Mission: Gulf of Maine Research

Step 5: Synthesize--Food Web Model

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Scientists often use models to show how different parts of a system interact.

You and your colleagues will work together to pool your findings and create a Gulf of Maine food web model.

Click here to see a sample.

Instructions:
Create model of a food web. Your teacher may instruct you to use a big wall space, paper, markers and string, work as a class to create a model that contains the following information:

• Gulf of Maine aquatic environments: estuary, beach, tide pool, Gulf of Maine
• Illustrations of organisms and where they are usually found in the Gulf of Maine
• Connections between these organisms in the food web (use string here)

Using the Food Web to Understand

1. Break into pairs and discuss one of the following scenarios:
What species would be affected if a chemical pollutant killed off the plant life in the estuary?
What species would be affected if overfishing wiped out a species of fish?
What species would be affected if a predator disappeared from a tide pool?
What species would be affected if all the phytoplankton were to suddenly disappear?

3. Share your discussion with the class. Then discuss the following questions:
What have you learned about the Gulf of Maine food web?
What are some threats that you know about to the Gulf of Maine food web?
How can scientists protect the Gulf of Maine? How can you protect the Gulf of Maine?

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