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Food Webs

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What you will learn from this videoWhat you will learn
- A food web is a model of intersecting food chains.
- Food of almost any kind can be traced back to the sun.
- Decomposers break down dead organisms.
- Discussion Questions
Before Video
What is a food chain?ANSWERA food chain is a sequence of living things in which each one each feeds on the one below it.
A food web is model made of intersecting food chains.
Energy in almost all food can be traced back to the sun. Plants use light energy to produce their food through photosynthesis. Plants are then eaten by animals. Those animals are then eaten by other animals.
A decomposer is organism that eats dead and decaying matter. Common decomposers include bacteria, fungi, worms and beetles.
After Video
Why do animals eat other animals?ANSWERAnimals eat other animals to obtain energy and building blocks (nutrients) in order to grow and repair.
Plants are producers because they produce their own food through photosynthesis. Animals are consumers because they consume plants or other animals.
An eagle is an apex predator, meaning it is at the top of the food web. Nothing else will attack and eat an eagle. Eagles will eat things like birds, snakes, mice and other animals.
An apex predator is an animal that feeds on other animals but is at the top of the food web, meaning that it has no predators. Apex predators help control the balance of an ecosystem by keeping the populations of other animals in check.
Zebras eat grass and they are eaten by predators like hyenas and lions.
These living things are decomposers. They recycle matter, by breaking down dead and decaying matter. They turn it into nutrients in the soil, which plants use. If ecosystems didn’t have decomposers, dead plants and animals would just pile up.
Humans over-hunting predators such as wolves can lead to a boom in the population of their prey (deer). This can lead to all those deer eating too much grass. Also, when humans cut down trees (deforestation), soil can erode more easily, affecting fish in streams and rivers. When the population of any of these animals are impacted, so are the animals that eat them. It’s all a delicate balance.
- Vocabulary
- Food Chain DEFINE
A sequence of living things in which each one feeds on the living thing below it.
- Food Web DEFINE
A food web is a model made of intersecting food chains.
- Photosynthesis DEFINE
A process by which plants use sunlight to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water.
- Producer DEFINE
A living thing (almost always a plant) that takes energy from the sun and make its own food. They are found in the first level of a food web.
- Apex Predator DEFINE
An animal found at the top of a food web and is not eaten by any other animals. Examples include sharks, owls and lions.
- Decomposer DEFINE
Living things that break down dead and decaying organisms. The most common decomposers are bacteria and fungi.
- Bacteria DEFINE
Tiny living things that are everywhere around us. We can only see them with a very powerful microscope. They come in different shapes such as rods, spirals, and spheres. Bacteria are important in an ecosystem to break down dead and decaying matter.
- Fungi DEFINE
A fungus is a living thing that helps break down dead and decaying matter. More than one fungus are called fungi. Some familiar fungi are mushrooms, mold and yeast.
- Extinction DEFINE
A living thing that is no longer found alive anywhere on Earth today.
- Compost DEFINE
Compost is usually made by gathering plant material such as leaves and vegetable peels into a pile and letting it decompose over many months thanks to bacteria and fungi. The resulting substance can be used as a fertilizer for plants.
- Food Chain DEFINE
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