DO NOW TUESDAY What is carrying capacity?

DO NOW WEDNESDAY What is the relationship between limiting factors and carrying capacity?

SC Indicator Illustrate energy flow in food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids.

Prior Knowledge In 3 rd grade you learned about simple food chains, including the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers. In 5 th grade you identified the roles of organisms as they interacted and depended on one another through food chains and food webs in an ecosystem. You learned a lot in 5 th grade. Let’s review what you learned.

In 5 th Grade… You learned about producers and consumers like herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. You learned about decomposers like microorganisms, termites, worms, and fungi. You learned about the roles of predators and prey. You also learned about parasites and their hosts. Wow! You really learned a lot in 5 th grade.

Future Learning In high school biology you will learn how to calculate the amount of energy transferred from one level to another in an energy pyramid. You will also learn the roles that organisms play in the geochemical cycles (such as the carbon cycle, nitrogen cycle, and water cycle). You will learn more about predation, competition, and symbiotic relationships as well.

Essential Question What does a food chain show us?

Essential Question How is a food web different from a food chain?

Essential Question How does energy flow through an ecosystem?

Essential Question How does the amount of energy change as it moves through an energy pyramid?

Food Chains Food chains uses arrows to show the flow of energy in an ecosystem. The arrows always point to the organism that is doing the eating

Trophic Level The trophic level of an organism indicates the position that the organism occupies in the food chain. It shows what it eats and what eats it.

Anything that can make its own food to survive is called a producer.

Anything that cannot make its own food must EAT to survive. It is a consumer.

Trophic Levels in a Food Chain Tertiary consumers: eat the primary consumers (carnivores or omnivores)  Secondary consumers: eat the primary consumers (carnivores-eat animals- or omnivores- eat animals and plants)  Primary Consumers: are herbivores (eat the producers)  Producers: make their own food

LEVEL 1: Producers LEVEL 2: Primary Consumers LEVEL 3: Secondary Consumers LEVEL 4: Tertiary Consumers

Note: There’s something wrong. What is it?

Trophic Levels

Food Webs Food webs describe the organisms found in interconnecting food chains using pictures or words and arrows. In other words, food webs are a bunch of food chains all together!

Energy Pyramids An energy pyramid shows the amount of energy that moves from one trophic level to another in a food chain. The most energy is available at the producer level of the pyramid. The availability of energy decreases as it moves up the energy pyramid.

Another Cool Site After we look at the above web site, we’ll go on to view the youTube video about FOOD WEBS.

 In this food chain, what is the producer?  What is the first level (primary) consumer?  What is the second level (secondary) consumer?  Which organism in this diagram needs to eat the most to get the energy to survive? Explain. EXIT SLIP THURSDAY

DO NOW FRIDAY Name the organism at each trophic level of this food chain.

Pond Food Web Activity Now you will work in pairs to complete the Pond Food Web Activity. Each pair/table will need a set of cards and a handout for each person.

Use the cards in the bag to complete the four food chains on your handout.

Write the name of the organism from the card that you choose in the boxes on your handout. You may use some of the organisms in more than one of your food chains.

EXIT SLIP Pick one organism in this food web and give its trophic level (s). Explain.

EXIT SLIP FRIDAY

Making a Model  Let’s make a model of an energy pyramid.  The model you will construct will be simple. It will show pictures of the producers and consumers at each level, the names in words, and the trophic levels.  The good news is that this model really is perfect for meeting our objectives relating to energy pyramids.  Make sure you follow all instructions for proper completion of the model.

Acknowledgements All pictures were obtained from various sources on Google Images. None of the pictures/illustrations are mine. Credit is given to all artists/photographers for their work.