Food Chain
What is at the start of a food chain?
Food producer
What is a predator and what is a prey?
Predator: An animal that eats other animals.
Prey: An animal that is eaten by other animals.
What is a food web?
Multiple food chains interlinked in one diagram.
What are decomposers?
Fungi and Bacteria
What do we the second organism in the food chain?
Primary consumer. (followed by secondary then tertiary)
Which organisms cannot be a predator and which cannot be a prey?
Herbivores cannot be predators. Plants cannot be preys.
We can know more about the organism’s ________ when we study the food web.
Diet
What is decomposition and what are needed for it to happen?
Breaking down of dead organisms into simpler substances (such as carbon dioxide, water and mineral salts).
Water, Oxygen, Warmth
What are the 2 things that food chain show?
It shows sequence of feeding from a plant and end with an animal.
It shows how energy is transferred from one organism to another.
G --> H --> I
Which organism that is both a prey and a predator?
None
What does the arrows used in a food chain/web mean?
Eaten by
What is the name of the group of animals that helps decomposers? Give 2 examples of such animals
Scavengers.
Vultures, earthworm, maggots, dung beetles, termites, woodlouse/woodlice, hyenas etc.
C --> D --> E --> F.
Based on this food chain, which organism has the largest population size? Explain.
C. There needs to be enough organism C to produce energy and support the other organisms in the food chain.
Why is it important to have predators?
It helps to keep the prey’s population in check so they will not be overpopulated and consume too much of its food.
How do we identify food producers in a food web?
The organism in the food web does not have any arrows pointed towards it.
How does scavengers help decomposers?
They break the dead organism into smaller pieces. With a bigger exposed surface area, decomposers can do their work faster.
A food chain is often limited to 5 organisms. Why is this so?
Not all the energy in an organism is transferred when they are being preyed upon (Use for their life processes like keeping themselves warm and breathing). Further down the food chain, even lesser energy is transferred until there is barely enough to sustain the last organism in the chain (ie. The next organism will be using more energy that what it receives through its food)
What are the 2 ways that decomposition is important?
It prevents the piling up of dead organisms.
It provides nutrients to the plants.