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Food chains and food webs - ‘who eats whom’

Plants and animals living in a habitat can be linked together

Food chains show how food passes from one living thing to another

All food chains start with a Plant Plants can make their own food, using sunlight

The arrows show the food chain FOX An animal that eats other animals RABBIT An animal that eats plants GRASS A plant - makes its own food This is a simple and familiar example The arrows show the food chain

Food chains work in the same way in the sea ... … but the plants and animals look a bit different!

Out in the ocean, there is no grass or trees FISH An animal that eats other animals COPEPOD A tiny animal that eats plants Out in the ocean, there is no grass or trees ALGAE Microscopic plants - make their own food The plants are tiny ALGAE - you need a microscope to see them Note that the individual algal cells are about one-hundreth of a millimetre across. The copepod is a few millimetres long This is a food chain in the ocean

This food chain wouldn’t stop here ... The small plankton-eating fish from the last slide can be eaten by a larger predatory fish, which in turn can be eaten by a fish like a tuna or a shark

In most habitats, there are several food chains These are linked together to form a Food Web

Food webs can be quite complicated Here is one from the ocean around Antarctica

Squid eat fish and krill Seals eat squid and fish Squid eat fish and krill Fish eat krill and copepods The diagram traces the possible routes through the food web Green arrows join the producer - algae - to herbivores. Pink arrows are consumer-consumer links A simple food chain - whale eats krill eats algae Copepods also eat algae, and are eaten by krill This food web contains 7 types of living things, and 9 food chains

The shortest food chain in the Antarctic food web has two links

Arrows represent links

The longest food chain in the Antarctic food web has five links

You have seen that - A food chain links plants and animals in a habitat All food chains start with a plant

You have seen that - Food chains on land and in the ocean are similar Food chains can be linked to form food webs

www.justaddh2o.tv www.national-aquarium.co.uk NOTES for USERS The material in this slide show is designed to support the teaching of science at Key Stage 1 A full description of the slide show, and linked activities for students, can be found on the National Marine Aquarium (NMA) web-site: Teachers are free to amend the slide show in whatever way they feel fit, or to use slides in other contexts. However, please note that neither the NMA nor the designers will accept responsibility for modifications, and original material remains copyright of the NMA Individual images used in the slides are copyright of NMA or STEP, except where acknowledged separately The slides have been set up to display as A4 landscape format. If they are incorporated into other slide sequences with different display settings, change in aspect ratio and text location will occur The slide sequence contains the minimum of effects and transitions. However, there are some automated animations, and teachers will wish to make sure that they are familiar with the sequence before use in class Use the PowerPoint notes viewer to obtain additional information for some slides