Assess students' ability to analyze how removing one species from a simplified pond food web alters population sizes, energy flow, and ecosystem balance. Tasks include identifying direct and indirect interactions among producers, consumers, predators, and decomposers; predicting short- and long-term population and energy-transfer changes using a provided food-web diagram; explaining cascading effects, shifts in carrying capacity, and implications for biodiversity and resilience; and proposing one management action to help restore balance. Emphasize logical cause-and-effect chains and evidence-based explanations suitable for advanced grade 3–5 learners.