Food Chains
What do all food chains start with?
All food chains start with producers.
Explain what a herbivore is and give an example.
A herbivore eats only producers or plants. Examples would be rabbit, grasshopper or cow.
What is competition?
It is when two different organisms compete or fight for resources, such as food, water, or territory (space).
Which symbiosis do both organisms get a benefit?
This relationship is mutualism.
What is it called when the last of an organism has died out and no more exist? They are all gone.
This is called extinct or extinction.
What is a consumer?
A consumer is an organism that must eat to get the energy they need.
What is a carnivore and give an example?
What is predation or predator/prey? Give an example.
It is when one organism, the predator, hunts, kills and eats the Prey. A fox is the predator and it hunts and eats the rabbit the prey.
Which symbiosis does one organism get a benefit and the other gets harmed?
This relationship is parasitism.
What is it called if an organism is not protected or care for it will become extinct? Their population is extremely small.
This organism is endangered.
What do the arrows indicate or show in a food chain?
They indicate the flow of energy.
Explain what an omnivore is give an example.
An omnivore is an organism that eats both producers/plants and meat. Examples would be rats, bears, raccoons and humans.
The oxpecker removes ticks from the rhino. The oxpecker gets food and the rhino gets pest free. What relationship is this.
This is mutualism.
Which symbiosis does one get a benefit and the other organism gets nothing and is not harmed?
This relationship is called commensalism.
An organism that could become endangered soon unless protected is called?
This organism is threatened.
What is the name of the organisms that are at the end of the food chain, the top predator.
These are the 3rd level consumer or tertiary consumer.
What are the organisms that break down the dead tissues of other organisms? Then give two ways they help the ecosystem.
These are decomposers. They keep dead organisms from piling up and they add nutrients back into the soil for producers to use.
What is photosynthesis - explain what uses this process.
Photosynthesis is when producers make their own food using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide.
Explain what an invasive or non-native species is.
An organism that is released or placed into an ecosystem it does not belong. It causes damage to the ecosystem.
What is the word for a long term relationship between two different organisms that at least one of them gets a benefit?
This is called symbiosis.
Give an example of a simple food chain. Tell what the organisms are and what level they are.
Answers will vary: Example
Producer/grass - 1st Level consumer/grasshopper - 2nd level consumer/mouse - 3rd level consumer(tertiary)/Barred owl
What does a food web show in an ecosystem and what is it made of?
It shows the flow of energy in the ecosystem an is made up of multiple food chains that overlap.
What are the two parts of the ecosystem?
The community and the physical environment are the two parts of the ecosystem. This is the biotic and abiotic factors.
Give an example of an invasive or non-native species and explain one negative thing that it has caused in the ecosystem it does not belong.
Answers will vary. Example:
The Burmese Python is from South East Asia and is invasive in the Florida Everglades. It competes with native predators for prey. It kills and eats multiple prey items each year causing their populations to decline.
What are two things that an animal can do when the weather gets cold? Explain.
Animals can hibernate (sleep during the cold months), migrate (go to a warmer climate) or grow a heavy winter coat to stay warmer. These are all adaptations to the climate.