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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 8 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Take One Out of the Web

5-LS2-1

NameDate

Read the food web, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

Who Eats What in Our Pond

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. 1. If every snail were taken out, which animals would lose some of their food?
  2. 2. Why do the bacteria and worms matter to the pondweed?
  3. 3. What claim does this web support?
  4. 4. If the frogs disappeared, what would the herons have left to eat?
2.The foxes are removed from a field. What happens to the rabbits at first?
  • A.They increase, because fewer are eaten
  • B.They decrease
  • C.They leave at once
3.Gray squirrels were brought into Britain. What happened to the red squirrels?
  • A.They declined, partly because the gray squirrels took their food
  • B.They increased
  • C.They ate the gray squirrels
4.A farmer sprays a field to kill every insect. What could happen to birds that eat insects?
  • A.They start eating the spray
  • B.They get more food
  • C.They have less food, so fewer survive
5.The rabbits in that field then increase. What happens to the grass?
  • A.There is more of it
  • B.There is less of it, because more rabbits are eating it
  • C.It is not affected
6.A forest fire burns the trees. Which animals lose their food first?
  • A.The animals that eat other animals
  • B.Those that eat the leaves and seeds of the trees
  • C.None, fire does not affect food
7.Too many deer graze in a wood. What happens to the young trees?
  • A.Nothing happens to them
  • B.Many are eaten before they can grow tall
  • C.They grow faster

LessonPrint · 5-LS2-1 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Take One Out of the Web

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The newts and the frogs, which eat snails. 2. They break down dead plants and animals, returning matter to the water that the pondweed can use. 3. Matter moves from the pondweed and algae through the animals to the bacteria and worms, and back to the water. 4. Only the fish, so the herons would eat more fish.
  2. 2.They increase, because fewer are eaten
  3. 3.They declined, partly because the gray squirrels took their food
  4. 4.They have less food, so fewer survive
  5. 5.There is less of it, because more rabbits are eating it
  6. 6.Those that eat the leaves and seeds of the trees
  7. 7.Many are eaten before they can grow tall

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-LS2-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.