Local Food Chains
This organism is almost always at the very start of a food chain because it makes its own food using sunlight.
What is a plant (or producer)?
A white-tailed deer eats only grass, leaves, and twigs, which means it belongs to this diet group.
What is a herbivore?
When the weather gets freezing cold in an Alberta winter, some animals like gophers go into a deep, sleep-like state to save energy.
What is hibernation?
Plants give off this invisible gas during the day, which animals and humans absolutely need to breathe in to survive.
What is oxygen?
When observing a bird's nest or a wild animal in a local park, this is the safest and most respectful distance to keep.
What is far away (or a safe, respectful distance/not touching)?
In an Alberta forest food chain, if a caterpillar eats a leaf, this flying animal might come along to eat the caterpillar.
What is a bird (e.g., a robin or chickadee)?
A lynx or a cougar hunts meat and eats other animals, making them part of this group.
What is a carnivore?
If you place a houseplant near a dark window, the plant will slowly bend and grow toward this environmental stimulus.
What is sunlight (or light)?
Bees and butterflies fly from flower to flower to get food, but the plants depend on them to do this so new flowers can grow.
What is pollination (or moving pollen)?
This is a simple action students can take on the schoolyard to protect local plants and prevent animals from getting sick by eating human garbage.
What is picking up litter (or throwing garbage away)?
Put these three prairie organisms in the correct order of a food chain: Hawk, Grass, Gopher.
What is Grass $\rightarrow$ Gopher $\rightarrow$ Hawk?
An Alberta grizzly bear eats berries and roots, but also catches salmon and hunts small mammals. This makes the bear an example of this group.
What is an omnivore?
Canada geese respond to the stimulus of dropping autumn temperatures by flying south in a big V-shape. This movement is called:
What is migration?
Squirrels benefit from oak or pine trees by getting seeds to eat. The trees benefit when squirrels do this with the seeds and forget about them.
What is burying them (which plants new trees)?
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit cultures view plants, animals, and humans not as separate, but as interconnected parts of this one big system.
What is nature (or the environment/The Web of Life)?
In a Canadian pond environment, this large, semi-aquatic rodent eats willow bark, and a wolf or bear might hunt it.
What is a beaver?
If an animal has sharp, pointed teeth for tearing meat, it is most likely a carnivore. If it has flat, wide teeth for grinding plants, it is this.
What is a herbivore?
A snowshoe hare changes its fur color from brown in the summer to white in the winter to respond to this change in its environment.
What is snow (or winter weather/camouflage)?
Besides food, a bird might depend on a tree for this major survival need.
What is shelter (or a home/nest)?
Traditional Indigenous knowledge teaches that when gathering plants for medicine or food, you should never take all of the plants. You should always leave enough for this reason.
What is so they can grow back (or for the animals/future generations)?
This is the specific term for an animal that hunts other animals for food in a food chain.
What is a predator?
Humans eat both plants and animals. Therefore, biologically, humans are classified as this.
What is an omnivore?
When a porcupine feels threatened by a predator (a stimulus), its body responds by doing this to protect itself.
What is raising its quills?
When animals breathe out, they release this gas, which plants actually need to take in to make their own food.
What is carbon dioxide?
If you are observing a local wetland environment with your class, this is a rule you should follow regarding the plants growing there.
What is do not pick or damage them (leave them as you found them)?