The above energy pyramid shows many trees and shrubs providing food and energy

to giraffes. As we go up the food chain, there are fewer giraffes than trees and
shrubs and a lot fewer lions than giraffes. This shows that as we go higher up a food
chain, there are fewer and fewer consumers. In other words, a large mass of living
things at the base of a food chain is required to support a few at the top. Many
herbivores are needed to support a few carnivores. Most food chains have no more
than four or five links. There cannot be too many links in a single food chain
because the animals at the end (top) of the chain would not get enough foodand
hence energyto stay alive.
Food chains can get complicated because animals usually eat a variety of food.
Most animals are part of more than one food chain and eat more than one kind of
food in order to meet their food and energy requirements. When many food chains
weave together, they create a food web.
VOCABULARY

food chain: a sequence of organisms arranged in such a way that each

feeds on the organism below it in the chain and serves as a source of food for
the organism above it

consumers: organisms that digest other organisms as an energy source

herbivores: organisms that only eat plant life

carnivores: organisms that only eat meat

omnivores: organisms that eat both meat and plant life

decomposers: organisms that feed on carcasses of dead organisms

food web: all the connected or linked food chains within an ecological
community

PRE- AND POST-ASSESSMENT

Ask students to draw a diagram of what an organism that lives nearby eats. Have
students answer the following questions:

How important is this particular organism to the ecosystem?

What do you think would happen if this organism disappeared from the
ecosystem?

Have students repeat this activity at the end of the lesson.

MISCONCEPTIONS

Food chains are the only way to talk about predator-prey relationships.

It is all right to focus on one food source when talking about relationships
between organisms.

CLOSE
INVESTIGATION 1: FOOD CHAINS
Focus Question
What do food chains within the ecosystems where you live look like?
Materials

4 strips of different colored paper for each student

Colored pencils/markers

Procedure
1. As a warm-up, have students reflect on what they have eaten in the past 24
hours. How can they classify what theyhave eaten? What type of consumer
are they? Where does the food they eat come from?
2. On the blackboard, write the following headings: Producers, Primary
Consumers, Secondary Consumers, and Tertiary Consumers. Ask students to
name some species under each heading.
3. Draw lines connecting different organisms to demonstrate one food chain, or
path of consumption.
4. Using the strips of colored paper, each student will create his/her own food
chain. Have students draw the sun and a producer on the first strip of colored
paper, a primary consumer on the second, a secondary consumer on the
third, and a tertiary consumer on the fourth strip. The strips of different
colored paper should then be interlocked and glued together in the order in
which consumption occurs, as shown in the picture.
Discussion
After completing the activity, ask students to reflect on the following questions:

How many different food chains did the students make?

How many of the food chains contain organisms that consume the same
organisms? (e.g., bears and rabbits both eat berries)

What is missing from the food chains? (decomposers and the variety of things
the organismseat)

Are the food chains connected in any way?

End Product/Assessment
Hang the food chains around the classroom.
EXPAND +
INVESTIGATION 2: FOOD WEBS
- See more at: http://mpalalive.org/classroom/lesson/food-chainsus#sthash.zxgC0JVf.dpuf