Animals and food Flashcards
__________ are able to make their own food when sunlight shines on their leaves
Plants
__________can’t make their own food. Animals get the energy they need to survive from the food they eat. We humans are animals, and this is true for us as well.
Animals
What is an habitat?
habitat
Where an animal or plant lives.
Where are animal habitats?
Animal
habitats
are everywhere, including the back garden of lots of houses.
Three groups of animals
Animals fall into three different groups, based on what they eat name the 3 groups:
Herbivores are animals, such as zebras or cows, that only eat plants.
Carnivores are animals, such as lions and eagles, that eat other animals.
Omnivores are animals, such as bears or rats, that eat both plants and other animals.
Do all animals have the same teeth?
No not all animals have the same teeth.
What is an food chain?
Food chains show us what each living thing eats. They include herbivores, omnivores and carnivores.
Give an example of a food chain?
grass - rabbit- fox
At any stage in a food chain, if animals do not get enough food they will
________
and eventually die. If they don’t eat the right types of foods they can often become unhealthy.
Starve
Both animals and plants can make their own food?
False
What living thing is at the beginning of most food chains?
Plants
Which word best describes a cheetah?
carnivore, omnivore, herbivore
carnivore
Why do all living things consume food?
For energy to live
Every living plant and animal must have _________ to survive.
Energy
________ rely on plants as well as other animals for energy.
Animals
_________ rely on the soil, water, and the sun for energy.
Plants
In an ___________, plants and animals all rely on each other to live. Scientists sometimes describe this dependence using a food chain or a food web.
ecosystem
What does a food chain describes?
A food chain describes how different organisms eat each other, starting out with a plant and ending with an animal. For example, you could write the food chain for a lion like this:
grass —> zebra —> lion
The lion eats the zebra, which eats the grass
Give an example of a food chain that includes insects?
The grasshopper eats grass, the frog eats the grasshopper, the snake eats the frog, and the eagle eats the snake.
Plants are __________. This is because they produce energy for the ecosystem. They do this because they absorb energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. They also need water and nutrients from the soil, but plants are the only place where new energy is made.
producers
Animals are __________. This is because they don’t produce energy, they just use it up. Animals that eat plants are called primary consumers or herbivores. Animals that eat other animals are called secondary consumers or carnivores. If a carnivore eats another carnivore, it is called a tertiary consumer. Some animals play both roles, eating both plants and animals. They are called omnivores.
consumers
____________ eat decaying matter (like dead plants and animals). They help put nutrients back into the soil for plants to eat. Examples of decomposers are worms, bacteria, and fungi.
Decomposers
Lets go back to this example:
grass —> zebra —> lion
grass = _________
zebra = __________
lion = ________
grass —> zebra —> lion
grass = producer
zebra = primary consumer
lion = secondary consume
How are energy lost in living things?
Energy is Lost
Like we said above, all the energy made in the food chain comes from the producers, or plants, converting sunlight into energy with photosynthesis. The rest of the food chain just uses energy. So as you move through the food chain there is less and less energy available. For this reason, there are less and less organisms the further along the food chain you get.
In our example above, there is more grass than zebras, and more zebras than lions. The zebras and lions use up energy doing stuff like running, hunting, and breathing.
Why is each link in the food chain important?
Each Link is Important
Links higher up in the food chain rely on the lower links. Even though lions don’t eat grass, they wouldn’t last long if there wasn’t any grass because then the zebras wouldn’t have anything to eat.
How is a food web created?
Food Web
In any ecosystem there are many food chains and, generally, most plants and animals are part of several chains. When you draw all the chains together you end up with a food web.
Sometimes scientists describe each level in a food web with a trophic level. Give five trophic levels
Level 1: Plants (producers)
Level 2: Animals that eat plants or herbivores (primary consumers)
Level 3: Animals that eat herbivores (secondary consumers, carnivores)
Level 4: Animals that eat carnivores (tertiary consumers, carnivores)
Level 5: Animals at the top of the food chain are called apex predators. Nothing eats these animals.
The term food chain describes the order in which organisms, or living things, depend on each other for _______. Every ecosystem, or community of living things, has one or more food chains.
food
Most food chains start with organisms that make their own food, such as plants. Scientists call them ___________
producers
Organisms that eat other living things are known as _________.
consumers
A squirrel that feeds on plants is called a ____________.
primary consumer
A hawk that eats the squirrel and other primary consumers is called a __________________.
secondary consumer
_______________ are often the final link in a food chain.
Decomposers
Decomposers are _________ and other organisms that cause decay. When plants and animals die, decomposers break down their tissues. This adds nutrients to the soil so that new plants may grow. Then the food chain begins again.
bacteria
A _________ is a group of food chains within an ecosystem. Most living things eat more than one type of animal or plant. So their food chains overlap and connect. For example, the hawk that ate the squirrel also may eat fish. This makes the hawk a part of two food chains, or a food web.
Food web
