4(b) - feeding relationships

Question 1

what is a food chain/web?

Answer 1

diagrams showing the flow of energy between organisms

Question 2

what is a producer?

Answer 2

an organism that produces its own food e.g. plants via photosynthesis

Question 3

what is a primary consumer?

Answer 3

an animal that eats plants

Question 4

what is a secondary consumer?

Answer 4

an animal that eats primary consumers

Question 5

what does tertiary mean?

Answer 5

an animal that eats secondary consumers

Question 6

what is a trophic level?

Answer 6

a feeding level in a food chain/web such as producers/primary consumers

Question 7

what is a decomposer?

Answer 7

an organism that causes the decay of dead material e.g. most fungi and bacteria

Question 8

what does a food chain show?

Answer 8

the energy flow from one organism to another

Question 9

what happens to most of the energy as it moves up the food chain?

Answer 9

it is lost as heat

Question 10

what do arrows in a food chain represent?

Answer 10

the direction of energy flow

Question 11

what does biomass mean?

Answer 11

the dry mass of living material

Question 12

what are the rules of pyramids of number?

Answer 12

• size/width is proportional to the number of organisms
• label each trophic level at the side of the bar
• always start with the producer at the base

Question 13

how do calculate energy efficiency?

Answer 13

energy efficiency = (useful energy/total energy input) x 100

Question 14

name 6 ways energy is lost in a food chain?

Answer 14

• some of the energy from the sun is lost as it is reflected off the leaves due to a shiny surface
• excretion = urine & egestion = faeces
• respiration = heat
• reproduction = to make egg
• movement
• growth
• not all parts of the animal are digested e.g. bones, scales etc