7C Feeding Relationships KS3 Biology 7C Feeding Relationships

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

Habitats What is a habitat? The place where an organism lives is called its habitat. What makes a habitat? A habitat has all of the things that an organism needs to survive such as the right amount of light, oxygen and water. How would you describe your habitat?

Different types of habitats How are these habitats similar and how are they different?

Which land habitat?

Which water habitat?

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

What are adaptations? Organisms need to have special features which help them to survive in their habitat. These special features are called adaptations. For example, you have plenty of adaptations to survive in your habitat. Your fingers are an excellent adaptation. Without their ability to grip you would not be able to do all of that schoolwork! Some adaptations are obvious while others are not so obvious. Can you think of any other adaptations that you have?

Adaptations in different habitats These organisms are all adapted to their environments in different ways. How are they specially adapted to survive?

Adaptations in similar habitats These animals have similar habitats but different adaptations. Notes on the adaptations of elephants and lions:. Elephant Elephants’ ears are used for display and signalling anger and warning. However, they are also used to control body temperature. Blood circulating in large vessels in the ears is cooled by flapping the ears. The trunk of an elephant has numerous uses such as for eating, drinking, communication, and dust and water bathing. 3. An elephant’s sight is very poor, so its sense of smell is very sophisticated. It can be used to detect predators but elephants can also detect underground water using their sense of smell. 4. An elephant’s eyelashes are very long to protect the eyes from dust. Its eyes also blink regularly for the same reason. Lion A lion has piercing canines in order to grab and kill prey. Its other teeth are also specialised to eat meat. A lion has scissor-like molars to slice into meat. While one function of the mane is to make the animal appear bigger it is also useful to protect the neck in disputes with other lions. Lions often hunt at night so their sense of sight has to be excellent. They also have to detect fast moving prey. 4. Its claws are used to catch prey but are retractable to aid walking.

What are adaptations for?

A new species… Scientists have discovered this strange new species on a small island off the coast of Argentina. The scientists want you to help them describe where this animal lives (land, water or air), what it eats, how it eats, how it breathes, how it moves and last, but not least, what they should call it. As the organism is adapted to its environment you should be able to use the way it looks to answer all of these questions. Don’t forget to give your organism a name!

Daily adaptations Many things in the environment change on a daily basis. For example, the temperature and the amount of light. Organisms adapt to the type of habitat they live in and also have to adapt to the daily changes in their habitat. For example, many flowers open their petals during the day to catch the Sun and close them at night for protection from early morning frost.

Yearly adaptations The environment also changes on a yearly basis with the seasons. This may bring about changes in light and temperature but also in the availability of food and water. Organisms must also find some way to adapt to these yearly changes. Organisms have come up with many different ways to achieve this. For example, many animals hibernate over winter to deal with food shortages.

Daily or yearly activity

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

Feeding types Different types of animals can be grouped in several ways. One grouping system is based on how animals feed. Some organisms produce their own food. These are called producers. Plants produce their own food using light energy from the Sun. Some types of bacteria can also make their own food by using light or chemical reactions. Other organisms cannot make their own food. These are called consumers.

Producer or consumer? This slide is the names of eight different organisms. Drag their name into the correct table depending on whether you think that they are a producer or a consumer.

Consumers Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Consumers can be grouped into different types: Herbivores These consumers eat producers. This means plants and possibly bacteria. Carnivores These consumers eat other consumers. They eat animals. Omnivores These consumers eat other consumers and producers. They eat animals and plants. Most humans are omnivores.

Feeding types

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

Food chains – what eats what? What is the food chain in this habitat?

leaf caterpillar bird cat Food chains A food chain shows what is eaten by what. Each arrow means ‘eaten by’. leaf caterpillar bird cat What does this food chain show? A leaf is eaten by a caterpillar, which is eaten by a bird, which is eaten by a cat. Energy is transferred from one organism to another in the direction of the arrow,.

Food chains – activity Drag the organisms into the boxes to make three food chains.

Food chains – draw your own Draw your own food chains based on the following guidelines: A food chain from a forest. A food chain from an ocean. A food chain with four organisms in it. A food chain that ends with you! Use arrows ( ) to show the transfer of energy between the organisms that you choose.

Antarctic food chain – information Read the following paragraph about who eats whom in the Antarctic and draw a food chain that shows the feeding relationships in this habitat. Don’t forget that your food chain must start with a producer! Killer whales or orca’s range around Antarctica hunting for their food. One of the species that they eat are the Weddell Seal. Weddell seals are large mammals that stay in Antarctica all year round. One of the many things that they eat are squid. Squid are very fast hunters who often poison their prey. They feed on many different organisms including shrimp. Shrimp are small animals that live on the ocean floor. There are over 2,000 different species of shrimp all over the world. They are omnivores but phytoplankton makes up a large part of their diet.

Antarctic food chain – answer phyto- plankton shrimp squid weddell seal killer whale Killer whales or orca’s range around Antarctica hunting for their food. One of the species that they eat are the Weddell Seal. Weddell seals are large mammals that stay in Antarctica all year round. One of the many things that they eat are squid. Squid are very fast hunters who often poison their prey. They feed on many different organisms including shrimp. Shrimp are small animals that live on the ocean floor. There are over 2,000 different species of shrimp all over the world. They are omnivores but phytoplankton makes up a large part of their diet.

Food chains and feeding types Food chains always start with a producer. If the producer is a plant it can be any part of the plant, such as the seeds, fruits, leaves or even dead leaves. From looking at a food chain we can tell if an organism is a producer, a herbivore or a carnivore. What are the feeding types of the animals in this food chain? leaf caterpillar bird cat

Food chains and feeding types – activity

Ranking consumers human crayfish limpet seaweed primary consumer Consumers eat plants or animals, or both. A food chain can be used to rank different types of consumers. human crayfish limpet seaweed primary consumer secondary consumer tertiary consumer producer producers – make their own food; primary consumers – eat producers; secondary consumers – eat primary consumers; tertiary consumers – eat secondary consumers.

Ranking consumers – activity

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

What is a food web? Most animals would get pretty fed up if they only ate one thing. Instead, they usually eat many different things and are involved in lots of different food chains. plants  aphid  ladybird  blue tit  owl plants  moth larva  blue tit  owl plants  moth larva  spider  chiffchaff  owl plants  vole  stoat plants  vole  owl These food chains can be put together in a food web, which shows how the food chains are connected. What would the food web look like for these food chains?

What is a food web? chiffchaff owl blue tit stoat spider ladybird moth larva vole aphid plants

Using a food web Name the producer in this food web. owl Name two herbivores in this food web. Name two species that are top carnivores. How many secondary consumers are there? Which food chains include a moth larva? owl stoat blue tit chiffchaff spider vole ladybird moth larva aphid plants

Build a food web

7C Feeding Relationships Contents 7C Feeding Relationships Habitats Adaptations Feeding types Food chains Food webs Summary activities

Glossary adaptation – A feature that helps an organism live in a particular place. carnivore – An organism that only eats other animals. consumer – An organism that feeds on plants or animals. food chain – A sequence that shows feeding relationships and the transfer of energy between organisms. food web – Food chains that are linked to show the complex feeding relationships in a habitat. habitat – The place where an organism lives. herbivore – An organism that only eats plants. omnivore – An organism that eats both plants and animals. producer – A plant that makes food by photosynthesis.

Anagrams

Multiple-choice quiz