Activity:

 After watching the video clip, record your

answer to this question in ISN.
-What does Mufasa mean when he says that
we are all connected in a circle of life?
 “Lion King”
 https://youtu.be/bW7PlTaawfQ
 “Food Chain” BrainPop video
Warm up…
 Arrange the following organisms to show who eats
whom:
– killer whale
– cod fish
– krill shrimp
– algae
– leopard seal
Warm up…continued

 What might happen to the other organisms if

algae were removed from this group?
 What might happen if the killer whales were
removed?
 Are there any organisms in this group that
eat more than one kind of food?
Energy Flow in Ecosystems
All organisms play a role in their
ecosystem:

 Producer (Autotroph)
– Make their own food (usually through
photosynthesis)
 Ex: plants (even the Venus Flytrap!)
All organisms play a role in their
ecosystem:

 Consumers (Heterotroph)
– Can’t make its own food
– Gets energy from eating other organisms
1. Herbivores – eats plants
2. Carnivores – eats animals
3. Omnivores – eats plants & animals
• Scavengers – eats dead animals
All organisms play a role in their
ecosystem:

 Decomposers
– Break down waste and dead organisms to return
raw materials to the environment
 Ex: bacteria, fungi, worms
A world with no decomposers?
Producer or Consumer?

Venus flytrap – producer

Fly - consumer
Producer or Consumer?

Consumer (herbivore)
Producer or Consumer?

Producer
Producer or Consumer?

Consumer (omnivore)
Producer or Consumer?

Consumer (carnivore)
Energy enters an ecosystem as…

SUNLIGHT!!!

Source
of
energy!
Food Chain

 Food chain – shows one path of the flow of energy

in an ecosystem

 Order of the food chain:

Sun – energy source
Producer
1st level Consumer – eats producers
2nd level Consumer – eats 1st level consumers
Decomposer – recycles materials for use by producers
Food web

 – a model that shows the energy flow

through different organisms in an
ecosystem.
 consists of many overlapping food chains
in an ecosystem
Food Chain:

-describes the feeding relationship between a

producer and a single chain of consumers in an
ecosystem.
FOOD WEB VS FOOD CHAIN
Summary

 3 – What are the three roles that organisms

play in an ecosystem. Describe each.
 2 – What are two examples of a
decomposer?
 1 – Create a food chain that includes & ends
with you (on your graphic organizer).
Warm Up
 Trophic Levels

1. Producers
2. 1st Level (Primary)
Consumers
3. 2nd Level (Secondary)
Consumers
4. 3rd Level (Tertiary)
Consumers
5. 4th Level (Quaternary)
Consumers
Ecological Pyramid Models

 A pyramid is used to illustrate the structure of

the trophic levels in a food chain.
 3 types of ecological pyramids:
– Pyramid of numbers
– Biomass pyramid
– Energy pyramid
Pyramid of Numbers
Compares the number of organisms at each trophic level in a food chain.

 Typically pyramid shaped, with the largest number of organisms

at the producer level:
Biomass Pyramid
Shows the amount of living matter in a food chain.

 Total dry weight (without water) of organisms in a

food chain
 Mass/Area
– Example: g/m2
Energy Pyramids
Flow of energy

 When an organism eats, it obtains energy,

then uses a lot of energy in life process like
growth and movement.
 This means that only part of their energy is
available to the next organism in the food
web.
Energy Pyramid

 Illustrates the amount of energy that moves from

one feeding level to another in a food chain or web
 The greatest amount of energy is available at the
producer level
– The least amount of energy available to going to be a the
top of the food chain.
 Only about 10% of the trophic level’s energy is
transferred to the next level.
Energy Pyramids
Summary

 Complete a pyramid model for your “Pond

Water Web”.