6B

Food chains and webs

Learning progression

6B – Food chains and webs

Learning intention
I will be able to construct and interpret food chains and webs to
show relationships between organisms in an environment.

I will be able to answer the following questions: Interactions Ecosystems consist

between of communities
1 organisms, of interdependent
What does a food chain show? including the organisms and
effects of human abiotic comp-
2 What relationships can be woven into a food web? activities can be onents of the
represented by environment;
food chains and matter and energy
food webs flow through
these systems

End of
You are here Year 8 Year 9
Year 7

Big idea
Organisms require a supply of energy and materials for which they are often dependent on or in competition with other organisms.
Warm-up

Source: Iguana chased by killer snakes | Planet Earth II: Islands by BBC / YouTube
 1

What does a food chain show?

 Images (left to right, top to bottom): Wichai Prasomsri1, Brilliance stock,
#1

suns07butterfly, Nerthuz, K.Decor, Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH, Ye.Maltsev, JDCarballo,

Tommy Atthi, nechaevkon / Shutterstock.com
eucalyptus tree

mosquito

Application
banksia
cow

Check for understanding

butterfly

lizard
Circle the organisms that are heterotrophs.
1 What does a food chain show?

Theory
algae
fish

Prior knowledge
grass

frog
1 What does a food chain show?

Tommy Atthi, nechaevkon / Shutterstock.com

suns07butterfly, Nerthuz, K.Decor, Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH, Ye.Maltsev, JDCarballo,
Images (left to right, top to bottom): Wichai Prasomsri1, Brilliance stock,
Circle the organisms that are heterotrophs.
Explanation: Heterotrophs need to eat other organisms in order to obtain energy.
Animals are heterotrophs. Autotrophs, such as plants and algae, can use sunlight to
photosynthesise and produce their own energy.

grass fish butterfly cow eucalyptus tree

frog algae lizard banksia mosquito

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #1

1 What does a food chain show?

Source: Food Chains & Food Webs by ClickView / YouTube

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS A food chain shows where organisms obtain their energy and starts with a
herbivore
the primary consumer . Each step in the food chain represents a different
in a food chain, that eats
a producer
trophic level, for example a primary consumer is a .
producer
an organism that
absorbs light energy
The consumes the primary consumer, and is itself
from the Sun to make its
own energy consumed by the tertiary consumer. The arrow in a food chain points in the
secondary consumer direction of energy flow and can be thought of as shorthand for ‘is eaten by’.
an organism that
consumes a primary
consumer

Match the key term

with the correct field.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #2

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS A food chain shows where organisms obtain their energy and starts with a
herbivore
the primary consumer producer . Each step in the food chain represents a different
in a food chain, that eats
a producer
trophic level, for example a primary consumer is a herbivore .
producer
an organism that
The secondary consumer consumes the primary consumer, and is itself
absorbs light energy
from the Sun to make its
own energy consumed by the tertiary consumer. The arrow in a food chain points in the
secondary consumer direction of energy flow and can be thought of as shorthand for ‘is eaten by’.
an organism that
consumes a primary
consumer

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #2

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS Another way to display
apex predator energy flow is in a trophic
an animal at the top of a pyramid as shown. At the top
food chain or web that
has no natural predators of the pyramid is the
secondary consumer
the second level of
consumer
which is the final consumer
tertiary consumer
the third level of in the food chain.
consumer

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #3

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS Another way to display
apex predator energy flow is in a trophic
an animal at the top of a pyramid as shown. At the top tertiary consumer
food chain or web that
has no natural predators of the pyramid is the
secondary consumer
the second level of
apex predator
consumer secondary consumer
which is the final consumer
tertiary consumer
the third level of in the food chain.
consumer

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #3

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS Not all the is passed
energy
the ability to heat or along a food chain.
move an object
organism
This is because:
living thing
● Usually, the entire is not
population
the number of consumed.
individuals of the same ● Most of the energy will be used for
species in an ecosystem
hunting, sleeping, keeping warm, and
some will be lost as waste.
● Only about 10% will be stored and can
be passed up to the next trophic level.

