Ecosystem
(Relationships between living and non-living things)
Q1) Define, “Food web” and “ecosystem”.
Food web: _____is the visual diagram on "what eats what"
Ecosystem: is the visual diagram on "what eats what".
Q2) Where in the food web do you usually find the plants? _____At the bottom__
Q3) Why does it make sense that the animals are found at the middle and the upper part of the food web? They cannot make their own food
Q4) Why does it make sense that plants are called, ‘producers’?
They produce or make their own food.
Q5) Why does it make sense to call the animals, ‘consumers’?
They have to work for their food.
Q6) Define, “primary consumers”: _____Animals who only eat plants_____________
Q7) What other name is given for the primary consumers? _______Herbivores__________
Q8) Define, “secondary consumers”: _____________Animals who eat other animals
Q9) What other name is given for the secondary consumers? ____Carnivores____________
Q10) Define, “omnivores”: ____Animals who eat both plants and meat_____
Q11) Which category do you fit in?____Answers vary_________________________________
Q11a) Explain why you would place yourself in such category. Answers vary
Q12) What part of the food web will you find producers? At the bottom
Q13) What part of the food web will you find primary consumers? Middle______________
Q14) What part of the food web will you find secondary consumers? _____Top____________
Q15) What does the “arrow” in the food web symbolize? Arrow points to the one that is doing the eating.
Q16) A bird from South America is accidentally released into the community. This bird is excellent at hunting spiders. What will happen to the local populations of insectivorous birds (birds who eat insects)? Insectivorous (insect eating) birds eat spiders for food. If spiders get eaten by the other bird, the number of insectivorous bird will decrease (get smaller).
Q17) A viral infection (sickness) destroys the fox population. Explain how will this affect the hawk population?
Hawks and foxes compete (fight) for the same foods. If foxes decrease in their number, hawks will have more foods to eat and will increase (get larger) in their population (number).
Q18) Due to weather changes, the populations of predaceous insects (insects that eat other insects) migrates (move) to a different habitat (location). Explain how this will affect the plant population.
Predacious insects eat herbivorous insects. Herbivorous insects eat
plants. If the populations of predacious insects decrease, the number of herbivorous insects increase, and the population of plants will decrease as the herbivorous insects will start eating up more of the plants.
19) Drought leads to reduction of plants. Explain how this can affect the entire food web.
The decrease in the populations of plants be a disaster for the whole animals of food
web. The 1st level of consumers depend (need) plants as their food. The 2nd level
of consumers depend on plants as their food.