Ecosystems and Food Chains

What is an ecosystem?

• A habitat where an organism lives

• A system that includes many habitats and nonliving systems

• A place where only nonliving things exist

• A forest with many trees

What is every ecosystem made up of?

• spider egg sacs, great white sharks, grizzly bears, and baby elephants

• many habitats, living organisms, and the nonliving systems that support them

• green forests with large rocks that do not have any bugs or mammals

• small animals and bugs that live underground, such as beetles

What do living things in a forest ecosystem depend on?

• Only nonliving things

• Only trees

• Both living and nonliving things

• Only other animals

What need for survival is the passage mostly discussing?

• Shelter

• Food

• Water

• Companionship

What is an apex predator?

• An animal that is hunted by others

• An animal at the top of the food chain

• A plant that provides food for animals

• A small insect in the ecosystem

Read the following sentences from the text.

“There are ecosystems in many places. Each ecosystem has its own food chain. Look at the image of the wolf, the deer, and the acorn. This is a very simple way to think of the food chain. Smaller animals are eaten by slightly larger animals. But this image only represents a small part of a real food chain. Most food chains also include plants. They also include bacteria and other tiny, microscopic organisms.”

What can you conclude from this excerpt?

• All organisms, no matter how small, play a role in an ecosystem's food chain.

• Smaller animals eat larger animals all the time in most ecosystems.

• Bacteria are not a part of any food chain because they are too tiny.

• Deer are at the top of every food chain because they escape predators easily.

Where are smaller animals usually found in the food chain?

• At the top of the food chain

• In the middle of the food chain

• Near the bottom of the food chain

• Outside the food chain

The text lists different ways living things produce their young. What is one example of how living things produce their young?

• Great white sharks eat fish.

• Squirrels build nests in trees.

• Spiders make egg sacs.

• Deer run from wolves.

Based on the passage, what role can plants play in an ecosystem?

• They are at the top of the food chain in all ecosystems.

• Farmers use their seeds to grow food.

• Humans like looking at their pretty flowers.

• They provide shelter and food for many animals.

What is the main idea of this text?

• Living things need food to survive because the nutrients in food provide them with the energy required to keep their bodies running.

• Each ecosystem holds many different living things trying to survive by finding food, producing young, and protecting themselves from predators in the food chain.

• Grizzly bears, great white sharks, and lions are all predators that must hunt and eat animals lower on the food chain in order to survive in their different ecosystems.

• Living things must develop ways to protect themselves from predators in their ecosystem, whether that’s by making nests high in trees like squirrels or digging down in the soil like worms.