Web of Life                                                                                                

Age Level: any age (6 and up) Skills/Subject Areas: science, knowledge of local flora and fauna, cooperative learning Eco-Concepts

Interdependence- all things are connected to and depend on other living things

Required Materials: species cards, large ball of rope/string, index cards, pens and ink pad Prep Time: high – 30 minutes or more Classroom Adaptations/Variations: see below  

From  As  if  the  Earth  Matters  by  Thom  Henley  and  Kenny  Peavy              

Description  “Whenever we try to single out anything by itself in Nature, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” So wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson more than a century ago. Yet, even in this age of environmental awareness, it is still difficult to grasp the incredible complexity and interrelatedness of all living things. Web of Life is a simple exercise, but one that helps youngsters better understand life’s connections. You will need a long spool of string for this activity. Kite string wound onto a spool with handles works very well because it can be quickly dispensed and is easy to rewind for future use. Climbing rope is a bit bulkier to handle but it allows for a dramatic climax to this exercise. You will also need index cards with the names of species found in your bio-region printed on the face of each card. Photographs of animals and plants, cut from magazines and mounted on index cards on poster board, can be even more effective in portraying this exercise, but will, of course, require considerably more effort.  In a comfortable location, have everyone sit close together in a circle and distribute one card to each player. If you have fewer than twenty players, give out two cards per player. Web of Life requires at least a dozen players to ensure sufficient species for the interconnections; twenty to forty players would be ideal.  

Have fun while distributing the cards: “You’re a barking deer, you’re a fungus, you’re a sun bear, you’re a maggot,” the instructor says to the players while handing out the cards. Ask everyone to set their cards out in front of them, i.e., one in front of a foot or propped up against the knees, so that hands are free and all others in the circle can read everyone else’s species titles. Examples of species in a Southeast Asian Rainforest ecosystem might include:

1. Crested Serpent Eagle 2. Brahminy Kite 3. Jungle Fowl 4. Great Hornbill 5. Spider Hunter 6. Oriental Scops Owl 7. Common Kingfisher 8. Large Billed Crow 9. Bamboo 10. Lichens 11. Mushrooms 12. Banana Trees 13. Strangler Fig 14. Rafflesia 15. Dipterocarp (tree) 16. Durian 17. Sun Bear 18. Malayan Tiger 19. Palm Civet 20. Flying Fox 21. Long Tailed Macaque 22. White Handed Gibbon 23. Dusky Langur 24. Barking Deer 25. Wild Boar 26. Waglers Pit Viper 27. Long Nosed Whip Snake 28. Gliding Lizard 29. Common Green Back Frog 30. Termites 31. Weaver Ants 32. Mosquitoes 33. Millipede 34. Centipede 35. Bacteria  

                                                                                               

 

These, of course, are just a few of the many thousands of species found in this bio-region, so the Web of Life is always grossly oversimplified. The exercise can begin anywhere. “Who wants to start?” the leader asks. “I do,” shouts a ‘frog’ card-holder. “Okay, you hold the end of the string,” the leader continues, “Now what is something a frog eats, or eats a frog?” “Frogs eat mosquitoes,” someone offers. “That’s exactly right,” the leader says, unwinding the string from the ‘Frog’ to the person holding the mosquito card. “Now what else eats a mosquito or what does a mosquito eat?” the instructor continues. Possibilities here are many: fish, salamander, dragonfly, swallow, bats, and bacteria all eat mosquitoes. Mosquitoes in turn will feed on only warm-blooded creatures, which means any mammal or bird in the circle of players. The string continues to connect the circle. Anytime the group gets stuck, they can always go back to ‘bacteria’, which breaks down everything dead. It is important for the leader of this exercise to have a good grounding in biology, or just bush knowledge and common sense. Most of the connections the participants will be able to make themselves, without much prompting. When they get stuck the leader should help them out. Very quickly, the Web of Life starts to resemble a very intricately connected spider web. When it reaches the point that it’s very difficult for the leader to step through the spaces to make connections, or the string runs out, it is time for some further lessons.  “Just think,” the leader says, “if we were able to make every connection possible here this mat of string would be so thick we wouldn’t be able to see through it. Remember, we are representing only a fraction of the species found in this area, and we are illustrating the most basic food-web relationships. Species influence and depend on one another in many more ways than what eats what.  

Now let’s look at what happens if some species in this circle come under stress,” the instructor continues. “What happens when DDT enters the food chain of eagles and their eggs become so thin the eagles cannot reproduce?” Whoever holds the string with all the eagle connections is asked to lightly tug on it so everyone feels the connection. “What happens when insecticides like DDT are successful in reducing mosquito populations?” Every player connected to the “mosquito” strings now feels a tug. Some players may be happy with this situation. “Now I won’t get bit so much,” say an “otter.” “Yeah, but I don’t have so much to eat, and that means less food for you too,” responds a “trout.” There are many scenarios that can be explored here—effects of deforestation (tree species and all animals dependant upon them tug their strings), over fishing, water diversion and wetland reclamation—sadly the list of impact scenarios is all too real. Now the instructor walks around the outer perimeter of the circle of participants assigning a number (one to four) to each person, or a number to each person’s hand if players are all holding two species cards. If the Web of Life has been created with climbing rope, a small person can be laid out on their back with arms outstretched across the strands of the web. “Let’s see if this web of life is strong and intricate enough to support humans,” the facilitator says as he/she instructs everyone in the circle to stand up holding their rope tight. There is a great feeling of support at this point and everyone can see that humanity is part of the ‘web’.  “But wait a minute,” the facilitator continues, “Scientists say that Earth could experience a 25% biodiversity loss in our lifetime. Let’s see what that looks like.”  

 

 

http://theearthmatters.asia/    

Pick a number from one to four,” the leader says to the person lying in the middle of the ‘web’. “Three,” they answers. “OK, everyone that has number three let go of your string when I count to three.” The great Web of Life goes limp and the person in the middle now finds themselves on the floor. “This is what is predicted to happen on Earth in the not too distant future if we don’t act now to help save our planets treasure trove of life,” the facilitator continues as she or he passes out index cards and pens to everyone standing in the circle. “The important thing here is that this has not fully happened yet, ant it must not happen. We must all commit to taking individual action in our own lives to ensure a twenty five percent biodiversity loss never happens.” Everyone is encouraged to find a private meditative place in Nature where they make a promise to themselves to do one or more significant things in their lives to ensure that this scenario never comes about. An ink pad is set out for each person to seal their promise with a fingerprint. “No one knows for certain, but it is believed that your fingerprint is unique. No one that ever lived, lives now, or will live in the future, shares your unique pattern of your fingerprint,” the facilitator concludes. “You are extraordinarily distinct as is every creature on Earth; creatures we must depend upon to continue our own lineage.” When the group comes back together some may wish to share with others the personal commitment they made.