This challenging Grade 5 science worksheet investigates keystone species using the Yellowstone wolf story. Students answer multiple-choice questions about elk overgrazing, willow loss, and how returning wolves restored riverbanks and biodiversity. Fill-in items reinforce vocabulary like keystone, equilibrium, and biodiversity. Hints help Grade 5 learners reason from cause to effect, showing how one species can hold an entire ecosystem together, just like a keystone in an arch.
Style:
Energy in Ecosystems
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. In Grade 5 science, what is a keystone species?
A) A species whose removal greatly changes the ecosystem
B) Any large animal in the ecosystem
C) A plant that grows the fastest
D) An animal that lives only in zoos
2. What happened to elk numbers in Yellowstone after wolves were removed?
A) Elk numbers grew very high
B) Elk numbers stayed exactly the same
C) Elk disappeared completely
D) Elk turned into deer
3. Why did willow and aspen trees decline after wolves were removed?
A) Elk ate young trees before they could grow
B) The trees got too much rain
C) Beavers ate every single one
D) The trees moved to other parks
4. What did bringing wolves back to Yellowstone help restore?
A) Biodiversity and healthy riverbanks
B) More highways through the park
C) Year-round snow on the ground
D) Bigger parking lots near rivers
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. A species that has very large effects on its ecosystem is called a keystone species.
2. When wolves were removed from Yellowstone, elk populations increased too much.
3. Healthy riverbanks returned partly because beavers had more willow to eat.
4. The variety of life that returned to Yellowstone is called biodiversity.
5. When predators and prey numbers stay roughly steady, ecosystems reach equilibrium.
Energy in Ecosystems
★ Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. In Grade 5 science, what is a keystone species?
A) A species whose removal greatly changes the ecosystem
B) Any large animal in the ecosystem
C) A plant that grows the fastest
D) An animal that lives only in zoos
2. What happened to elk numbers in Yellowstone after wolves were removed?
A) Elk numbers grew very high
B) Elk numbers stayed exactly the same
C) Elk disappeared completely
D) Elk turned into deer
3. Why did willow and aspen trees decline after wolves were removed?
A) Elk ate young trees before they could grow
B) The trees got too much rain
C) Beavers ate every single one
D) The trees moved to other parks
4. What did bringing wolves back to Yellowstone help restore?
A) Biodiversity and healthy riverbanks
B) More highways through the park
C) Year-round snow on the ground
D) Bigger parking lots near rivers
★ Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1) A species that has very large effects on its ecosystem is called a keystone species.
2) When wolves were removed from Yellowstone, elk populations increased too much.
3) Healthy riverbanks returned partly because beavers had more willow to eat.
4) The variety of life that returned to Yellowstone is called biodiversity.
5) When predators and prey numbers stay roughly steady, ecosystems reach equilibrium.
Ready to Practice?
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9 Questions
12-18 minutes
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