Use a Jenga set as a scientific model of a marine food chain to teach kids about food webs and the delicate balance of the ecosystem in a fun way. This activity introduces kids to contemporary environmental issues regarding the marine ecosystem. You just need a Jenga set, credit card envelopes, self-adhesive paper, some heavyweight paper, scissors, and glue.
We need information about the schools using our model, that’s why we’re asking you, before you download our materials, to kindly fill out this brief form, and tell us a bit about yourself and your interest in our tool. Clic on the image below:
Download & print
- Instructions
- Teacher’s Handout – contains information about the Peruvian marine ecosystem, our Peruvian marine food chain, keystone species, trophic cascades, discussion questions with answers, vocabulary, and the alignment with the NGGS standards, TEKS standards, and the Ocean Literacy Principles.
- Guide Sheet – print one per tower so students can work on groups
- Placemat – one per tower
- Event Cards [Questions, Answers] – print the questions on the self-adhesive paper and stick them on the credit card envelopes. The answers can be printed in heavyweight paper.
- Discussion Cards – print on heavyweight paper and put them inside a different color or label credit card envelope (the Discussion Cards are included in the Answers PDF).
- Tower Stickers – print the images on the self-adhesive paper and put on both sides of the blocks. You can also print them in regular paper and glue them to the blocks.
Video
- Video – Introductory video Anchovies and the Food Chain (3:57). It contains ‘pause’ sections for class discussions.
Action for the Ocean 
Good morning,
I attended the 2016 Cast Conference at San Antonio and attended your session. I enjoyed your lesson by the way. I’m at a difficult situation, I did not download your resources and tried going on my cast app to download the lessons. However, it does not have any attachments. Please help me, I am teaching this lesson this week.
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Hello Nancy, you can download the material by clicking on the links above.
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Quick question… Are the event cards supposed to be played in alphabetical order or are they mixed up randomly? Also, when are students supposed to answer the extra 4 assessment questions at the end of the event card answer sheet/where are they supposed to be placed?
Thanks!
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Hello Katie, the Event Cards can be use randomly or in a particular order if you want to focus on a specific event or trophic level. The Assessment Cards can be used at the end or during the game (e.g., if you want to slow down a group that is going to fast). You can check the article on Science Scope here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320227210_Peruvian_Food_Chain_Jenga_Learning_Ecosystems_with_an_Interactive_Model
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There are two “D” answer cards but no “E” answer card. Maybe the second “D” card had the same answer just didn’t have the correct associated letter?
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Hello Alex, that’s a typo! the second D card is supposed to be the E card. The answers are the same since the target species is mahi mahi. The article on Science Scope: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320227210_Peruvian_Food_Chain_Jenga_Learning_Ecosystems_with_an_Interactive_Model
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