Producers & Consumers
Grass uses sunlight to make its own food. What type of organism is
grass?
Producer
A rabbit eats grass. Which is the consumer: the rabbit or the grass?
Rabbit
What is the original source of energy for most food chains?
Sun
What is a food web?
A group of interconnected food chains.
A rabbit has no plants left to eat. What will most likely happen?
The rabbit may move away, have less energy, or die/perish.
A mushroom breaks down dead organisms. What type of organism is it?
Decomposer
Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox. What does the fox eat?
Rabbit
Sun -> Grass -> Mouse. Where did the mouse's energy originally come from?
Sun
What do the arrows in a food web show?
The direction that energy flows from one organism to another.
Grass disappears from an ecosystem. What will most likely happen to rabbits that depend on it?
The rabbit population may decrease or the rabbits may move away to find food.
A mouse eats seeds and an owl eats the mouse. Which TWO organisms are consumers?
Mouse and owl
Grass -> Grasshopper -> Frog -> Snake. What does the frog eat?
Grasshopper
Put these in the correct energy-flow order: hawk, Sun, grass, rabbit.
Sun -> Grass -> Rabbit -> Hawk
Why can one organism appear in more than one food chain in a food web?
Because an organism may eat more than one type of food or be eaten by more than one predator.
If the number of mice decreases, what might happen to owls that eat mice?
The owls may have less food, move away, or their population may decrease.
Explain Your Reasoning: Explain why a hawk cannot be a producer.
A hawk cannot make its own food from sunlight. It gets energy by eating
other organisms
Plant -> Caterpillar -> Bird -> Hawk. If the bird disappears, which consumer loses a direct food source?
Hawk. Explain: the hawk loses the bird as a direct food source.
Explain how energy from the Sun can eventually reach a fox
Sun -> producer -> plant-eating consumer -> fox. Explain that energy is transferred as one organism eats another.
What is the major difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain shows one path of energy. A food web shows many connected paths. Explain why the web gives more information.
A disease greatly reduces the rabbit population. Name ONE predator that could be affected and explain why.
Possible answers: fox, owl, or hawk. Explain: the predator has less food available, so it may decrease or move away.
Explain Your Reasoning: Your chain contains grass, mouse, snake, hawk, and mushroom. Identify the producer, consumers, and decomposer.
Producer: grass.
Consumers: mouse, snake, and hawk.
Decomposer:mushroom
Build the correct food chain using these organisms: snake, grasshopper, grass, frog, hawk.
Grass -> Grasshopper -> Frog -> Snake -> Hawk. Explain how each organism gets energy from the one before it.
A hawk gets energy by eating a snake. Trace the energy all the way back to its original source using grass, grasshopper, frog, snake, and hawk.
Sun -> Grass -> Grasshopper -> Frog -> Snake -> Hawk. Explain the energy transfer at each step.
Why is a food web usually a better model of an ecosystem than a single food chain?
Because organisms usually have several feeding relationships, so many food chains connect. Explain using at least one example.
All the grass in an ecosystem dies. Predict TWO effects farther up the food web
Possible answers: plant-eaters decrease or leave; predators then lose prey and may also decrease or leave. Students must explain both effects.