Food Webs
What do we call a diagram that shows many interconnected feeding relationships in an ecosystem?
"Food webs."
What is the simplest path that energy follows through an ecosystem, showing who eats whom?
"Food chain."
What do producers make using sunlight?
"Food/chemical energy (glucose)."
What do we call animals that must eat other organisms for energy?
"Consumers."
Name two decomposers and where you might find them.
"Fungi (mushrooms) and bacteria; found in leaf litter or soil."
True or False: A food web can show that one animal eats more than one kind of organism.
True
Put these in order for a simple food chain: grasshopper, sun, frog, grass.
"sun → grass → grasshopper → frog."
Name two types of producers found in most ecosystems.
Tree
Grass
Algae
What is a primary consumer? Give an example.
"Primary consumer eats producers (herbivore). Example: rabbit."
What role do decomposers play in ecosystems?
"They break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil."
Explain why food webs give a better picture of an ecosystem than a single food chain.
Example answer: "Food webs include many overlapping food chains, showing multiple feeding relationships and how species interact with many others."
Identify the producer and the top consumer in this food chain: Algae-->Minnow--> Bluegill --> Heron
Producer is Algae
Top Consumer is Heron
Explain why producers are always at the base of food chains and trophic pyramids.
"They make energy-rich food from sunlight that supports all other levels."
Define an omnivore and give one example common to a 5th grade student's environment.
"Omnivore eats both plants and animals. Example: human or raccoon."
Explain how decomposers help return matter to the soil in one sentence.
"They break down dead matter into simple nutrients the soil can hold."
In a food web, what happens to the population of a predator if many of its prey species decline. Answer in one sentence.
Example answer: "The predator population would likely decrease because less food is available."
Describe in one sentence how energy changes as it moves along a food chain.
"Energy decreases at each step; most energy is lost as heat and used for life processes, so less is available to the next consumer."
Producers convert light energy into chemical energy. Give the scientific name for this process.
"Photosynthesis"
Explain the difference between a herbivore, a carnivore, and an omnivore using one clear sentence each.
"Herbivore: eats only plants. Carnivore: eats mostly other animals. Omnivore: eats both plants and animals."
Describe what would happen to dead plant material if decomposers ewre removed from an ecosystem.
"Dead plant material would accumulate, nutrients would not return to soil, and new plants would struggle to grow."
Give an example (ONE PREDATOR and at least TWO DIFFERENT prey) and describe how removing the predator would change the food web for the other species.
Example: "Predator = wolf; prey = deer and rabbits. Removing wolves can cause deer and rabbit populations to rise, which may overgraze plants and reduce food for other herbivores."
Draw (describe) a 5-step food chain that includes a plant, an insect, a small bird, a hawk, and a decomposer. Label each step as a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer, and decomposer.
Example chain: "plant (producer) → insect (primary consumer) → small bird (secondary consumer) → hawk (tertiary consumer) → bacteria/fungi (decomposer)."
Describe how a sudden drop in sunlight (like it's cloudy for weeks) might affect producers and then two other levels in the ecosystem.
"Less sunlight → fewer producers → fewer herbivores and then fewer predators."
A raccoon eats insects, berries, and small frogs. classify the raccoon as a primary, secondary, or tertiary consumer and explain your reasoning.
"Raccoon is an omnivore and can act as primary, secondary, or tertiary consumer depending on the food eaten; here it is at least a secondary consumer when it eats frogs and a primary consumer when it eats berries."
Explain how decomposers connect to nutrient cycles and why they are essential for new plant growth. Use an example of fallen leaves.
"Decomposers break down fallen leaves into nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which return to the soil and are taken up by producers—this completes the nutrient cycle."