Who Eats Who? SMS 6 th Grade Science

Big Ideas Ecosystem Roles

Producer-Consumer Relationship Finding understandings Take a common lunch menu: cheeseburger, fries, and chocolate milkshake. On paper write down each of the meal items across the top. Describe what is in each part of the meal and where it came from. Trace all food items back as far as you can. For example, the bun is made of flour, flour is made of wheat, and wheat is a plant. Cheese is made from milk, milk is made by cows, cows eat grass, and grass is a plant. “Plants are producers—anything else is a consumer.”

Pop QuizTitle Energy Flow Critical Thinking Put your name at the top and answer the following 10 questions. Be sure to write the entire answer out.

1. Critical Thinking Which list below best shows how energy moves in a food chain? A.Grass cows humans Sun B.Sun grass cows humans C.Humans cows grass Sun D.Cows grass Sun humans

2. Critical Thinking In a food chain, the green plants are Producers Predators Decomposers Prey

3. Critical Thinking Green plants Insects Frogs Snakes Frogs in the above food chain get their energy directly from Eating insects Being eaten by snakes Eating other frogs Eating green plants

4. Critical Thinking Sun Green plants Mice Snakes Hawks Which population would most likely decrease if the number of mice greatly increased? A.Green plants B.Mice C.Snakes D.Hawks

5. Critical Thinking If all green plants died, would foxes survive? Yes, foxes do not eat green plants. Yes, foxes could still eat other animals. No, the animals that foxes eat need to eat green plants. No, they would have no more plants to eat.

Critical Thinking 6. Which picture represents a decomposer? 7. Which picture represents a producer?

The arrows show the source of energy for these living creatures. For example, the arrow pointing from the fish to the seal shows that the seals eat fish as a source of energy. 8. What do marine birds eat as a source of energy? A.Berries B. Fish C. Leaves D. Mushrooms 9. According to this diagram, what do insects and fish eat as a source of energy? A. Meat eaters B. Plant eaters C. Plants D. Decomposers 10. For a source of energy, arctic foxes eat A. grass. B. flowers. C. insects. D. seals.