Food Chains Chapter 2 Section 3

Table of Contents 1. Science Process Skills Parts of a Cell # 3. Classifying Animals # 4. Ecosystems # 5. Food Chains/Food Webs # Make this the next clean page in your journal

In order to live animals need energy. Some animals get the energy they need to live from eating plants and other vegetation. Some animals get their energy from eating other animals. Some animals eat both plants and other animals.

Energy from food  A food chain describes how energy in an ecosystem flows from one organism to another.  Producers- Make their own food  Consumers- Living things that cannot make their own food –Herbivores- eat only plants or producers –Carnivores- eat only other consumers –Omnivores- eat plants and animals  Decomposers- break down the decaying remains of dead producers and consumers

Food Chains  A food chain describes how energy in an ecosystem flows from one organism to another. ******EXAMPLE****** 1. Sun 2. Producers- plants capture the sun’s energy to make food 3. 1 st level (primary) consumer- ex. Catepillar 4. 2 nd level (tertiary) consumer- ex. Bird 5. 3 rd level consumer- ex. Cat 6. Decomposers- fungus, bacteria, earthworms

Food Chain  Order in which energy is transferred from one organisms to another  Each part of a food chain is a link connected to other links.

The Sun  Without the sun, there would be no food chain  It is the beginning of any food web/food chain

Producers  Plants are considered producers  They use photosynthesis to PRODUCE their own food

Consumers  Primary consumers (1 st level)- eat only plants  HERBIVORES  Secondary Consumers (2 nd Level)- eat other consumers –Omnivores or carnivores  Tertiary Consumers (3 rd level)- Eat secondary consumers –omnivores/carnivores

Consumers  Humans are consumers….  Which level would we be? Primary, secondary or tertiary??  Humans are mostly considered “top of the food chain”  Question- If a human was stranded in the ocean with no raft or boat…would we still be the “top of the food chain?” why or why not??

Decomposers  Organisms that break down dead or decaying plant and animal matter  There is a difference between a decomposer and a scavenger!! –Scavenger= lazy consumer

A Food Chain Plant Insects Frog Snake Decomposer Hawk

Food Chain Plankton—Crab—Seal—Orca This is only one possible chain in a marine ecosystem.

Food Chain

Overlapping food chains are called food webs.

THE FOOD WEB

Click the following button to complete an activity which demonstrates how a food web works.

Food Chains/Webs  Food Chain- how energy is transferred from one organism to another –Producers, Consumers, decomposers  Food Web- overlapping food chain

What if we took the grasshopper out of the food chain… Now what would happen?

What do you think would happen if all the grasshoppers disappeared?

What if we took the hawk out of the food chain…

What do you think would happen if all the hawks disappeared?

Then what happens?

Think about your community of animals you have in front of you.  What would happen if one of the animals had a disease and all died…  Take one animal away from your group.  Write down what you think would happen…

Write your observation