Web of Life

Activity Instructions

What You'll Need

twine, index cards with words on them, a black marker

The Materials

  • index cards
  • marker or pen
  • a ball of twine
  • list of connections
you need at least six people to play this game!

The Connections

  • sun
  • bumblebee
  • mushroom
  • rock
  • grass
  • mouse
  • earthworm
  • ant
  • spider
  • river
  • woodpecker
  • rain
  • dead leaf
  • butterfly
  • flower
  • tree
  • snake
  • frog
  • snail
  • living leaf
  • owl
  • squirrel
  • soil
  • deer

What to Do

A graphic with the number 1 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

Write the names of each organism from the list of connections on an index card.

Two hands writing the word "Spider" out on an index card with a Sharpie pen.
A graphic with the number 2 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

Sit in a circle.

Each player takes a card from a pile in the middle and holds it up so that everyone can see the name of the organism on the card.

Three children pose and hold up index cards which have different organism names written on them.
A graphic with the number 3 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

The person with the tree card starts off the game by tossing the ball of twine to someone else in the circle.

Two children sit next to each other. The child to the left holds a ball of twine and prepares to toss the twine at someone while holding the string.
A graphic with the number 4 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

The person who catches the ball tries to explain how the organism on his or her card interacts with the tree. Anyone in the group can join in to help out.

Three seated children hold a piece of string, with one child to the right holding the initial ball of twine from which the string is being pulled.
A graphic with the number 5 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

Next, the person who caught the ball holds onto the string and tosses the ball to a third person.

The third person explains how the organism on his or her card interacts with the second person's organism. If the player gets stuck, anyone in the game can make a guess.

Five seated children playing a game involving a piece of string, with one child raising their hand.
A graphic with the number 6 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

The game continues until everyone has had a turn at catching the twine.

The twine is now complex and tangled—everyone in the group is connected to everyone else.

Players can also talk about how their organisms are connected to others that came up earlier in the game.

Children seated in a circle hold different corners of a long piece of string to create triangular, overlapping shapes between them.
A graphic with the number 7 written in an illustrated, bordered circle.

Choose one of the organisms in the game. Can anyone predict what would happen if it was removed from the web? Which other organisms would be affected?

What would happen if you cut the twine with scissors? What effect would this have on the ecosystem?

A long piece of string on the ground in a circular, overlapped formation.

What's going on here?

The tangled ball of twine has formed a web, just like the complicated web of life in an ecosystem. The web shows how closely organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another. Anything that happens to part of the web has an effect on the whole system.

Credits

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Image Credits:

Photos: AMNH