Falcon Food
Grade Level 5th
Theme Energy is always flowing through Syracuse; even through its wildlife.
Main Ideas
1. The methods for obtaining nutrients and energy vary among organisms. (producers,
consumers, decomposers…)
2. Food chains and energy pyramids are used to show the flow of energy through an
ecosystem.
3. All the energy in an ecosystem ultimately comes from the sun.
Core Curriculum
Standard 4: The Living Environment
Key Idea 5: Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.
5.1d The methods for obtaining nutrients vary among organisms. Producers, such as
green plants, use light energy to make their food. Consumers, such as animals, take in
energy-rich foods.
5.1e Herbivores obtain energy from plants. Carnivores obtain energy from animals.
Omnivores obtain energy from both plants and animals. Decomposers, such as bacteria
and fungi, obtain energy by consuming wastes and/or dead organisms.
Key Idea 6: Plants and animals depend on each other and their physical environment.
6.1a Energy flows through ecosystems in one direction, usually from the Sun, through
producers to consumers and then to decomposers. This process may be visualized with
food chains or energy pyramids.
6.2c Green plans are the producers of food which is used directly or indirectly by
consumers.
Objectives
After completing this program, students should be able to…
 Describe the flow of energy through a food chain you would find in Syracuse.
 Illustrate an energy pyramid for this food chain.
 Correctly identify common plants and animals found in Syracuse as producers,
consumers or decomposers.
Vocabulary
 Carnivore
 Consumer
 Decomposer
 Ecosystem




Energy pyramid
Food chain
Food web
Omnivore


Producer
herbivore
Pre-Activities
 News report on the Peregrine Falcons of NYC: http://7online.com/pets/dep-portauthority-tracking-new-yorks-peregrine-falcon-babies/86114/
 National Geographic video on the Peregrine Falcon:
http://natgeotv.com.au/videos/animal-encounters-with-ben-britton/peregrine-falcon6BBE10AE.aspx
Post-Activities
 Cornell link to various bird cams, including peregrine falcon cam (please note that
funding will sometimes run out for different cams, or it may be off season for that
particular bird, if the link lacks a peregrine falcon cam specifically try google searching
for peregrine falcon cams in New York): http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/all-cams/
 interactive online food chain game:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.ht
m
 interactive online producer, consumer, decomposer game:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumer
sgame.htm