8th Grade Science

A species of rabbit lives in a meadow where grass plants are readily available during summer months. The rabbits do not stray far from the meadow because the plants supply food and protection from predators. One summer, a fire destroys the plants in the meadow. As a result of the absence of plants in the meadow, the rabbit population will probably...

• decrease in size

• increase in size

• increase reproduction

• switch to a different type of food

Look at the diagram of the food web. The arrows means “eaten by.”

What will happen if the number of snakes goes down?

• The owl will eat the grass

• The number of frogs will go down

• The hawk and owl will have less food

• The number of mice and grasshoppers will go up.

The transfer of energy from one organism to the next in an ecosystem begins with a producer. A producer is an organism that produces its own food. A consumer is an organism in a food chain that obtains energy from producers or other consumers; consumers may be herbivores or carnivores.

Which food chain correctly describes the flow of energy in an ecosystem?

• grass → grasshopper → fish → human

• grasshopper → fish → human

• human → fish → grasshopper

• human → grasshopper → fish → grass

What happens to the amount of available energy in the pyramid as it moves up through the different levels?

• it increases

• it decreases

• it remains the same

• it decreases, then increases

An organism that can make its own food is called?

• Consumer
• Producer
• Decomposer
• Herbivore

All food chains begin with a ____________.

• primary consumer
• secondary consumer
• producers
• scavengers

A consumer gets energy by doing what?

• Making it themselves.
• Breaking down biotic wastes and dead organisms and returning raw materials to the ecosystem.
• Soaking it up from the ground.
• Feeding on other organisms.

An organism that lives by breaking apart dead organic matter into simpler parts is...

• scavenger
• consumer
• decomposer
• carnivore

This type of consumer only feeds on the bodies of dead animals.

• Herbivore.
• Decomposer.
• Carnivore.
• Scavenger

An animal that eats other animals is a....

• carnivore
• omnivore
• herbivore
• decomposer