• Food Chain
Food Chains
• A series of events in which one
organism eats another and
obtains energy.
• Food chains show the transfer of
• What do food
energy in an ecosystem
chains show?
• What do the
arrows
represent?
• The arrows represent the transfer
of energy.
• What do
food chains start
with?
• Almost all Food Chains start with
the sun
• After the sun is an organism that
• What type of
can do photosynthesis. Like plants
organism is after
the sun?
and phytoplankton.
• Describe
photosynthesis.
• Sunlight + Carbon Dioxide
+ Water = Energy
– This process is called Photosynthesis
Video Clip
• Producers
Flowers
Phytoplankton
• An organism that can make its
own food , through a process
called photosynthesis. Producers
are the source of all food in an
ecosystem. Without producers
there is no food chain.
Tree
Pair/Share
1. What are two types of
producers?
2. What is the importance of
producers in an ecosystem?
3. What would happen to life on
Earth without producers.?
• Decomposers
• Organisms that
break down wastes
and dead organisms
and return the raw
materials to the
environment.
• Two major groups
of decomposers are:
– Bacteria
– Fungi.
Decomposer Video Clip
fungus
bacteria
Donut Decomposition
Rabbit decomposition
time-lapse
Pair/Share
1. What are two types of
decomposers?
2. What is the importance of
decomposer in an ecosystem?
3. What would happen to life on
Earth without decomposers?
• Consumers
• An organism that obtains
energy by feeding on
other organisms.
• Ex: Deer, Humans,
Snakes, Bat, Cat,
Hippopotamus, Cricket,
Rabbit
• 3 types of Consumers
• Herbivores, Omnivores
and Carnivores
Sun
Producer
Primary
Secondary
Consumer Consumer
Tertiary
Consumer
Pair Share
Partner A: Look to your partner and tell them
the 3 types of energy levels?
Partner B: Look at your partner and describe a
producer and give an example.
Partner A: Look at your partner and describe a
consumer and give an example.
Partner B: Look at your partner and describe a
decomposer and give an example.
• Sample food • Sun →milkweed → aphid →ladybug
chains with
producer 1 consumer 2 consumer
energy roles
→bird → mushroom
labeled:
3 consumer Decomposer
• Sun → grass → zebra → lion → vulture
produce 1 consumer 2 consumer 3 con
• Sun → seeds → grasshopper→ mouse →
producer 1 consumer
hawk
3 consumer
Video Clip 2 /Prod/Cons Video
2 consumer
• 3 types of
consumers
• Carnivores
• Herbivores, Carnivores,
and Omnivores
• Consumers that eat ONLY
other consumers.
( Meat -Eaters)
• Ex: T-rex, Tigers, Lions,
Ladybugs, Spiders.
• Herbivores
• Herbivores are
consumers that eat only
producers. (plant
eaters)
• Ex: Butterflies, deer,
elephants, giraffes,
rabbit.
• Omnivores
• Consumers that eat
BOTH consumers and
producers. (both meat
eaters and plant eaters)
• Ex. Humans, Bearded
Dragons, Turtles, Bears.
• Sample • Sun →milkweed → aphid →ladybug
food
producer 1 consumer 2 consumer
chains
herbivore
Carnivore
with
→bird → mushroom
energy
3 consumer Decomposer
roles
Omnivore
labeled:
• Sun → grass → zebra → lion → vulture
produce 1 consumer 2 con 3 con
herbivore carnivore carnivore
A pig eats fruit, eggs, corn, and
earthworms.
Omnivore
: A frog eats insects, earthworms,
and spiders.
Carnivore/ Insectivore
Rhinoceros: eats grass, leaves,
twigs, and shrub
Herbivore
A raccoon eats almost anything including
berries, acorns, baby mice, baby birds &
eggs, frogs, fish, and even some snakes.
Omnivore
Spiders eat insects.
Carnivore/ Insectivore
A giraffe lives in Africa and eats leaves
from trees. A giraffe may eat 75 pounds
of food each day.
Herbivore
A wolf eats deer, dogs, fish, mice, moose,
birds, and other herbivores.
Carnivore
Rabbits eat grasses, weeds,
leaves, shoots, twigs, and bark.
Herbivore
Lions eat other animals such as
gazelles, antelopes, and zebras.
Carnivore
Sheep eat grass and hay.
Herbivore
Eagles eat fish, mammals, birds,
and snakes. They love fish!
Carnivore
Cow eats grass and hay.
Herbivore
Deer eat corn, twigs, shoots, acorns, fruit,
berries, green plants.
Herbivore
A grizzly bear usually eat things such as
grasses, roots, berries, insects, fish, and
small and large mammals.
Omnivore
Humans
Omnivore
Manatee eat 150 pounds of plants
each day
Herbivore
Scavenger
• Scavengers are animals
that eat dead animals
• Scavengers open up
animal bodies so they
can eat them.
Pair Share
Partner A: Look to your partner and tell them
the 3 types of Consumers?
Partner B: Look at your partner and describe a
herbivore and give an example.
Partner A: Look at your partner and describe a
omnivore and give an example.
Partner B: Look at your partner and describe a
carnivore and give an example.
• Food Webs
• A Food Web consists
of many overlapping
food chains in an
ecosystem.
• It better represents the
transfer of energy than
a food chain.
Pair Share
• Partner A tell your partner what
a food web is.
• Partner B explain the difference
between a food web and a food
chain.
Energy Pyramids
Energy Pyramid
• Energy Pyramid
• An Energy Pyramid
shows the amount of
energy that moves
from one feeding level
to another in a food
web. The most energy
is at the producer
level. At each level
there is less available
energy.
• Energy Pyramid Video
Clip
Law of Conservation
• The law of conservation of energy is a law of
science that states that energy cannot be
created nor destroyed. Energy can only be
changed from one form to another or
transferred from one object to another.
• So if each trophic level has less available
energy, where does this energy go if it can not
be destroyed?
An energy pyramid from the Andrews
1 Kcal
10 Kcal
100 Kcal
1000 Kcal
10,000 Kcal
3rd level
consumers
mostly carnivores &
some omnivores
2nd level consumer
carnivores & omnivores
1st level consumer
herbivores
Producers:
green plants make their
own energy from sunlight
Pair Share
• Discuss with your partner what
a energy pyramid is.
• Where does the energy go when
it leaves the food chain?