Take One Out of the Web is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on predicting how a change to one part of a food web affects the rest, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-LS2-1. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
A food web the class drew from a term of pond-dipping records.
WHO EATS WHAT
Pondweed and algae are eaten by snails, tadpoles and mayfly larvae.
Mayfly larvae are eaten by newts and fish.
Snails are eaten by newts and frogs.
Tadpoles are eaten by newts and fish.
Frogs and fish are eaten by herons.
Dead plants, dead animals and droppings are broken down by bacteria and worms in the mud, returning matter to the water.
1. What breaks down the dead plants and animals?
2. If the herons left the pond, what would happen to the frogs and fish?
3. Why do the bacteria and worms matter to the pondweed?
4. What does this web not tell you?
2.The foxes are removed from a field. What happens to the rabbits at first?
A.They increase, because fewer are eaten
B.They leave at once
C.They decrease
3.All the decomposers are removed from a sealed tank. What builds up?
A.More living plants
B.Clean water
C.Dead material that is never broken down
4.Why can removing one plant affect an animal that never eats it?
A.It cannot affect it
B.Animals smell plants
C.The animals that animal eats may depend on that plant
5.A forest fire burns the trees. Which animals lose their food first?
A.Those that eat the leaves and seeds of the trees
B.None, fire does not affect food
C.The animals that eat other animals
6.Rabbits were brought to a country where nothing ate them. What happened?
A.They died out at once
B.Nothing changed
C.Their numbers grew huge and they stripped the plants
7.The rabbits in that field then increase. What happens to the grass?
A.There is less of it, because more rabbits are eating it
B.It is not affected
C.There is more of it
LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Take One Out of the Web
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. Bacteria and worms in the mud. 2. There would be more frogs and fish, because nothing else in this web eats them. 3. They break down dead plants and animals, returning matter to the water that the pondweed can use. 4. It does not tell you how many of each animal live in the pond.
2.They increase, because fewer are eaten
3.Dead material that is never broken down
4.The animals that animal eats may depend on that plant
5.Those that eat the leaves and seeds of the trees
6.Their numbers grew huge and they stripped the plants
7.There is less of it, because more rabbits are eating it
Questions about Take One Out of the Web
What does the Take One Out of the Web worksheet cover?
It practices predicting how a change to one part of a food web affects the rest — 7 questions for Grade 5, all on NGSS 5-LS2-1: Model how matter moves between plants, animals, decomposers and the environment. The instruction to students is “Read the food web, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which NGSS performance expectation does Take One Out of the Web practice?
5-LS2-1, under Life Science for Grade 5. The published performance expectation reads: “Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Take One Out of the Web is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on 5-LS2-1, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Take One Out of the Web come with an answer key?
Yes. All 7 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Take One Out of the Web can I print?
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is Take One Out of the Web free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Take One Out of the Web, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for 5-LS2-1
Model how matter moves between plants, animals, decomposers and the environment.