Created by Mr. Hemmert

Science ALCOS  L5.3 Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain Example: producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and third-level consumer

Food Chains  Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live.  Plants get energy from the sun, some animals eat plants, and some animals eat other animals.  Living things depend on one another to live.

Food Chains  A food chain is the movement of food energy in a sequence of living things. producer consumer

Food Chain Vocabulary  Consumers that are eaten are called prey.  A consumer that eats prey is a predator.

Prey and Predators  Predators limit the number of prey animals in a habitat.  Ex. Wolves are predators of antelope. They keep the population of antelope from increasing too much, so the antelope don’t eat all of the producers.  Predators often compete for the same prey. This limits the number of predators in a habitat.

Level of Producers  Primary Producers - Organisms that make their own food from sunlight. Primary producers are always the base (bottom) of the every food chain.

Levels of Consumers  First Level Consumers are animals that eat producers (plants).  They are also called herbivores (plant- eaters)

Levels of Consumers  Second Level Consumers eat first level consumers. They are called carnivores (meat – eaters) and omnivores (animals that eat both animals and plants.)

Levels of Consumers  Third level consumers eat second level consumers.

Practice What is the primary producer? _________________________ What is the first-level consumer? _________________________ What is the second - level consumer? ______________________ _ What is the third-level consumer? ________________________

Practice Primary Producer: _______________ First-level Consumer: _____________ Second-level Consumer: __________ Third-level Consumer: ____________ Decomposer: ___________________ leafbird snail fox bacteria

Resources  Microsoft Online