Food Web interactive activity - Free Printable

Let’s go through each question one by one, using the food web shown.

---

1. Select the living things from the food web that are producers:

Producers make their own food — usually plants or green parts like leaves and grass. In this food web:

- Leaves → producer (they photosynthesize)
- Grass → producer (also photosynthesizes)

Rabbit, blue jay, snake — these eat other things, so they’re not producers.

✔ Correct answers: grass, leaves

---

2. Select the living things from the food web that are primary consumers:

Primary consumers eat producers directly.

From the diagram:

- Caterpillar eats leaves → primary consumer
- Rabbit eats grass → primary consumer
- Grasshopper eats grass → primary consumer

Hawk and snake eat animals, so they’re not primary consumers.

✔ Correct answers: caterpillar, rabbit, grasshopper

---

3. Select the living things from the food web that are secondary consumers:

Secondary consumers eat primary consumers.

Looking at the arrows:

- Snake eats caterpillar → secondary consumer
- Hawk eats rabbit → secondary consumer
- Blue jay eats grasshopper → secondary consumer

Owl eats snake and blue jay — those are higher up, so owl is tertiary (we’ll get to that). Rabbit is a primary consumer, not secondary.

✔ Correct answers: blue jay, snake, hawk

*(Note: “owl” is listed but it’s actually tertiary here — we’ll fix that in next question.)*

Wait — let’s double-check:

In some chains:
- Grass → Grasshopper → Blue Jay → Owl → so Blue Jay is secondary.
- Leaves → Caterpillar → Snake → Hawk/Owl → so Snake is secondary.
- Grass → Rabbit → Hawk → so Hawk is secondary.

Yes, blue jay, snake, hawk are all secondary consumers.

But note: Hawk also eats snake? Let’s check the diagram again.

Actually, looking closely:

Arrows show:
- Snake → Hawk (so Hawk eats Snake → meaning Hawk is tertiary when eating snake)
- But Hawk also eats Rabbit → which makes Hawk secondary in that chain.

So an animal can be both secondary and tertiary depending on what it eats.

The question says “select the living things... that are secondary consumers” — so if they act as secondary in any chain, they count.

Same for others.

So yes: blue jay, snake, hawk are correct.

But wait — is snake ever secondary? Yes: eats caterpillar (primary) → so snake = secondary.

Is hawk ever secondary? Yes: eats rabbit (primary) → so hawk = secondary.

Is blue jay ever secondary? Yes: eats grasshopper (primary) → so blue jay = secondary.

Perfect.

✔ Final selection: blue jay, snake, hawk

---

4. Select the living things from the food web that are tertiary consumers:

Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers.

Look at who eats secondary consumers:

- Owl eats snake (secondary) → so owl = tertiary
- Owl eats blue jay (secondary) → so owl = tertiary
- Hawk eats snake (secondary) → so hawk = tertiary too!

Wait — so hawk can be both secondary and tertiary?

Yes! Because:
- When hawk eats rabbit (primary) → hawk is secondary
- When hawk eats snake (secondary) → hawk is tertiary

Similarly, owl only eats snake and blue jay — both secondary → so owl is always tertiary here.

Caterpillar? No — it’s primary.

Blue jay? It’s secondary (eats grasshopper), not tertiary.

Grasshopper? Primary.

So tertiary consumers: owl, hawk

But look at the options given:

Options: caterpillar, owl, blue jay, hawk, grasshopper

We need to pick those that ARE tertiary consumers.

→ owl ✔
→ hawk ✔ (because it eats snake, which is secondary)

Blue jay is only secondary — doesn’t eat any secondary consumer.

Caterpillar and grasshopper are primary.

✔ Correct answers: owl, hawk

---

5. Which living things do the owl eat?

Look at arrows pointing TO owl:

- From snake → owl
- From blue jay → owl

So owl eats: snake and blue jay

Check options: blue jay, rabbit, caterpillar, snake

✔ Correct answers: blue jay, snake

---

6. What is eaten by the blue jay?

Arrow points FROM grasshopper TO blue jay → so blue jay eats grasshopper.

Any others? No — only grasshopper.

Options: snake, rabbit, grasshopper, owl

✔ Correct answer: grasshopper

---

Now, compiling all final selections per question:

---

Final Answer:

Producers: grass, leaves
Primary consumers: caterpillar, rabbit, grasshopper
Secondary consumers: blue jay, snake, hawk
Tertiary consumers: owl, hawk
Owl eats: blue jay, snake
Blue jay eats: grasshopper