Australian Create a Food Web Activity | Primary | Twinkl - Free Printable

To solve this food web puzzle, we need to match the animals on the right with the correct boxes in the diagram on the left. We do this by looking at what each animal eats (its diet) and matching it to the arrows in the chart.

Here is the step-by-step logic:

1. Identify the Producers (Plants)
Producers are at the bottom because they don't eat other things; they make their own food from the sun.
* Producer Grass: This is already filled in.
* Producer Tree: This is already filled in.
* Producer Flower: Looking at the cutouts, none of the animals are plants. However, in many Australian food webs, the "Producer Flower" might just be a label for nectar or small plants. Since there are no plant cutouts, we focus on placing the animals. *Wait, looking closely at the task instructions:* "Cut out and place the animals and plants". The image only shows animal cutouts. Let's look at the arrows.
* The Consumer Insect eats the Producer Flower.
* The Consumer Reptile (middle right) eats the Consumer Insect.
* Let's hold off on the plants since there are no plant pictures to stick, only animals. We will place the 5 animals provided: Dingo, Inchman Bull Ant, Wedge-Tailed Eagle, Thorny Devil, Red Kangaroo.

2. Analyze the Diets of the Animals Provided
* Red Kangaroo: Eats grass and plants. It is a herbivore.
* Inchman Bull Ant: Eats insects, small animals, or nectar. It is an insect/omnivore.
* Thorny Devil: Eats ants and small insects. It is a specialized reptile consumer.
* Dingo: Eats kangaroos, wallabies, and smaller mammals. It is a top predator mammal.
* Wedge-Tailed Eagle: Eats reptiles, rabbits, and carrion. It is a top predator bird.

3. Match Animals to the Boxes based on Arrows

* Box: Consumer Mammal (Bottom Left)
* *Arrow points FROM:* Producer Grass.
* *Arrow points TO:* Apex Predator Mammal.
* *Logic:* This animal eats grass and is eaten by a bigger mammal.
* *Match:* Red Kangaroo. Kangaroos eat grass and are eaten by Dingoes.

* Box: Apex Predator Mammal (Top Left)
* *Arrow points FROM:* Consumer Mammal (Red Kangaroo) and Consumer Reptile (left side).
* *Logic:* This is a top-level meat-eater that is a mammal.
* *Match:* Dingo. Dingoes eat kangaroos and reptiles.

* Box: Consumer Insect (Bottom Middle)
* *Arrow points FROM:* Producer Flower.
* *Arrow points TO:* Consumer Reptile (middle right) and Consumer Reptile (right side? No, let's trace carefully).
* Actually, let's look at the Inchman Bull Ant. Ants often feed on flowers (nectar) or are considered primary consumers in these simple webs.
* Let's check the arrows into the "Consumer Insect" box. It comes from "Producer Flower".
* Let's check the arrows OUT of "Consumer Insect". One goes to "Consumer Reptile" (the one in the middle column) and one goes to "Consumer Reptile" (the one in the right column)? No, let's look at the specific connections.
* There is a box labeled Consumer Insect. The arrow coming *into* it is from Producer Flower. The arrow going *out* of it goes to a Consumer Reptile.
* Which animal fits here? The Inchman Bull Ant is an insect. Does it eat flowers? Yes, ants consume nectar. Is it eaten by a reptile? Yes, many reptiles eat ants. So, Inchman Bull Ant goes in the Consumer Insect box.

* Box: Consumer Reptile (Middle Column, above Consumer Insect)
* *Arrow points FROM:* Consumer Insect (Inchman Bull Ant).
* *Arrow points TO:* Apex Predator Bird and Apex Predator Mammal (Dingo).
* *Logic:* This reptile eats insects.
* *Match:* Thorny Devil. Thorny Devils famously eat ants and insects. They are eaten by eagles and dingoes. So, Thorny Devil goes