Vocabulary
Energy Pyramid
Food Chain
Plants
Food Web
100
All the living and nonliving things in an area and their interactions.
Ecosystem
100
Which does not belong in the energy pyramid.
Bottom: Water
Sun
Plankton
Fish
Top: Shark
Water
100
Identify the roles of each of the organisms in the following food chain:
Grass > Grasshopper > Frog > Snake > Hawk > Fungi
Grass - Producer, Grasshopper - Consumer, Frog > Consumer, Hawk > Consumer, Fungi > Decomposer
100
How/where do plants get the materials they need to grow?
Plants get their energy from the sun and their matter from water and air so they can grow.
100
What is a food web?
A group of different food chains linked together. It shows how matter and energy can move through an ecosystem.
200
Biotic Factors
Living organisms in an ecosystem.
200
Create and Energy Pyramid
Word Bank (4 used): mice, wheat, hawk, sun, water, soil
Cooper’s hawks mainly eat small birds, such as robins, pigeons, and doves. They also consume small mammals that are omnivores, such as squirrels, and mice. They are usually the top consumers in their ecosystem.
Bottom: Sun
Wheat
Mice
Top: Hawk
200
From where does the grass get its energy?
The sun.
200
Do plants need soil?
No. Plants grow stronger from the nutrients in the soil, but not soil, itself.
200
What would happen if a new species, such as the red fox, were introduced to this food web that also ate rabbits?
Rabbits: Decrease
Grass: Increase
Eagles: Decrease
Snakes: Decrease
300
Process by which energy passes from one living thing to another.
Food Chain
300
Create an Energy Pyramid.
Word Bank: Shark, Water, Fish, Plankton, Seal, Sun, Soil.
Great White Sharks are carnivorous eating many types of large fish, other sharks, rays, seals and sea lions. When they see a seal at the surface of the water catching fish for their own food, sharks will often position themselves underneath the seal. Using their tails as propellers, they swim upward at a fast sprint, burst out of the water in a leap called a breach, and fall back into the water with the seal in their mouths.
Bottom: Sun
Plankton
Fish
Seal
Top: Shark
300
How does the energy flow through a food chain?
Producers: Producers use the sun’s energy to convert water and air into plant matter.
Consumers: Consumers eat producers and other consumers which transfer the energy to them and allows the consumer to grow and repair damaged cells.
Decomposers: Feed on dead animals and plants parts and gain energy from it to grow, as well.
300
Effect on Plant: Wilted, yellow leaves.
What is the cause?
Not enough water. Plants need a specific amount of water to grow efficiently.
300
What makes an ecosystem unbalanced?
When an abiotic or biotic factor becomes unstable, unsustained or disrupted. This can disrupt the population of organisms or create poor living conditions for them.
Examples: overpopulation, invasive species, hunting, natural disaster, pollution.
400
Nonliving organisms in an ecosystem.
Abiotic Factors
400
Why do you think 100% of the energy does not get transferred throughout a food chain?
Organisms use some energy to move and grow before passing it on.
400
How does matter flow through a food chain?
Producers: Make their own food from the water, air, and sun.
Composer: Eat other organisms (plants/animals).
Decomposers: Break down dead animals and plants (matter) to return nutrients to the soil, so plants can grow, again.
400
Effect on Plant: Shorter, less dense, less colorful
What is the cause:
No carbon dioxide.
Plants grown with plenty of carbon dioxide will be taller, more dense, and more colorful.
400
What are the abiotic factors in this food web?
Sun, water, soil, nutrients, oxygen, carbon dioxide.
500
Living things that break down decaying materials.
Decomposer
500
Why do you suppose energy is represented in a triangle?
The amount of energy decreases as it is passed through the food chain; large base and small top. The populations decrease as you go up the pyramid.
500
What is a food chain?
A process by which energy passes from one living thing to another.
500
What is photosynthesis?
The process by which plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make their food (sugar).
500
Explain how organisms depend on each other to survive (include name of roles).
Each organism plays a role in keeping the ecosystem’s matter and energy balanced. Producers convert the sun’s energy and make their own food which they provide for consumers. Consumers transfer the matter and energy to other consumers. Consumers also transfer matter and energy to decomposers. Decomposers provide nutrients for producers to grow.