Colorado+Food+Web+Project

COLORADO FOOD WEBS PROJECT: Guidelines and Instructions

Beginning tomorrow, we will spend the next two days in the computer lab conducting research on species interactions in 2 major Colorado ecosystems: the **//prairie//**, and the **//mountains//**. You may work in pairs (NO MORE THAN 2 under any circumstances!), or you may work alone if you prefer.

This is a science project, but it is also an artistic project – so make your food webs should be both accurate, and aesthetically pleasing. **By Friday, 9/17, you should have completed 2 food webs – 1 for each ecosystem (Prairie and Mountains).** On Friday, the class will review each food web, and will vote on the best for each ecosystem. These will be honored by hanging on the wall for the rest of the school year. Winning teams will also receive a special bonus prize from Mr. Holloway (it’ll be cool)!

To be eligible for consideration in Friday’s vote, your food web MUST contain all of the following elements:

Must include at least one of each of the following: plants, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals (bonus for including fungi). || The proportions of organisms at each trophic level should be roughly accurate – see Fig. 3.8 on pg. 61 for help. For example, your food web should NOT contain 10 top predators and only 1 primary consumer. || Everything on your food web must have at least 1 interaction with another species. Making 2 smaller food webs with a combined total of 12 organisms is not acceptable. || Must include pictures of all the organisms. These should be neat. Hand-drawings are acceptable as long as they look quality, and are detailed (no stick figures or scribbles). Printed images are also acceptable. Any text should be legible. Again, handwriting is acceptable if it is neat and easy to read. Typed text is also acceptable (and preferred). ||
 * Organisms || Must include at least 12 organisms that really live in Colorado. Organisms must also be represented in the correct ecosystem. Organisms should be labeled with both their common name and their scientific name (example: Timber wolf, //Canis lupis//).
 * Trophic levels || Each organism should be correctly labeled as one of the following: Primary Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer, Tertiary Consumer/Top Predator.
 * Species interactions || Species interactions should be accurate, and arrows depicting these relationships must be pointing in the right direction – along with the flow of energy.
 * Format and aesthetics || Your food webs should be LARGE – approximately poster-sized. They should be clearly visible from across the room. I recommend getting a piece of poster board for each food web – however, this will not be provided by your teacher.

Although you do not need to limit your research to these sites, I recommend starting with the following websites: i. @http://www.landscope.org/colorado/plants-animals/ ii. @http://wildlife.state.co.us/WildlifeSpecies/Profiles/ iii. @http://ndis.nrel.colostate.edu/wildlife.asp