Food Web

How are producers and consumers different?

Producers produce their own food, and consumers can't make their own food. They need to eat plants or animals.

Where does most of the energy on the earth come from?

Sun

What is a consumer?

An animal that finds it's own food.

What is a herbivore?

1. Eat mostly plants 2. They are consumers 3. Example: giraffe, turtle, elephant

What are scavengers?

1. They eat dead animals. 2. They keep our ecosystem clean 3. Example: vulture, wild dogs,

What is a carnivore?

1. They eat other animals 2. They hunt for food, and eat herbivores 3. Example: Lion, shark, crocodile

What is an omnivore?

1. They eat plants and animals. 2. They eat whatever is available. 3. Example: raccoons, bears, pigs

What are decomposers?

1. They receive their energy from dead plants and animal material. 2. They clean their ecosystem and put nutrients in the soil for plants. 3. Example: mushroom, pretzel slime, and slug

How is a food chain different than a food web?

A food chain is the pattern of eating and being eaten. It shows the order of who eats what. A food web is one or more food chains linked together by an organism within the food chain.

What are primary producers important?

Primary producers make all of the food energy in an ecosystem. If they weren't available, the herbivores wouldn't survive. Carnivores would then die because they eat herbivores. Then scavengers and decomposers would die since they depend on carnivores. Also plants make oxygen for all food web members.

Why do the members of the food web need scavengers? What is the scavengers role?

SCavengers help to clean the ecosystem and break down dead material for the decomposers to eat. Without them there would be dead material in the ecosystem, and it would be unhealthy for food web members. They also leave food for decomposers.

What is the most important part of the food web?

The sun because it gives energy to plants so they can make their own food. Also, Herbivores need plants to eat in order to survive.

Why are decomposers important?

They are the clean up crew. They break down dead plants and animals, and return it to the soil as nutrients for the plants. If they weren't there then plants would not receive the proper nutrients. Also there would be too much dead material.

Why are carnivores important?

They keep the herbivores and omnivore population down. If they weren't around the herbivores and omnivores would overpopulate, and they would eat all the plants. There would not be enough food energy from primary producers. Also scavengers need their leftovers to eat.

Why are herbivores and omnivores important?

They keep the plant population down. If herbivores and omnivores weren't around then the plants would overpopulate, and the food energy wouldn't be passed to carnivores, scavengers, and decomposers. Herbivores and omnivores are also food for carnivores.