Food Chains

Read and discuss the information and vocabulary given Crickweb | Food Chain Paraphrase the first paragraph that explains a food chain and then hold your mouse over the pictures in the food chain below. Read and discuss the information and vocabulary given 2

Where does an object get its energy? From the food it eats. How do we know which way the arrow should point in a food chain? The arrow points to the organism the energy is being transferred to. Can an organism get its energy from more than one organism? Why or why not? How does this relate to us and what we eat?

Consumers (herbivores and omnivores) eat the producers. Every food chain or web must begin with energy from the Sun and then a producer (green plant). Consumers (herbivores and omnivores) eat the producers. Other consumers (carnivores or omnivores) then eat the herbivores or smaller carnivores. 4

Every food chain or web finally ends with decomposers (worms, ants, bacteria, fungi, etc) that feed on energy stored in the wastes or remains of producers and consumers. These decomposers are one of natures “recyclers”. They recycle nutrients and put them back into the soil for new plants to grow. 5

Producers A living thing that can make it’s own food, such as plants 7 Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 7

Consumers A living thing that eats another living thing for food and energy Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 8

Decomposers Organisms that eat the wastes or the remains of other organisms Worms, ants, bacteria, fungi 9

Herbivores Consumers that only eat plants Ex: cows, deer, giraffes, grasshopper, caterpillar, zebra, 10

Omnivores Consumers that eat plants and animals Ex: humans, bears 11

Carnivores Consumers that eat meat Ex: lions, tigers, wolves, shark, cougar, hawk, snake 12

Predators An animal that hunts other animals for food 13 Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 13

Prey An animal that is eaten by other animals 14 Definition from Brain Pop Jr. 14

Let’s go on a nature walk. What might we see Let’s go on a nature walk! What might we see? Maybe flowers along the forest path. The flowers get their energy to grow from the __________. air Sun producers

What else uses that energy to grow What else uses that energy to grow? There goes a rabbit hopping across the path! The rabbit gets its energy from eating__________. grass Sun prey

The rabbit’s energy could then be transferred to a ________, if it gets eaten. It’s amazing how many depend on the Sun’s energy! producer shark coyote

The Sun’s energy gets to Earth. Let’s think about where it goes The Sun’s energy gets to Earth. Let’s think about where it goes. The energy first goes to ________, which use the Sun’s energy to grow. rabbits plants consumers

Now, think about animals Now, think about animals. Animals get their energy to grow from what they ____. eat breathe see

Food chains are made up of many parts Food chains are made up of many parts. If one of those parts is __________, or taken out, it affects other parts. Stays the same removed concerned

Imagine the desert. The Sun’s energy goes to a cactus, then to a beetle, then to a bird. What happens if the birds are taken away? The ____________ would have no predator, which means they would increase in number. cacti beetles birds

More beetles means that more ______ is eaten! What else might happen? Cactus beetles birds