Food Chains

and Food
Webs
Click on the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=aJJrkyHas78&list=RDCMUC
q0OueAsdxH6b8nyAspwViw&in
dex=2
 CONVERSATION CLIP:

Owen: You made a genetic hybrid. Raised it in captivity. She is seeing all of this for the first time. She does not

even know what she is. She will kill everything that moves.

Masrani: You think the animal is contemplating its own existence?

Owen: She is learning where she fits on the food chain and I'm not sure you want her to figure that out.

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 What is a Food
Chain?

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 Glossary of Terms
Autotroph: An organism which is capable of manufacturing its own food in the
process of photosynthesis.
Carnivore: An organism that only eats meat.
Consumer: An organism which feeds off of another.
Ecosystem: All the organisms which live in a particular region and the environment
in which they live.
Herbivore: An organism which feeds on plant material only.
Heterotroph: An organism which is incapable of producing its own food but feeds off
of other animals.
Omnivore: An organism which eats both plants and animals.
Predator: An organism which hunts and eats the other organism.
Prey: An organism hunted and eaten by a predator.
Producer: An organism which is capable of producing its own food.
Trophic Level: The level at which an organism feeds in a food chain.

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 Serengeti Plains: Predators and prey in an
ecosystem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C
sfJL-IIVz4

6
 Questions on Predator and Prey Video

1. Where is this ecosystem located?

2. What are some of the producers observed in the video?

3. What were some of the predators identified in this ecosystem?

4. What were some of the prey?

5. Are there competitors within this ecosystem? If yes, what are they?

6. Which organisms seen could be classed as herbivores?

7. Which organisms would be described as carnivores?

8. What are some of the characteristics which the predators possessed which made them able to

hunt?
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7 July 22, 2012

So how do we draw a
Food Chain?
 Autotroph Heterotroph Heterotroph Heterotroph
----- Herbivore Carnivore Carnivore
st
1 Trophic level 2nd Trophic level 3rd Trophic Level 4th Trophic level

9 July 22, 2012

 GROUP ACTIVITY
In groups of 5, make as many Food Chains as
you possibly can using the animal figurines.
You will need to draw in a suitable producer
to start each of your Food Chains and the
arrows which connect the organisms
between the trophic levels. All Food Chains
must have at least FOUR trophic levels.
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 INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY
Choose one ecosystem from your handout (either arboreal,
edaphic, marine or freshwater) and suggest ONE possible Food
Chain which may exist within that ecosystem. Complete the
table identifying the producer, primary consumer, secondary
consumer, tertiary consumer, the herbivore, the carnivores, the
predators and the prey. State your reason for placing the
organism in the particular category.

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 FOOD WEBS

When many food chains • https://www.teachoo.com/11180/3204/Di

fference-between-Food-Chain-and-Food-
interlink to show the Web/category/Extra-Questions/
feeding relationships of
organisms within the
community it forms a food • https://www.tes.com/lessons/fqX8Zgvtrq
vOsA/food-webs
web.

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 • Always starts with producers. Characteristics
• Are limited to a maximum of 4 or five
trophic levels due to the loss of energy by of Food Webs
organisms at each level.
• Can show not only if organisms are
herbivores or carnivores but also
omnivores.
• Shows a decrease in the number of
species feeding higher up the food web.
• Shows which organisms are prey and
which are predators.
• Apex predators are located at the highest
feeding level with no organism feeding on
it.

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 3-2-1
Summarizer
• List 3 features of Food
Chains.
• Describe any 2
characteristics f food
webs.
• State 1 type of organism
that is usually not
represented in food
webs/food chains but are
essential for the recycling
of nutrients.

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