Less energy going up the trophic pyramid means the

of consuming organisms also gets smaller.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #4

1 What does a food chain show?
KEY TERMS Not all the energy is passed
energy
the ability to heat or along a food chain.
move an object
organism
This is because:
living thing
● Usually, the entire organism is not
population
the number of consumed.
individuals of the same ● Most of the energy will be used for
species in an ecosystem
hunting, sleeping, keeping warm, and
some will be lost as waste.
● Only about 10% will be stored and can
be passed up to the next trophic level.

Less energy going up the trophic pyramid means the population

of consuming organisms also gets smaller.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #4

1 What does a food chain show?

A population in an ecosystem is

A the number of different individuals in

an ecosystem.
B the number of individuals of a
particular species in an ecosystem.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #5

1 What does a food chain show?

A population in an ecosystem is

A the number of different individuals in

an ecosystem.
B the number of individuals of a
particular species in an ecosystem.

Explanation: A population refers to the total

number of individuals of one particular species
within an ecosystem.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #5

1 What does a food chain show?
Look at the following food chain.

Which written description is correct?

A Grass is eaten by the grasshopper, which is eaten by the lizard, which is

eaten by the eagle.
B The eagle is eaten by the lizard, which is eaten by the grasshopper, which is
eaten by the grass.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #6

1 What does a food chain show?
Look at the following food chain.

Which written description is correct?

A Grass is eaten by the grasshopper, which is eaten by the lizard, which is

eaten by the eagle.
B The eagle is eaten by the lizard, which is eaten by the grasshopper, which is
eaten by the grass.

Explanation: Grass is the producer, so is at the start of the food chain.

The grasshopper eats the grass so is the primary consumer. The lizard eats the
grasshopper so is the secondary consumer. The eagle is the final organism
(tertiary consumer) in this food chain and eats the lizard.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #6

1 What does a food chain show?
Which correctly represents organisms W, X, Y and Z in this food web?
W Z

Y
X

W X Y Z

A carnivore producer herbivore omnivore

B producer omnivore producer herbivore

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #7

1 What does a food chain show?
Which correctly represents organisms W, X, Y and Z in this food web?
W Z

Y
X

W X Y Z

A carnivore producer herbivore omnivore

B producer omnivore producer herbivore

Explanation: The arrows point towards the consuming organism. X is the producer,
this is consumed by both Y and Z. Y is a herbivore, that is consumed by Z. Z consumes
both the producer X, and the herbivore Y, so is an omnivore. W consumes Z, which is an
animal, so W is a carnivore.

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #7

3 What does a food chain show?
1
Watch the following video about the interaction of
organisms in a marine ecosystem. Construct a food chain
containing the organisms.

Then complete the table identifying the producer, primary

consumer and apex predator. Hint: phytoplankton convert
sunlight into energy.

Source: The Ocean Food Chain | Turtle's Guide to the Pacific

by BBC Earth / YouTube

producer

primary consumer

apex predator

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #8

3 What does a food chain show?
1
Watch the following video about the interaction of
organisms in a marine ecosystem. Construct a food chain
containing the organisms.

Then complete the table identifying the producer, primary

consumer and apex predator. Hint: phytoplankton convert
sunlight into energy.

Source: The Ocean Food Chain | Turtle's Guide to the Pacific

Sample answer: by BBC Earth / YouTube

Phytoplankton ➞ krill ➞ fish ➞ dolphins (spinners)

producer phytoplankton

primary consumer krill (small invertebrates)

apex predator dolphin (spinner)

Prior knowledge Theory Check for understanding Application #8

1 What does a food chain show?
Success measure

I can construct and interpret food chains to show

feeding relationships.

not yet with help by myself

#9