Food web and energy flow

What is the starting point of every food chain?

• Animals that eat plants

• Organisms that produce their own food

• Predators at the top of the chain

• Decomposers breaking down nutrients

How does a food web differ from a food chain?

• A food web is a straight line of energy transfer.

• A food web shows overlapping and interconnected feeding relationships.

• A food web only includes producers and decomposers.

• A food web is simpler than a food chain.

What does the energy pyramid represent?

• The interconnected food chains in a web

• The total number of animals in an ecosystem

• The distribution of biomass and energy across different levels

• The flow of energy between decomposers

Why is there less biomass at the top of the energy pyramid?

• Predators store all the energy from the lower levels.

• Energy is lost at each level of the food chain.

• Producers consume more energy than predators.

• Decomposers take up most of the energy.

What happens when a species is removed from an ecosystem?

• The interconnected web can experience significant disruptions.

• Predators at the top of the pyramid gain more energy.

• The ecosystem remains unaffected.

• Energy flow increases at all levels.

In your own words, what is the main purpose of a food chain?

Answer explanation

It shows the flow of energy from one organism to another in an ecosystem.

The arrows in a food chain or food web represent the flow of

Based on today’s video, what would MOST LIKELY happen if a primary consumer (like the grasshopper) disappeared?

• Producers would grow out of control because nothing would be eating them.

• Predators such as frogs would lose a food source and their population could decrease.

• Decomposers would stop breaking down dead organisms.

• Carnivores would turn into producers to replace the missing energy source.

Which level of the energy pyramid has the MOST energy?

• Carnivores

• Herbivores

• Producers

• Decomposers

Identify each as a producer, consumer, or decomposer:

• Algae: _______________________

• Frog: ______________________

  Bacteria of decay: ______________