Name: ……………………..….Class: ………. Date: ….........………. Subject: Environmental Science
Food chain – Virtual Lab
Mark:
/20
Link: http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/science/virtual_labs/CT06/CT06.html
Objectives.
Determine an organism's place in a five-link food chain.
Explain how, and in what sequence, energy is transferred through different communities of
organisms.
Define abiotic factors and give examples of them.
Procedure.
1. Click the Video button. Watch the video and observe how energy moves through a
biological community.
2. Click a stack of cards to examine five organisms from an ecosystem. The organisms are
part of a desert or temperate forest community, and each organism is part of a five-level
food chain.
3. Drag a card to the information display area in the upper right part of the screen.
4. Click the appropriate tab along the top of the display area to read information about the
organism. Use this information to determine the organism's place in the food chain.
5. Drag the card to its proper place in the food chain.
6. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the remaining organisms.
7. To check your work, click the Check button. If an organism is sequenced incorrectly, it will
be highlighted in RED. Re-examine the organism's habitat, energy, and fact information,
and then re-sequence the organism.
8. When you have correctly sequenced each organism in the food chain, record the
organisms' names and placement in the Data Table.
9. Click the Reset button to construct a new food chain. Each organism may belong in more
than one food chain.
10. Complete the data table in next page.
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Data table. 5 marks
Food Chain Food Chain Food Chain Food Chain Food Chain
1
2
3
4
5
Desert or
Temperate
Forest
Producer
First order
Consumer
Second order
Consumer
Third order
Consumer
Decompose
Questions. 5 marks
1. What are abiotic factors?
________________________________________________________________________
2. How do abiotic factors affect organisms in an ecosystem?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What is the difference between a producer and a consumer?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Why are decomposers important to ecosystems?
________________________________________________________________________
5. Are people producers or consumers? Explain your answer.
________________________________________________________________________
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Graph analysis.
Read the following paragraph, examine the graph below, and answer the following
questions
Isle Royale National Park on a remote island was established in 1940 and designated a
wilderness area in 1976. The only mode of transportation available is by boat or seaplane.
Moose first arrived at Isle Royale around 1900. The moose population tends to increase in
years with mild winters, early spring green-up, abundant winter forage, low wolf numbers
and low levels of tick infestation. Wolves first arrived at the island on an ice bridge from
Canada in 1940. Disease has also influenced the wolf population. Between 1980 and 1982,
the wolf population declined from 50 to 14, due to canine parvovirus.
Graph questions. 5 marks
1. What is the greatest moose population? _____________
2. What year did that occur? ______________
3. Name the primary consumer in this graph__________________
4. Identify two factors, other than the wolf population, that may influence the moose
population
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
5. Draw a food chain that includes moose, wolves, and a primary producer
Behavior: ______/5
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