Welcome to the Food Production Department 1
2 Every place on Earth is an ecosystem, including our club site.
In today’s GEN club adventure, we will investigate food production eco-services…
…on our club site!
What do organisms need to survive ? Air Water Food Shelter
Where does all the food on Earth come from?
The Sun!
Plants use the sun’s energy to grow leaves, roots and stems. Animals and fungi can use the plants as their food.
The sun provides the energy to fuel food chains.
What is special about plants? How are they able to use the sun’s energy to make food for themselves?
Inside many plant cells are special structures called chloroplasts that can use the sun’s energy to make sugars.
Chloroplasts can use carbon dioxide and water from the air and use the sun’s energy to fuel a chemical reaction that forms sugar molecules.
OK, so the sun helps make plants grow, then what?
Herbivores Primary consumers Eat plants, which gives them the energy they need to survive.
Carnivores Secondary consumers They eat other animals, which gives them the energy they need to survive.
Tertiary Consumers Also carnivores They eat other carnivores for the energy they need to survive.
Food chains show how energy moves from one group of organisms to another.
But nature is complicated! Energy really passes through food webs.
Food webs occur on land, in water, and even underground.
Where is my food? What happens when the food an animal eats cannot be found for the entire year in one place?
MIGRATION! Birds “fly south” for the winter.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds must migrate when their food dies back for the winter.
Can Madame Squirrel’s workers produce enough food for all Earth’s creatures, including people?
What Do You Think? What are your favorite things to eat?
What Do You Think? What would a bear eat from a “forest restaurant”? What would a fox or a rabbit eat?
What Do You Think? The next time you sit down to eat dinner… imagine the food chains for the things on your dinner plate! Peggy Greb, USDA.
The Food Production Department provides food for more than 6 billion people
...and must provide for the needs of all Earth’s creatures.
Food Department Threats: single variety farming (monocultures)
Controlling herbivores and diseases requires use of pesticides
How will we learn about the Food Production Department? Owl pellet dissection Plant/Harvest Vegetables
What can you do? Learn about different ways to grow food.
What can you do? Think Organic!
What can you do? Make your school or home “Food Friendly” for animals Plant food- bearing trees and nectar plants