Practice: Food Chains, Food Webs and Energy Pyramids
A. Using the food web below, answer the following questions:
1. Identify an autotroph.
2. Identify a heterotroph.
3. Identify a carnivore.
4. Identify an omnivore.
5. Identify an herbivore.
6. If the grasshopper population declined tremendously, list three organisms that would be
affected and predict what would happen.
B. Using the information provided, create a food web that includes ten organisms and
includes at least one decomposer, one producer, one primary consumer and one
secondary consumer.
Producers: crops, berries, trees, grasses
Primary Consumers - Herbivores
mouse — eats grass, plants, mushrooms, berries, tree buds
deer — eats grass, plants, mushrooms, berries, crops, trees
grasshopper — eats grass, plants, berries, crops, trees
rabbit — eats grass, plants, mushrooms, berries, tree buds
chipmunk — eats grass, plants, mushrooms, berries, nuts and cones
squirrel — eats grass, plants, mushrooms, berries, nuts and cones
Secondary Consumers - Omnivores
bullfrog — eats grasshopper, earthworms, small fish
snake — eats mouse, grasshopper
raccoon — eats mushrooms, crops, mouse, bird eggs, berries, nuts and cones
Tertiary Consumers – Carnivores
weasel — eats mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk. squirrel
bear — eats mushrooms, fish, berries, nuts, mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel
fox — eats bird eggs, berries, nuts, mouse, grasshopper, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel
eagle — eats mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, small raccoon, baby weasel
hawk — eats mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, small raccoon, baby weasel
owl — eats mice, grasshopper, rabbit
mountain lion - eats mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, raccoon, weasel
coyote — eats mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, small raccoon, baby weasel
bobcat — eats mouse, rabbit, chipmunk, squirrel, snake, raccoon, weasel
Decomposers
Indian pipes — eats everything once they are dead
mushrooms — eats everything once they are dead
Practice: Food Chains, Food Webs and Energy Pyramids
Using the food web that you created, draw a food chain that begins with a producer.
Place the names of your organisms from your food chain into this energy pyramid.
Label the arrows with Producer, Primary Consumer, Secondary Consumer
and Tertiary Consumer.
How would a change in an abiotic factor (like availability of sunlight) affect the energy in
the ecosystem?