Food Chains, Food Webs and the Energy Pyramid Life Science Review

The Food Chain The food chain has _____ basic parts: - The __________ - _____________ - _____________ - _____________

The Sun Provides ________ for _____________ in the world

Producers ___________- make their own food through the process of __________________ Contain the _________________ that’s why veggies are so good for you to eat!!!!

Consumers – organisms that get their food and energy by _________________________. Aka Heterotrophs Ex. Animals

Categories of Consumers There are _______ main categories of consumers: - _______________ consumers: herbivores (eat producers) - ________________ consumers: carnivores that eat primary consumers - _______________ consumers: carnivores that eat secondary consumers

Other Consumers The following are also consumers: - ______________: feed off of dead things - ______________: lives on or inside of other living things for food

Types of Consumers Detritivore: feeds on remains of other animals and plants (they eat the __________________________ _________________) Decomposer: smaller than the detritivore and __________________________of organic matter and returns it to the soil.

More on Decomposers Ex. Fungi, some bacteria, worms Natures recyclers ____________________dead matter into important ______________ that are released back into the ground, air or water. (Bacteria) Return _________________ back to the soil Ex. Fungi, some bacteria, worms Natures recyclers

The Food Web A ______________ describes the many interlocking food _________ in an area Food webs show how the failing of one element in a food chain can affect ______ the living things in a location

An Example of a Broken Link in the Food Web Back in the 1960s, farmers used to use a pesticide called DDT. DDT was very helpful in getting rid of insects that ate crops, but it also got washed off plants into the soil. It would then seep into the water. Small organisms would absorb the DDT and get eaten by fish. The fish were now full of DDT. Once the birds ate the fish, they too would be affected. Eventually, the birds started becoming endangered because the DDT caused their eggs to not hatch the right way!

Energy Pyramids An _________________is a way of describing the feeding and energy relationships within a food chain or web. Much of the energy is “_________” when one organism in a food chain eats another (most of it is converted into heat energy). Each feeding level represents about a ____________________.

Energy Pyramids The energy pyramid is a way to classify levels of _________ that pass through an ecosystem. The higher up the pyramid you go, the _______________ organisms belong in that group…WHY?...

Example Note the pyramid on the left. At the bottom are _____________ of plankton. As you move up the pyramid, all those plankton end up supplying energy to just ___________ shark!

Number Pyramid represents the __________ of individual organisms available for energy at each ___________ level in an ecosystem. It can be used to examine how the population of a certain species affects another.another

Biomass Pyramid represents the total __________ of _________ organic matter (biomass) at each trophic level in an ecosystem