CHAPTER 3

Lesson 3: Ecosystem Relationships

I. How do organisms depend on one another?

A.Producer- makes its own food

1. Most all plants

B.Consumers- must find its own food

1. All animals

C.Decomposers – organisms that break down dead and decaying matter

1. worms, fungi

II. How can we classify all consumers?

A. Herbivore: Eats only plants, fruits, seeds

Deer, squirrel, prairie dogs

B. Carnivore:Eats meat only

Snake, owl, wolf, shark

C. Omnivore:

Predators and their prey

Eat both plants and meat

Humans, bears,

III. What is a food chain?

A. A path by which energy passes from one living thing to another

2. Producer- plant

1. Energy source- sun

3. Consumer- herbivore- mouse

4.Consumer- carnivore- wolf

5. Decomposer – break down dead wolf into soil for plant

1

2

3.

4

5

Food Chain Game

Food Chain Game

IV. What is a food web?

A. Food chains that overlap

B. Shows how all the animals in a community get their food

V. What is an energy pyramid?

A. Energy pyramid- shows the amount of energy at each level of a food web