ecosystems - cabarrus county schools

EcosystemsFood Chains, Food Webs, & Adaptations

Food ChainsWhat are they?

Ecosystems

• Ecosystems – all the living and nonliving things in an environment, including their interactions with each other.• Name some living things in an ecosystem in

your notes

• Name some non-living things in your notes

• Living things depend on their environment and each other for survival• All living things need energy to live and

grow

• Where do living things get energy? Write your answer in your notes.

• Food chain – a model that shows the path of energy and nutrients in an ecosystem

Ecosystems – Food Chains, Food Webs, and Adaptations3

How Do You Read a Food Chain?

• The arrows in a food chain represent the energy flow from one organism to another

• The arrow points to the organism the living thing that the organism eats

• The arrow pointing away from an organism shows the animal that eats that organism

• Energy flows in only ONE direction in a food chain.


Producers

• The energy in a food chain starts with the SUN – the energy source for almost all organisms on Earth.

• Producers – organisms, such as plants and algae, that use the sun’s energy to make their own food.


Consumers

• Consumers – any animal that eats plants or other animals

• Consumers can NOT make their own food


Decomposers

• Decomposer – breaks down dead or decaying plant and animal material

• Decomposers include fungi, bacteria, termites, and many worm species


Turn & Talk

• Talk to your lab partner(s) and answer the following questions• What general patterns do all food chains

follow?

• Which organism in this land food chain (to the side) eats the berries?


Herbivores

• Herbivores – animals that only eat plants• Include animals like squirrels, deer,

grasshoppers, giraffes, cows and gorillas

• Herbivores are also known as primaryconsumers since they are the first consumers in a food chain

• Herbivores can be found in every environment where plants grow

• Found in deserts, forests, grasslands, artic environments, and aquatic environment


Carnivores

• Carnivores – animals that eat only other animals• Examples include bobcats, lions, owls, and

hawks

• Carnivores are also known as secondary consumers – these carnivores eat herbivores

• Tertiary consumers are carnivores that eat other carnivores (or secondary consumers) – are at the top of most food chains

• Carnivores have special adaptations for catching and eating other organisms


Omnivores

• Omnivores – eat both plants and animals• Examples included bears, woodpeckers,

mice, chickens, crabs and most people

• Sometimes omnivores can be difficult to classify.• Hippos primarily are herbivores, because

they mainly graze on grass, but will occasionally eat meat

• Why is it hard to classify all humans as omnivores?


Predator & Prey

• Predator – an organism that hunts and kills other organisms for food

• Prey – organisms that are eaten by predators

• Predators and prey are consumers because they eat other organisms for energy.• A snake can be both predator and prey – it

may eat a mouse or be eaten by a hawk


Importance of Predator & Prey

• Predators limit the size of prey populations (all members of a single species in an area at a given time)

• When the numbers of prey animals are reduced, producers and other resources are less likely to run out.

• Prey control the populations of producers and some primary consumers by consuming them

• Support predator populations by being a food source

• A predator population cannot get any larger than the prey populations can support


Turn & Talk

• Talk to your lab partner(s) and answer the following questions• How is energy from the sun used by predators?

• Can an omnivore and a carnivore be in the same food chain? Explain.


What are Decomposers?

• In fall and winter, in forests, leaves fall to the ground and trees fall. Much of the plant material is gone by spring. How?

• Decomposers break down organisms that are no longer living into nutrients• Some nutrients become part of the soil that

plants use to grow

• Animals get nutrients when they eat these plants

• Decomposers break down plants and animals when they die

• Food chain starts over again


Jobs of Decomposers

• Different types of decomposers –break down a different type of organism• Earthworms – break down plants

• Fungi – some break down rotting wood

• Some decomposers break down the remains of dead animals

• Some decomposers work together to break down an organism completely

• Scavengers ( animals that feed on the remains of dead animals that they do not hunt or kill) help remove dead organisms from an ecosystem• Examples – jackals, vultures, raccoons and

some crabs


Discovery Education – Food Chains and Food Webs


Lab – Food Chain Foldable

• With your lab partner – each of you will make a foldable, but you can discuss with your lab partner if you have questions – create a layered look book on Producers, Consumers and Decomposers

• Draw pictures of each type of item • Must be neat and identifiable

• Must have at least 5 examples of each –labeled.

• May use a Chromebook to see photos to draw from

• Glue into your interactive notebook

• Hand in your notebook to Mrs. Quick


Lab – The Food Chain Game

• Get your Chromebook

• Login to Google Classroom

• Link for the Food Chain Game will be on the page as an assignment

• Remember to mark as complete when you are done.


Lab – Food Chain Reading

• Read the passage and answer the questions.

• You may work with your lab partner to partner read and answer the questions




Lab – Create a Food Chain

• Work with your lab partner to create a Food Chain – you both may have the same one – but you both must have made a copy of it

• There must be at least 4 – 5 populations in your food chain.

• Draw the producers, consumers and decomposers – label




Food WebsHow is this different from a Food Chain?

What is a Food Web?

