Food Chains _________use pictures or words and arrows to show the movement of ___________ through the trophic levels of organisms. The _____________of an organism indicates the position that the organism occupies in the food chain. It shows what it eats and what eats it.

Producers & Consumers The levels are numbered according to __________________________________________________________________________ Producers are at level 1. (Plants are producers because they produce their own food.) Herbivores are at level 2. (consumer) Predators are at level 3. (consumer) And so on…

Anything that cannot make its own food must eat to survive Anything that cannot make its own food must eat to survive. It must “consume” its food! It is a _________.

Levels of Consumers ____________________ eat producers, mainly herbivores. (caterpillar, rabbits, etc.) ____________________ eat primary consumers (frogs, fox) __________________ eat secondary consumers (hawk, wolf)

When an organism eats another organism, There is a _______________occurring. When an Organism eats, it gains energy. Some of this Energy is used, and some gets released as heat. For example:

Food chains show which organisms eat what. Grass Rabbit Fox The arrows show the transfer of energy from one organism to the next. All these organisms depend on each other to survive, this is called ___________________

The arrow shows the direction that the _______ is moving.

Follow the food chain from producer to top level consumer. Note: There’s something wrong. What is it? Follow the food chain from producer to top level consumer.

Why does this look more like a “cycle” than a chain? Let’s discuss this one in detail.

Why is the SUN in this picture?

In this food chain, what is the producer? What is the first level consumer? What is the second level consumer? Is the polar bear the 3rd level consumer? Explain.

This picture shows the trophic levels.

Trophic Levels

Food Webs ____________describe the organisms found in interconnecting food chains using pictures or words and arrows. In other words, food webs are a bunch of __________________! They describe the complex patterns of ____________in an ecosystem by modeling who consumes whom or what.

Let’s follow a few food chains found in this food web.

Food Webs are EASY!

Energy Pyramids An ______________shows the amount of energy that moves from one trophic level to another in a food chain. The _________ energy is available at the producer level of the pyramid. The availability of energy _______ as it moves up the energy pyramid.

The most energy is at the producer level – the base of the pyramid.

The Energy Pyramid

Who needs the most energy to survive?

Energy Pyramid

Awesome Web Site! http://science-class.net/Ecology/energy_transfer.htm Let’s take a look at the above web site relating to ecology and energy transfer.

Another Cool Site http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/food/food_menu.html After we look at the above web site, we’ll go on to view the BrainPop video entitled FOOD CHAINS. The BrainPop videos provide further enrichment of topics discussed in class and are interesting as well as easy to understand! www.brainpop.com

Making a Model Let’s make a model of an energy pyramid. The model you will construct will be simple. It will show pictures of the producers and consumers at each level, the names in words, and the trophic levels. The good news is that this model really is perfect for meeting our objectives relating to energy pyramids. Make sure you follow all instructions for proper completion of the model.

SC Indicator 7-4.1 Acknowledgements All pictures were obtained from various sources on Google Images. None of the pictures/illustrations are mine. Credit is given to all artists/photographers for their work. Mrs. Joelle R. King