Ecology Bingo Draw a 2 x 3 grid and fill it with 6 key words that you think might come up in today’s lesson... EcosystemCarnivore ConsumerProducer Food chainEnergy flow

Food chains and food webs About how energy moves through food chains and webs. WAL: All Most Some How does energy enter an ecosystem and become transferred between organisms? What is meant by the terms: trophic level, food chain, food web, producer, consumer and decomposer? How is energy lost from the ecosystem?

Today we are covering from the specification: Pages of your textbook

How does energy enter an ecosystem and become transferred between organisms? The ultimate source of energy for organisms found in an ecosystem is sunlight. This is converted to chemical energy by photosynthesising organisms and passed as food between other organisms.

Radiation from the Sun (solar or light energy) is the main source of energy for all living things. The Sun’s light energy is captured and used by green plants and algae during photosynthesis, to make new biomass. 6CO 2 + 6H energy light C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2

Producer The plant in the food chain - they make food by photosynthesis. Primary consumerAnimals that eat the producer. E.g? Secondary consumer Usually eat animal material - they are carnivores e.g? Tertiary consumerEats secondary consumers e.g? Quarternary consumerEats Tertiary consumers e.g? OmnivoreEats both plants and meat. Trophic Level Position occupied by a group of organisms in a food chain. Food chain Describes a feeding relationship between organisms Food webMany food chains linked together Carnivore An animal that eats other animals and may therefore be a 2° or 3° consumer Trophic levelEach stage in a food chain A few key words…

What is a food chain? Organisms need energy to live They get this energy by eating other organisms –E.g. A rabbit gets energy from the carrots it eats A food chain shows how energy is passed through a series of animals –E.g. Carrot  Rabbit  Fox

Consumers are organisms that obtain their energy by feeding on other organisms rather than using the energy of sunlight directly.

Stoat Toad Caterpillar Grass Producer Makes food from sun using photosynthesis Primary Consumer Gains energy by eating producers. Usually herbivores Secondary Consumer Gains energy by eating primary consumers. Usually carnivores but can be omnivores Tertiary Consumer Gains energy by eating secondary consumers. Usually predators but may be scavengers or parasites Trophic level

Food chains Food chains are diagrams that show which animals eat each other In habitats all animals and plants depend on each other If one animal dies out it might affect the other animals

Human Cow Grass What would happen to the cows if all the grass died out?

What are detrivores? Things that feed on detritus (dead or decaying material) giving it a bigger surface area for microorganisms to work on LL 2008

Name some examples of detrivores LL 2008

Microorganisms (Saprophytes) are things that feed by releasing enzymes outside of their body, digesting the food externally and then absorbing the digested food. Decay is caused by saprophytes Bacteria & fungi are saprophytes. LL 2008

Constructing an ecosystem Within any ecosystem there are two main processes to consider: –The flow of energy through the ecosystem. –The cycling of elements through the ecosystem. We are going to construct an ecosystem based on these two main principles.

Lettuce Makes its own food using energy from the sun. Grass Makes its own food using energy from the sun. Slug Eats lettuce. Aphid Eats grass. Grasshopper Eats grass. Caterpillar Eats lettuce. Rabbit Eats lettuce and grass. Spider Eats aphids. Hedgehog Eats slugs and caterpillars. Thrush Eats slugs and spiders. Vole Eats grasshoppers. Frog Eats grasshoppers. Grass snake Eats frogs. Sparrowhawk Eats voles and thrushes. Fox Eats hedgehogs, voles and rabbits.

Constructing an ecosystem As well as the cards provided, you will also have to draw/add your own elements to the ecosystem as some are missing.

Constructing an ecosystem Cut out all of the cards and try to arrange them in a logical ecosystem. Once your happy, glue them down. Draw arrows between organisms to show the flow of energy (and therefore feeding relationships) within the ecosystem. Around the outside, list any abiotic factors which could affect the individuals in the ecosystem.

An example ecosystem

Food chains and food webs About how energy moves through food chains and webs. WAL: All Most Some How does energy enter an ecosystem and become transferred between organisms? What is meant by the terms: trophic level, food chain, food web, producer, consumer and decomposer? How is energy lost from the ecosystem?

5,4,3,2,1 go… can you talk about food chains and food webs for 60 seconds mentioning as many as the key words as possible? Producer Consumer Food chain Food web Omnivore Habitat Trophic level Energy loss Heat Quarternary Decomposer Respiration Tertiary consumer Secondary consumer Primary consumer Detritivore Carnivore Herbivore