Unraveling Food Webs: Producers, Consumers, and Energy Flow

Biology Grades High School 2:12 Video
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Lesson Description

Explore the roles of organisms within a food web, focusing on producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers, and understanding energy flow through ecosystems.

Video Resource

Example identifying roles in a food web | Ecology | High school biology | Khan Academy

Khan Academy

Duration: 2:12
Watch on YouTube

Key Concepts

  • Producers (Autotrophs)
  • Primary Consumers (Herbivores)
  • Secondary Consumers (Carnivores/Omnivores)
  • Energy Flow in Ecosystems
  • Food Web Interactions

Learning Objectives

  • Students will be able to define producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers within a food web.
  • Students will be able to identify the roles of different organisms in a food web diagram.
  • Students will be able to explain how energy flows through a food web from producers to consumers.

Educator Instructions

  • Introduction (5 mins)
    Begin by asking students what they ate for lunch. Trace the food back to its source (e.g., a plant or an animal that ate a plant). Introduce the concept of a food web as a network of interconnected food chains. Briefly explain the terms 'producer,' 'consumer,' and 'decomposer.'
  • Video Viewing (5 mins)
    Play the Khan Academy video 'Example identifying roles in a food web'. Instruct students to take notes on the roles of different organisms in the food web presented.
  • Discussion and Clarification (10 mins)
    After watching the video, lead a class discussion to clarify any confusion and reinforce key concepts. Ask students to define producers, primary consumers, and secondary consumers in their own words. Use the food web from the video (grasses, grasshopper, mouse, hawk, coyote, snake, vulture) as a reference.
  • Food Web Activity (15 mins)
    Divide students into small groups and provide each group with a set of cards containing names of different organisms (e.g., sun, grass, rabbit, fox, mushroom, etc.). Instruct them to create a food web using these cards, drawing arrows to show the flow of energy. Ask them to label each organism as a producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, or decomposer.
  • Wrap-up and Assessment (5 mins)
    Review the key concepts of the lesson. Administer the multiple-choice quiz and fill-in-the-blank quiz to assess student understanding.

Interactive Exercises

  • Build a Food Web
    Use an online interactive food web builder (search for 'food web interactive' on Google). Students can drag and drop organisms to create their own food webs and explore different ecosystem scenarios.

Discussion Questions

  • What is the role of the sun in a food web?
  • Can an organism be both a primary and secondary consumer? Explain.
  • How does energy flow from one trophic level to the next?

Skills Developed

  • Critical Thinking
  • Data Interpretation
  • Collaboration
  • Scientific Communication

Multiple Choice Questions

Question 1:

Which of the following is an example of a producer?

Correct Answer: Grass

Question 2:

A primary consumer eats:

Correct Answer: Only plants

Question 3:

Which of the following is a secondary consumer in the video's example food web?

Correct Answer: Coyote

Question 4:

What is the primary source of energy for most food webs?

Correct Answer: Sunlight

Question 5:

Which term best describes an organism that eats both plants and animals?

Correct Answer: Omnivore

Question 6:

In a food web, arrows represent:

Correct Answer: The flow of energy

Question 7:

Which of the following organisms breaks down dead organic matter?

Correct Answer: Decomposer

Question 8:

If a disease wipes out the primary consumers in an ecosystem, what is the most likely short-term effect?

Correct Answer: An increase in producers

Question 9:

What is the term for the different feeding levels in a food web?

Correct Answer: Trophic levels

Question 10:

A hawk eats a snake that ate a mouse that ate grass. What role does the snake play?

Correct Answer: Secondary Consumer

Fill in the Blank Questions

Question 1:

Organisms that make their own food through photosynthesis are called ________.

Correct Answer: producers

Question 2:

A ________ eats only plants.

Correct Answer: herbivore

Question 3:

Secondary consumers typically eat ________.

Correct Answer: primary consumers

Question 4:

The flow of ________ is represented by arrows in a food web.

Correct Answer: energy

Question 5:

A diagram that shows interconnected food chains is called a ________.

Correct Answer: food web

Question 6:

An organism that eats both plants and animals is called a ________.

Correct Answer: omnivore

Question 7:

The grasshopper in the video's example is a ________ consumer.

Correct Answer: primary

Question 8:

________ break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the environment.

Correct Answer: Decomposers

Question 9:

A fox that eats a rabbit is acting as a ________.

Correct Answer: predator

Question 10:

Each step in a food chain or food web is called a ________ level.

Correct Answer: trophic

Educational Standards

B.LS2.3:Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and the flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. B.LS2.4:Use a mathematical representation to support claims for the cycling of matter and the flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem. B.LS2.6:Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the complex interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem.

Teaching Materials

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