• Food Web – a network of food chains that have some links in common

• Organisms can be a part of one or more food chains

• Food chains are combined to create a food web

• How do you read a food web?• As with food chains, arrows represent the

energy flow from one organism to another

• Food web tells you a lot about an ecosystem• Identify which animals are predators, which

are prey, and both

• Question – why are different food chains often linked together? Answer in your interactive notebook


How can a Food Web Change?

• What happens when the population of one organism in a food web changes?• All of the other populations in the food web

are affected.

• When top carnivores are removed from a food web – prey populations are no longer controlled

• When the prey numbers increase, they need more producers to supply them with food.

• Soon there would be less producers to support the organisms.

• Read the Diagram to the left – answer the question in your notebook with your lab partner


Why do Organisms Compete?

• Life in an ecosystem is a constant struggle – food, water, space and other resources are restricted

• Competition – fight for limited resources

• Who actually competes in an ecosystem?• Organisms with a population• Populations within an ecosystem

• The survival of a population comes down to resources

• Limiting Factor – any resource that restricts the growth of populations• Forests can support more populations

during summer than winter (rainfall and temperature can be limiting factors)

• So, this abiotic factor (non-living things) –water, temperature, weather, soil type, space to grow, shelter and sunlight – can be a limiting factor


Why do Organisms Compete?

• Living things – biotic factors – can limit ecosystems• Prairie ecosystem has more producers than

a desert ecosystem

• Prairie can support more herbivores, which then can support more carnivores

• The amount of food available in a desert ecosystem is a limiting factor

• Biotic and Abiotic factors determine the carrying capacity (the greatest number of individuals within a population that an ecosystem can support).• Overcrowding can also limit growth


How do Populations Grow?

• Populations grow when the number of births in that population is higher than the number of deaths

• When death exceeds birth, the population gets smaller

• When a population has access to enough food, living space and other resources, it can grow quickly

• Exponential growth - the larger a population gets, the faster it grows

• As the population grows, competition for resources increase, and the increased competition leads to the death rate and birth rate being equal –this is the ecosystems carrying capacity for this population


Lab – Bill Nye the Science Guy: Food Webs


• Log in to Google Classroom

• Get a worksheet from Mrs. Quick about the video – fill in as you watch. Read the questions over BEFORE you watch the video

• Watch the Bill Nye the Science Guy: Food Webs video

• Complete the Worksheet and glue into your interactive notebook



Lab – Create a Food Web

• Pick an ecosystem with your lab partner – Forest, Desert, Tundra, Ocean, or Rainforest – and create a food web

• You may use your Chromebook to find species of animals that live in the ecosystem you have both chosen.

• Create at least 3 food chains and then connect them into a food web




AdaptationsHow do populations survive in the constant struggle?

What is adaptation?

• Adaptation – any characteristic that helps an organism survive in its environment

• Organisms with successful adaptations survive more frequently than other organisms

• Offspring inherit these adaptations

• Adaptations can be either structural or behavioral


Structural Adaptations

• Structural Adaptations – adjustments to internal or external physical structures• Examples – fur color, long limbs, strong

jaws, and the ability to run fast

• Help organisms survive in certain environments• Webbed feet help them survive in water

• Thick, waxy cuticle help cacti to prevent loss of water

• Protect prey from predators or enable predators to hunt more successfully• Turtles have hard shells to protect them

• Sharks have an excellent sense of smell and sharp teeth – helps to catch prey


Behavioral Adaptations

• Behavioral Adaptations – adjustments in an organism’s behavior• Examples – wolves travel in packs (hunt

larger prey together); fish swim in schools (protection)

• Help animals to survive seasonal changes• Migration – birds, butterflies and fish – is a

movement of animals to find food, reproduce in better conditions, or find a less severe climate

• Hibernation – a period of inactivity during cold weather


Plant Adaptations

• Structural Adaptations• Adapt to different temperatures and

climates

• Prevention of water loss

• Root systems (either deep or shallow to compete for water and nutrients)

• Complete life cycles in shorter growing seasons

• Stomata to release and take in carbon dioxide and oxygen

• Defenses from herbivores


Animal Adaptations

• Structural Adaptations• Thicker fur and extra body fat in cold

environments• Nocturnal (active at night) animals in hot

climates• Aquatic animals are more “streamlined”

than land animals – to swim quickly• Aquatic animals can hold their breath for

long periods of time or have gills to breath underwater

• Faster runners (gazelles)• Special defenses (skunks)• Camouflage – any coloring, shape, or

pattern that allows an organism to blend in with its environment

• Protective coloration – type of camouflage in which the color of the animal helps it to blend in with its background (arctic fox)

• Protective resemblance – matching the color, shape and texture of an environment


Lab - Discovery Education –Adaptations Video (EdPuzzle)




• Find the Discovery Education –Adaptations Video Lab

• Answer the questions to the video as you watch it.

Lab - Adaptations



• Find the Adaptations Lab

• Get a worksheet from Mrs. Quick prior to starting

• Choose the REGION tab. A map will appear. You will need to:• Choose a region (continent)

• Choose three animals and write their adaptation next to it.

• Glue in your interactive notebook

• Hand your notebook into Mrs. Quick.


ecosystems - cabarrus county schools

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