Food Chainsa Food Chain Is a Model That Shows How Energy Is Passed, in the Form of Food

Food ChainsA food chain is a model that shows how energy is passed, in the form of food, from one organism to another. The arrows between the organisms show the direction of energy flow.

The organisms in a food chain can be producers, consumers, or decomposers.

______ are green plants capable of making their own food using energy from the sun in a process called photosynthesis.

______ are animals that cannot make their own food. They get their energy from other plants and animals. A food chain can have as many as three to four consumers.

______ feed directly on plants; an example of this would be a mouse.

______ feed on first level consumers; an example of this would be a rattlesnake that eats the mouse.

______ feed on second level consumers; an example of this would be a hawk eating the rattlesnake.

______feed on organisms that have recently died.

______ are also unable to make their own food. Bacteria and fungi are decomposers. They break down waste products and dead organisms for food. These broken down materials are returned to the soil to be recycled and used by plants again. An example of this would be a fungus growing on a log. Although decomposers are very important to ecosystems, they are usually not shown on the food chain.

Look at the following list of organisms and identify them as producers, consumers, or decomposers.

Organisms / Role in food chain
Human
Bear
Rabbit
Bacteria
Wheat
Fly maggot
Bluegrass
Hawk
Millipede
Sparrow
Algae
Trout
/ Topic/Objective: / Name:
Organisms and / Class/Period:
Environments. / Date:
Essential Question:

ECOLOGY

Biotic Environment: ______.

All plants, animals, protists, fungi and bacteria living in the area are part of the biotic system.

______: Physical environmental factors such as sunlight, rainfall, soil type, and temperature make up the non-living components of an environment.

Organism: ______

______:all the organisms that belong to the same species living in a community.

Communities: ______.

______:consists of all the organisms living in an area and the nonliving features of their environment.

Biosphere: ______.

Habitat: ______.

______:any close relationship between species.

______:in which different species have a cooperative or mutually dependent relationship.

______: A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits and the other is not affected.

______: A symbiotic relationship in which one organism benefits but the other is harmed.

Niche:in an ecosystem, ______