Activity 6: Food Chains and Food

Webs

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbWyrcY5i3s&feature=related (song)

Producers• Organisms that can use the energy in

sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into glucose (food) through photosynthesis

• Without producers, there would be no life on this planet

• Ex. Plants and Algae

Producers

Consumers

• Organisms that do not make their own food

• They eat (CONSUME) other organisms in order to live

• Five types of consumers: Scavengers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and decomposers

• Ex. Rabbits, Deer, Mushrooms

Consumers

1. Scavengers/Detritivores – feed on the tissue of dead organisms (both plans and animals)

• Ex. – Vultures, Crows, and Shrimp

2. Herbivores – eat ONLY plants• Ex. – Cows, Elephants, Giraffes

3. Carnivores – eat ONLY meat• Ex. – Lions, Tigers, Sharks

4. Omnivores – eat BOTH plants and animals • Ex. – Bears and Humans

5. Decomposers – absorb any dead material and break it down into simple nutrients or fertilizers

• Ex. – Bacteria and Mushrooms

Food Chains• Energy moves from one organisms to another

when it is eaten: the arrow points in the direction of the energy transfer, NOT “what ate what”

• Each step in this transfer of energy is know as a trophic level

Primary Consumers – eat producersSecondary Consumers – eat the primary consumersTertiary Consumers – eat the secondary consumersDecomposers – bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and recycle the material back into the environment

Food Chain

Food Web• Most organisms eat more the JUST one

organism, making a web

Food Web