Web of Wildlife

All living things need food to survive. –Organisms obtain their food in different ways. −Some animals eat plants, some eat other animals. Food and Food Chains The feeding relationships between animals and plants in a habitat can be described with a food chain.

PREDATOR PREY Can you think what these words mean? Lion Thomson’s gazelle

HERBIVORE CARNIVORE Can you think what these words mean? CheetahKoala

OMNIVORE What about this word?

What is a food chain? Food chains show what eats what in a particular habitat. All food chains start with a PRODUCER. GrassRabbit Fox

What is a food chain? Grass PRODUCER: An organism, usually a green plant, that uses photosynthesis to turn sunlight, water and carbon dioxide into sugars (energy). AUTOTROPH

Rabbit Fox Grass CONSUMER: an animal in a food chain that eats (consumes) a plant or another animal. HETEROTROPH

Can be fungi or bacteria Eat dead organisms They prevent too much decay and enrich the soil with nutrients, saprophyte Decomposers

Break up bodies of dead organisms into smaller pieces Help decomposers manage dead organisms, faster decomposition Do not return nutrients to soil Scavengers

What is a food chain? The links between animals and plants in a habitat can be demonstrated by drawing a food chain. Food chains show how energy found in food moves through a community. GrassRabbit Fox The arrow in a food chain means ‘is eaten by’ and ‘provides energy to’. What do you think the arrow means between the pictures?

Rabbit Fox Grass PRIMARY CONSUMER SECONDARY CONSUMER TERTIARY CONSUMER Coyote Why do all organisms need energy?  Growth  Repair damaged parts  Replace cells at end of life cycle

1 0 C = PRIMARY CONSUMER: An animal at the second level in a food chain which feeds on the producer. Primary consumers are usually herbivores, feeding on plants and fungi. 2 0 C = SECONDARY CONSUMER: An animal at the third level in a food chain. Secondary consumers can be carnivores or omnivores. 3 0 C = TERTIARY CONSUMER: An animal at the fourth level of a food chain. This is usually the top level, and tertiary consumers are usually carnivores and prey on other animals.

A simple British woodland food chain 1 0 C 2 0 C PRODUCER CONSUMER HERBIVORE CARNIVORE PREY PREDATOR Food chains show how energy found in food moves through a community.

A Food Web is a series of food chains that represent energy flow through an ecosystem. Grass Rabbit Fox Grasshopper Lizard Sparrowhawk Hawfinch

A British woodland ‘food web’ Grass Rabbit Fox Grasshopper Lizard Sparrowhawk Hawfinch

Energy in an Ecosystem Energy Pyramid - Energy Flow in Ecosystem -Video for Kids by makemegenius.com - YouTube Food Chains - YouTube

Changes to food chains INTERDEPENDENCE Animals and plants depend on each other for survival. If something changes at one level in a food chain, it can affect all other levels in the food chain too. Common toad eating young grass snakeGrass snake eating common toad

Grass Grasshopper Sparrowhawk Hawfinch If a pesticide killed all the grasshoppers…. …what would happen to everything else in the food chain?

Questions to think about… What happens if the producer in a food chain dies? What happens if one of the consumers in a food chain dies? –How does this affect the other species that prey on it? –How does this affect the other species that it preys on?

Activity Split into groups You will be assigned a habitat – Arctic tundra, the Antarctic, British coastal waters, British woodland or African savanna. Using the worksheet, describe your habitat, what the weather is like and the animals and plants you think might be found there. You will then be given species information cards for your habitat, along with photographs of some of the species that are found there. Using the information on the cards and the arrows provided, make the food chain for your habitat. Rotate around the room - you will have the chance to build food chains for each different habitat.

HERBIVORE: an animal which only eats plants. Koala Rabbit

CARNIVORE: an animal which eats meat (other animals). Cheetah Fox

OMNIVORE: an animal that feeds on both plants and other animals.

Producer Consumer PRODUCERS  Plants are called producers because they make (produce) their own food. CONSUMERS  Animals are called consumers because they eat (consume) other plants and animals.

Can you think of any animals that eat plants? Can you think of any animals that eat other animals? How do plants get their food?