ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What is Online Safety? Please explain.

In this activity you will review how food chains and food webs illustrate the movement of energy among organisms. You will then create a food web of your own and answer some discussion questions.

 

Food chains and food webs use arrows to indicate the movement of energy, and these arrows should point in the direction the energy is moving. A food web illustrates the relationships within an ecosystem and the energy movement in many paths between multiple organisms. A food chain illustrates one specific path of energy movement through organisms up to an apex predator.

 

An energy pyramid shows how much energy is transferred between trophic levels. The first tier are always producers. Producers are the first trophic level because they can make their own food and are the foundation of all ecosystems. The next level are primary consumers, followed by secondary consumers, and then tertiary consumers. The consumers can be carnivores that eat animals or omnivores that eat both animals and plants. As energy moves between each trophic level, only 10% of the energy gets transferred to the next level. This means producers only pass along 10% of their energy to primary consumers. Secondary consumers only get 10% of that energy, which is only 1% of the energy from the producers.

 

Assignment:

On a separate piece of paper, you will create and illustrate a food web. You will research an ecosystem and the organisms within it to create a food web displaying the movement of energy between the organisms. You must include at least 8 organisms and have a minimum of 2 producers, an herbivore, a carnivore, and an omnivore. After creating your food web, answer the discussion questions below.

 

1. How much energy is transferred to each level from the previous one?

2. If you are on the fourth trophic level, what percentage of energy are you getting from the producers?

3. What type of animal eats only plants?

4. Which direction does an arrow point in a food chain or food web?

5. If an organism is in the third tier of a food chain, what level of consumer is it?