Download Example: Grass seeds → Chipmunk → Hawk

Food Chains and Food Webs
Today the students read about and worked through an activity regarding food
chains and food webs. They worked with organism cards to create food chains
and food webs in a forest ecosystem that includes terrestrial and aquatic
environments. The students learned that plants and algae are the primary source
of matter and energy entering most food chains and food webs.
Producer – An organism, such as a plant or algae, that makes its own food.
Consumer – An organism that cannot make its own food. Consumers eat other
organisms.
Decomposer – An organism that breaks down plant and animal material into
simple chemicals. The chemicals can then be reused in the ecosystem. The most
important decomposers are bacterial and fungi.
Food Chain – A description of the feeding relationships between all of the
organisms in an ecosystem, such as grass seeds, chipmunk, and hawk. Arrows
point in the direction of the flow of energy from one organism to another.
Example:
Grass seeds → Chipmunk → Hawk
(Scroll down to the next page for more information)
Food Web – a description of the feeding relationships between all of the
organisms in an ecosystem. Arrows show the flow of energy from one organism
to another.
Example:
The students learned that:
Organisms interact in feeding relationships in ecosystems
Producers (plants, algae) make their own food, which is also used by animals
(consumers).
Organisms may compete for resources in an ecosystem.
Consumers may eat plants or other animals.
Decomposers eat dead plant and animal materials and recycle the nutrients in
the system.