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CraftExam
high importancemedium difficulty5 min

Food Web

A food web is a network of many interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

In one line: A chain is one line, but a web has many crossing lines.

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Understand it

Most organisms do not depend on only one food source. A food web shows several feeding links together, so it reflects nature more realistically than a single chain. If one organism becomes fewer in number, other feeding paths may still support the ecosystem for some time.

Example

In a garden, a grasshopper may be eaten by a frog or a bird, while a rabbit may eat grass and also be prey for a fox. These links form a food web.

Rule to remember

Food web = many food chains joined together by common organisms and feeding links.

See it worked out

Follow the example line by line, then use the same method on new questions.

Worked example

  1. 1If a bird can eat both insects and seeds, it is connected to two different food chains.
  2. 2Such multiple links make the food web stronger than a single chain.

Method you can reuse

  1. 1List possible food chains.
  2. 2Find common organisms.
  3. 3Connect the chains.
  4. 4Show all feeding links in one network.

Sketch it in your answer

Draw several arrows crossing between plants, insects, birds, frogs, and snakes to show many feeding paths.

Check yourself

Answer the question in your head before opening the answer.

Try it yourself

Why is a food web more stable than a single food chain?

Think first, then show answer
A food web is more stable because organisms have more than one feeding path. If one food source becomes scarce, another link may still support the organisms in the ecosystem.

Common wrong answer

A common wrong answer is to call any long food chain a food web.

Why it loses marks: A web must show branching and linking paths.

Don't mix this up

Students often think a food web is just a longer food chain. In reality, it is a network with many connections.

Exam tip

Use the word network or interconnected food chains when explaining a food web.

Write it in the exam

Each point is worth about one mark. Write point 1 for a 1-mark question and keep adding points as the marks go up.

How CBSE asks it

Explain a food web, compare it with a food chain, or interpret a diagram with many feeding arrows.
  1. 1

    Enough for 1 mark

    A food web is a network of many interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.

  2. 2

    Add for 2 marks

    Example: In a garden, a grasshopper may be eaten by a frog or a bird, while a rabbit may eat grass and also be prey for a fox. These links form a food web.

  3. 3

    Add for 3 marks

    Most organisms do not depend on only one food source.

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