Food Webs
In a food web, what is the base source of energy that every item is somehow linked back to?
The sun
What is one thing you can do to prevent a harmful algae bloom?
1. Pick up waste
2. Don't use fertilizer
What do plants get most of their weight from?
What is an example of a decomposer?
Mushrooms or worms
What kind of scale can be used to weigh air?
A balance scale
How do we show energy flow (matter) in a food chain?
Arrows
Animals can't survive because they are so crowded with algae that it makes it hard to breathe. Also, the algae tends to have harmful chemicals in it.
What gas do plants take in? What gas do they let off?
Let out: Oxygen
What is a decomposer?
A living thing that can break down dead living things
What is it called when we decompose dead matter into fertilizer?
Composting
Explain how all dinosaurs went extinct. How could all dinosaurs go extinct if it was just an asteroid that caused dust to cover up the sun?
The dust covered the sun which then killed the living plants which then killed the herbivores and then killed the omnivores and carnivores.
What three things cause harmful algae blooms?
Waste, fertilizer, and warm sunny days
What part of the plant takes in air? Hint: Look like tiny mouth openings on the leaves?
Stomata
What type of environment do worms prefer?
A place that is damp and dark.
Why can a hawk move to New York City and survive?
Hawks would move to New York City because everything within their food chain is supported there. Anywhere that an animal's food chain is, is where that animal would be found.
Show me a food chain using: T-rex (carnivore), triceratops (herbivore), living plants, and the sun. Hint: arrows need to be pointing from the food to the thing eating it.
Sun -> Living Plants -> Triceratops -> T-Rex
How does fertilizer or waste in a yard end up in a lake that is very far away?
Rain causes it to end up in the drains or rivers which carries it to the lake (runoff)
What three things do plants need?
Water, sunlight, and air
Put these in a food chain: rat, hawk, plant, and snake
Plant -> rat -> snake -> hawk
What happens to an ecosystem if we take out one level of a food web? For example, if all plants are taken out and killed off, what happens to the rest of the food web?
Anything above that level of the food chain will likely die off
How can algae blooms affect humans? Why should we care to prevent them?
Fish eat algae or inhale it and it has harmful chemicals in it. We then eat fish. It is a harmful food chain.
If we put a plant in a sealed container, would it grow? How do you know?
Describe what happens to fallen leaves?
Fallen leaves are decomposed by mushrooms and mushroom spores
Why do we have to clean a fish tank and not a pond?
Pond ecosystems maintain themselves due to the carbon cycle which is depicted above. Plants, animals, and decomposers all work together to maintain a healthy oxygen and carbon dioxide level in the pond at all times. Plants take carbon dioxide in and animals and decomposers let off carbon dioxide. If one of these parts of the cycle gets messed with, it throws off all other components of the ecosystem.