Ecosystem Forest Game

Quick Answer: The Ecosystem Forest Game is a classroom game about a forest ecosystem in which students link producers, consumers and decomposers into food chains and food webs, then explore what happens to the web when one species declines.

Learning Food Webs Through a Forest Game

A forest is a good first ecosystem to model because its layers are easy to picture. Trees and ground plants capture energy from sunlight; insects, deer, squirrels and many birds feed on plant material; owls, foxes and birds of prey eat the herbivores; and fungi, bacteria, earthworms and woodlice break down dead leaves and bodies so nutrients return to the soil. A forest ecosystem game turns these relationships into links that students build and test for themselves.

Games in this style usually give each species a card or token and ask players to join them with ‘is eaten by’ arrows, which show the direction of energy flow. The richer the web, the more clearly students see that most animals have several food sources and that losing one species, a predator for instance, changes numbers elsewhere. The species and rules in this edition are not described in the listing, so they are worth checking against the lesson plan.

Played in groups, the game prompts the talk that food webs need: why energy decreases at each step, why there are fewer top predators than herbivores, and what decomposers contribute that no other group does.

Teaching Uses

• Introducing food chains and trophic levels before students draw food webs on paper
• Predicting the effect of removing or adding a species, such as a predator or an invasive plant
• Linking to leaf-litter fieldwork, where decomposers can be found and identified
• Comparing a temperate forest with other ecosystems, such as a savanna

Specifications

Setting Up and Storing the Game

• Read the rules and sort the pieces before class so groups can start quickly.
• Count the components back into the box after each lesson; missing species cards leave gaps in the web.
• Keep printed pieces dry and store the box flat.
• Pair the game with a short written task so students record the web they built.

Why Choose LabEquip

Primary teachers and secondary biology departments use ecosystem games to make food webs an activity rather than a diagram copied from the board. LabEquip lists the Ecosystem Forest Game in General Lab Products, and the Savanna Ecosystem Game makes a useful contrast with a grassland food web.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

A food chain follows one line of feeding, such as oak leaves to caterpillar to blue tit to sparrowhawk. A food web joins many chains together, showing that most animals eat, and are eaten by, more than one species.

Why are decomposers important in a forest?

Fungi, bacteria and soil animals break down fallen leaves, dead wood and animal remains, returning nutrients such as nitrogen to the soil, where tree roots take them up again. Without them, dead material would pile up and nutrients would stay locked away.

Why do arrows in a food web point from the food to the feeder?

The arrow shows the direction in which energy and matter move. An arrow from a leaf to a caterpillar means the energy stored in the leaf passes to the caterpillar when it feeds.

What happens to a food web if a top predator disappears?

Its prey usually increase, which puts more pressure on the plants or animals they eat. The effects spread through the web, and students can trace them step by step in the game.

Why are there fewer predators than herbivores in a forest?

Only a small part of the energy at one feeding level passes to the next; much is used for movement, lost as heat or never eaten. Less energy reaches each higher level, so fewer animals can be supported there.

What age group is the forest game suited to?

No age range is stated. Food chains appear in upper primary science, while food webs, energy transfer and population effects belong to lower and middle secondary biology, so the game can be pitched at either level by adjusting the discussion.

Last Updated: September 2026