumers." Decomposers are organisms that break down dead plant and animal matter. The description of the members of a food web is directly related to the "organisms" portion of the "organisms and environments" standards for kindergarten through fourth grade.
Gather a selection of pictures to include a visual display. Take pictures of various plants and animals or cut them out of magazines and arrange the pictures on a poster board. Label the pictures if desired. Keep your pictures limited to a common area. For instance, you might use pictures of plants and animals in a desert climate; if you were to use a picture of an animal from a polar area, you might not be able to include it in your diagram. Studying the organisms in a particular area is tied to the "environments" part of the national standards.
The main purpose of a food web is to show the relationships between organisms using arrows. Each arrow in a food web points from a source to a consumer. Add arrows to your display poster showing the relationships between organisms. You should have multiple organisms that possess multiple arrows. For instance, an antelope might have arrows pointing toward it from grass, leafy trees and bushes. The same antelope could have arrows pointing away from it toward wolves and lions.
Include a brief summary about key points that pertain to your food web project. Point out the environment from which your food web was drawn. Highlight facts such as the main producers, as well as the highest level consumers (organisms that are not common sources of food for other organisms within an environment). Describe any implications that your food web might help to explain, such as the need to protect the environment in order to sustain organisms within the web. Completing and summarizing the project also prepares students for life science standards geared toward grades five through eight. These standards list "structure and function in living systems" and "populations and ecosystems," both of which are tied to the concept of food webs.