FEEDING

RELATIONSHIP
- FOOD CHAIN
- FOOD WEB
- - CONSUMERS AND PRODUCERS
- FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS
WHAT IS A FEEDING RELATIONSHIP IN THE
ECO-SYSTEM
• There are a great many feeding relationships in any ecosystem, but energy
always flows from primary producers to various consumers. These feeding
relationships are represented by food chains and food webs.
FOOD CHAIN

• What is a food chain?

• Answer: The food chain is a linear sequence of organisms where nutrients
and energy is transferred from one organism to the other.
EXAMPLE OF A FOOD CHAIN
TROPHIC LEVEL

• The trophic level of a food chain, describes the level at which each organism is, in
the chain and the direction in which the energy flows
• The trophic levels are:
• First level- producers (autotrophs)
• Second level- primary consumers (herbivores)
• Third level- Secondary consumers (Carnivores)
• Fourth level-Tertiary consumer (Omnivores)
PRODUCERS

Producers are the lowest trophic level in any food chain. They are autotrophs, which
means that they make their own food. Producers are typically plants, but can be other
organism like phytoplankton
Producers make their food through photosynthesis
CONSUMERS

• A consumer in a food chain is a living creature that eats organisms from a

different population. A consumer is a heterotroph (meaning, they do not
make food)
• There are different consumers, such as
• Herbivores (Animals that eat plants only)
• Carnivores (animals that eat other animals only)
• Omnivores ( animals that eat both plants and animals)
FOOD WEB

• A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical

representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community.
• Note- the food web is consist of many food chain
• In the food web, there are animals known as decomposer, which mean the
eat the remains of other dead animals
EXAMPLE OF FOOD WEB
DECOMPOSERS

• Some food web and food chain consist of Decomposers, like fungi and
bacteria, complete the food chain. Decomposers turn organic wastes, such
as decaying plants, into inorganic materials, such as nutrient-rich soil.
• Decomposers are known as Detrivores
EXAMPLE OF DECOMPOSER
REFERENCE LINKS

• (2344) What Is A Food Chain? | The Dr. Binocs Show | Educational Videos For Kids – Yo
uTube
• (2344) Food Webs: Crash Course Kids #21.2 – YouTube
• (2344) Food Chain | Food Web | Video for Kids - YouTube
ACTIVITIES

• Draw a diagram of food chain (identify the different trophic levels in your food chain).
• Draw a diagram of a food web
• What would happen if we remove one or more than one animal from the ecosystem>