Food Chains, food webs and energy pyramids

Food Chain Vocab Plant eater Meat eater Makes own food Consumers/ Heterotrophs Herbivore Omnivore Plant eater Carnivore Plant and meat eater Meat eater Producer/ Autotroph Makes own food Food Chain Vocab Breaks down dead organisms Has to eat to get energy Eats already dead animals (road kill) Consumer/ Heterotroph Decomposer Scavenger

A food chain shows how we are all connected by what we eat

Notice the arrow direction!! A food chain shows the path of energy from one living thing to another. The arrows show the direction of energy not who's eating who.

So the bird is eating the butterfly. The energy is flowing to the bird.

Energy passes from Sun to Producers to consumers (Photosynthesis) Radiant energy is converted to chemical energy and passed on to other organisms in the ecosystem. Energy passes from Sun to Producers to consumers

A food chain always starts with a Producer or Autotroph.

Only 10% of the energy is passed on. $10 Only 10% of the energy is passed on. Some energy is used and some is lost as heat. $10,000 http://www.cambridgema.gov/TheWorks/departments/recycle/images/grass.jpg http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DEE/Vectorborne/WestNile/images/Hawkrt.jpg $1000 $100 http://www.idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/grasshopper.jpg http://www.australianfauna.com/images/pilligamouse.jpg

$10 $10,000 http://www.cambridgema.gov/TheWorks/departments/recycle/images/grass.jpg http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epidemiology/DEE/Vectorborne/WestNile/images/Hawkrt.jpg $1000 $100 http://www.idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/grasshopper.jpg http://www.australianfauna.com/images/pilligamouse.jpg

A food web is several connected food chains http://www.bigelow.org/edhab/images/food_web.jpg

http://www.agen.ufl.edu/~chyn/age2062/lect/lect_28/40_07.GIF

Energy Pyramid http://www.waterprisms.com/shop/Cartpix/PyramidLampsAnasaziSun.JPG

Chains can also be arranged in an energy pyramid. Producers are on the bottom because they have the most energy http://www.westone.wa.gov.au/k-12lrcd/learning_areas/geography/geog2B/content/cell4_spatial_impact/images/se751_idea04_pic04.gif

Producer Least mass Least Energy Primary Consumer Most energy 3rd to eat Tertiary Consumer 2nd to eat Secondary Consumer First to eat Primary Consumer Most energy Most mass Producer

http://www. world-builders http://www.world-builders.org/lessons/less/biomes/deciduous/decfor/dec-py.gif

Pyramid of Energy Heat Heat Heat Heat 0.1% Consumers 1% Consumers 100% Producers Heat http://www.glencoe.com/qe/images/b153/q4715/ch02_0_e.gif Section 2.2 Summary – pages 46 - 57

Birds/Secondary Consumer Grasshoppers/Primary Consumer Pyramid of Numbers 3 Fox/Tertiary Consumer 30 Birds/Secondary Consumer 300 Grasshoppers/Primary Consumer 3000 Grasses/Producer http://www.glencoe.com/qe/images/b153/q4715/ch02_0_e.gif

Herbivore Producer Autotroph Secondary Consumer Primary Consumer Omnivore Heterotroph Heterotroph Producer Autotroph Heterotroph Heterotroph Carnivore Decomposer Tertiary Consumer

Removing an organism from the chain or pyramid will cause great harm and the closer it is to the beginning or bottom the worse it is.