Name ______________________________________ Date _________
Unit 4
Food Chains and Webs --- "What's for dinner?"
Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. For
example, plants get energy from the sun, some animals eat plants, and
some animals eat other animals.
A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological
community (an ecosystem) to obtain nutrition. A food chain starts with
the energy source, usually the sun. The next link in the chain is an
organism that makes its own food from the primary energy source -- an
example is photosynthetic plants that make their own food from sunlight
(using a process called photosynthesis) they are called producers.
herbivore - these are called primary consumers -- an example is a snake
that eats rabbits. In turn, these animals are eaten by larger predators -an example is an owl that eats snakes. The secondary consumers are
eaten by tertiary consumers -- an example is a hawk that eats owls. Each
food chain ends with a top predator and animal with no natural enemies
(like an alligator, hawk, or polar bear).
Food Chain Questions
1. What travels through a food chain or web? ----------------------2. What is the ultimate energy for all life on Earth?-----------------------3. Food chains start with what?------------------------4. The 1st organism in a food chain must always be what type of organism?-------------------------------
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
Unit 4
5. Name the food making processes. ------------------------------------6. What are the prey and the predator?
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7. Define herbivore.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8. Herbivores are also called _________________________.
9. What are animals called that feed on herbivores?
_________________________
10. Secondary consumers are eaten by larger ________________.
11. _________________ Consumers eat secondary consumers.
12. Make a food chain with a producer and 3 consumers.
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Name ______________________________________ Date _________
What Are Populations, Habitats,
and Niches?
Unit 4
Lesson 1
Which population is found in a rainforest ecosystem?
antelopes
sponges
monkeys
zebras
In a rainforest, why do fewer plants grow closer to the ground?
Earthworms eat the plants living on the ground.
Broad leaves keep rain from reaching ground soil.
Vines allow little space for ground plants to grow.
Little light gets through the canopy to the forest floor.
Which statement best describes this picture?
A population of elephants lives in the savanna.
A community of elephants lives in the savanna.
Elephants and grasses make up a savanna population.
Trees and grasses are communities in a savanna ecosystem.
Earthworms live in soil. They eat rotting leaves and the remains of dead insects. Wastes from
earthworms add nutrients to the soil. Earthworms are food for some birds. Which statement
best describes the niche of an earthworm?
Earthworms live in soil.
Soil contains nutrients for plants.
Earthworms use remains of insects found in soil as food.
Rotting plants and remains of insects can be found in soil.
Which identifies the nonliving parts important in all ecosystems?
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
air, heat, rocks, water, and soil
air, water, soil, sunlight, and temperature
salt, temperature, sunlight, heat, and rocks
water, soil, sunlight, rocks, and shade
Unit 4
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
What Are Food Chains?
Unit 4
Lesson 2
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
Unit 4
Food chains have three types of consumers. Which statement describes an herbivore?
eats only plants
eats only animals
makes its own food
eats plants and animals
In a swamp, rabbits eat marsh grass. Bobcats eat rabbits. How are the rabbits and bobcats
interacting?
Rabbits are prey and bobcats are predators.
Rabbits are herbivores and bobcats are prey.
Rabbits are consumers and bobcats are producers.
Rabbits are carnivores and bobcats are herbivores.
In a forest, deer eat plants. Snakes eat small animals and birds. Raccoons eat mice, insects,
fruits, and plants. What is the raccoon?
carnivore
herbivore
omnivore
producer
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
Unit 4
In a desert food chain, wild pigs called peccaries eat cacti. Then coyotes eat peccaries. In a
forest food chain, deer eat plants. Then wolves eat deer. How does energy move in both of
these food chains?
from producers to consumers
from consumers to producers
from scavengers to herbivores
from consumers to consumers
In a grassland food chain, grasshoppers eat grass. Then meerkats eat grasshoppers. What is
the main role of the grasshopper in this food chain?
make a new habitat
be a source of energy
clear grass for space to live
lay eggs to make more grasshoppers
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
How Can We Model a Food Web?
Unit 4
Lesson 3
In a food web, energy is transferred between organisms. When an organism dies, what
happens to the energy stored in its body?
Fungi and bacteria use it for food.
Plants use it to make their own food.
Animals use it to grow strong.
The organism rots and its energy is lost.
What is the main source of energy for the food web below?
hawk
plants
rabbit
toad
In Michael’s garden, caterpillars sometimes eat the vegetables. Then the beetles eat the
caterpillars. If the beetle population decreased, what would most likely happen to the
vegetables?
Name ______________________________________ Date _________
Unit 4
There would be no vegetables.
There would be more vegetables.
There would be fewer vegetables.
There would be no difference in the vegetables.
The picture below shows organisms that live in a marsh. How does energy move through
this food web?
heron, fish, sun, grass, water bugs
water bugs, sun, grass, fish, heron
fish, water bugs, grass, heron
sun, grass, water bugs, fish, heron
All living things need energy. What is the main source of energy for living things?
air
soil
plants
sunlight