Elementary Science

1. Elementary Science Science Focus Lesson SC.4.L.17.3 Food Chains Polk County Public Schools

2. SC.4.L.17.3 Benchmark: Trace the flow of energy from the Sun as it is transferred along the food chain through the producers to the consumers. Essential Question: What is the relationship between the sun, producers, and consumers? Vocabulary: food chain producer consumer predator prey photosynthesis

3. Energy Transfer All organisms need energy. The sun is the main source of energy for Earth. Through photosynthesis, plants convert energy from the sun into food. Animals depend on plants for their food. It what other ways do animals, including people, depend on plants? Talk it over with your shoulder partner.

4. Photosynthesis • Only green plants can convert the Sun’s energy into food! • This process is called Photosynthesis. • Photosynthesis takes place in the leaves of a plant. • Green plants use carbon dioxide, water and energy from the sun to make their own food.

5. Summarizing In your science journal, illustrate and label the process by which a green plant makes food from the Sun’s energy. Use these words: • Photosynthesis • Sun’s energy • Carbon dioxide • Water

6. Pass the Energy The path of energy from one organism to another is called a food chain. Think about what you ate for your last meal. Can you trace your meal back to the sun?

7. Links in the chain… Producers are organisms that use the sun’s energy to make their own food. Plants are producers. Consumers are organisms that cannot make their own food. They get their energy to stay alive and grow by eating other organisms. All animals are consumers. The arrows show how energy flows through an ecosystem. Why is the grasshopper the primary consumer? Energy Energy Energy Energy Primary consumer producer consumer consumer

8. Some consumers eat other consumers A predator is an animal that hunts, catches and eats other animals Prey is an animal that is hunted, caught, and eaten by another animal Energy prey predator Energy

9. Special kinds of consumers Carnivores are animals that eat other animals Alligators are carnivores, they eat fish, birds, turtles, snakes, mammals, and amphibians (this alligator has a deer!). Herbivores are animals that eat only plants or plant products. Manatees are herbivores, they eat over 60 different plant species such as mangrove leaves, turtle grass, and algae Omnivores are animals that eat both plants and animals The Florida Wild boar is an omnivore. It preys on reptiles (including rattlesnakes), amphibians, birds and their eggs, insects, worms, and any smaller mammal, dead or alive. Favored vegetation includes acorns, any fruits, seeds or nuts, mushrooms, roots, and bark.

10. Summarizing Draw and label a food chain with no more than five links. Draw arrows to show the flow of energy through the system. Use these words in your label • Sun • Energy • Producer • Consumer

11. Guided Instruction: Talk to your shoulder partner about the answer to each question. Check your work. • Where does the producer in an ecosystem get its energy? • sun  • water • animals  • plants

12. A The answer is Producers capture the energy in sunlight to make their own food. Plants are producers. Energy Energy Energy Energy Energy Energy

13. What kind of organism eats both meat and plants? • Carnivore • Herbivore • Omnivore • producer

14. C The answer is Omnivores, like chickens and chimpanzees, eat both plants and animals. Grizzly bears feed on salmon but also on fruits and nuts. Even humans are omnivores!

15. What is flowing from one part of a food chain to another? • food • energy • water • heat

16. B The answer is A food chain shows the FLOW OF ENERGY as it passes from one organism to another. Producers capture and store the energy from the sun. The food chain shows the path of the energy as each organism is eaten by another.

17. Summarizing Talking Chips: In a group of 4, each member answer one of these questions • What is the main source of energy on Earth? • What do we call an organism that captures and stores energy? • In a food chain, what does the arrow indicate? • What would the FIRST consumer in a food chain be called?

18. Check Your Understanding Number your paper from 1-3, select the answers that you think are correct • 1. Carnivores are animals that eat other animals, and herbivores are animals that only eat plants. Which of the following shows a way that energy from the Sun can flow through an ecosystem that has both carnivores and herbivores? •  Carnivores Sun herbivores plants •  Sun carnivores plants herbivores •  Plants carnivores Sun herbivores •  Sun plants herbivores carnivores

19. Check Your Understanding • 2. Which of the following shows one path in which energy flows through an environment? • An animal chain • A food chain • A food pyramid • A food web

20. Check Your Understanding • 3. A bird called a snail kite gets its energy from eating the apple snail. What would happen to the snail kite if the apple snail died? • There would be more snail kites. • The snail kites would eventually die. • The snail kite would get extra energy from the food chain. • The snail kite would be eaten by predators.

21. Check Your Understanding • 4. What is one way that all animals depend on plants? • for energy • for shelter • for water • for sunlight

22. Check your Answers d b b a

23. Summarizing Assign a role to each member of your collaborative group. Make a food chain and be ready to explain your role to others. Essential Question: What is the relationship between the sun, producers, and consumers?