05/06/2018 Plants for Food

Food chains 05/06/2018 A food chain shows where the energy goes in a food chain (in other words, “what gets eaten by what”): Rabbit Cabbage Fox Stoat The arrows indicate where the energy is going Plants convert the sun’s energy into food Plants are called “producers” – they “produce” the energy for the rest of the food chain through photosynthesis.

Using plants for food 05/06/2018 Fruits and seeds Roots Leaves Stems

Helping plants to grow 05/06/2018 Farmers can use a number of chemicals to help plants to grow: Advantages Disadvantages Provide nutrients NPK Too much of it can kill pond life 1) Fertilisers Kill weeds Disrupt food chains 2) Herbicides Kill pests 3) Pesticides Disrupt food chains

Another disadvantage of pesticides 05/06/2018 Insecticides can wash into a stream or lake where they are taken up by microscopic water plants. Consider the food chain: Small plants Kingfisher Marine insects Fish Although the level of insecticides in the plants is small, it will build up through the food chain due to the number of organisms in each stage.