3.7 Producers Consumers NC

A. Food Webs

Everglade pythons are hungry, and they eat MANY kinds of birds and animals. A food chain shows the flow of energy from one animal to another. A food web shows the flow of energy from all the living things in an ecosystem. That ecosystem is full of different types of living things. 

Directions: Watch the slideshow and then complete the activity in your Mission Log. As you watch- think about- which type of animal is a python? 

Directions: 

In your Mission Log- label and write 1-2 examples of each- producer, consumer, or decomposer.

B. Drag and Drop

 Directions: Now let’s practice. See if you can tell if these living things from the Everglades are producers, consumers, or decomposers. Drag and drop the image to the correct row. 

C. Eat the Dead

Decomposers matter because they clean up dead plants and animals and return nutrients to the environment. Without decomposers, dead plants and animals would pile up, and ecosystems would stop working properly. Decomposers even eat pythons when they die! 

Directions: Below are four types of decomposers from around the world. Can you guess which dead things they eat or break down?

Giant Puffball Mushroom

Tropical Ecosystems

Habitat: Grasslands and forests

Climate: Temperate and moist

Description: This mushroom can grow as big as a soccer ball and helps break down dead plants in the soil. When it releases spores, it looks like a cloud of smoke puffing into the air.

Stop the Invasion 3.NEW. Giant Puffball Mushroom

Bone-Eating Worm

Aquatic Ecosystems

Habitat: Deep ocean floor near whale falls

Climate: Cold and dark

Description: These worms break down whale bones on the ocean floor. They don’t have mouths and use bacteria inside their bodies to help dissolve bones.

Stop the Invasion 3.NEW. Bone Eating Worm

Slime Mold

Tropical Ecosystems

Habitat: Forest floors and rotting logs

Climate: Damp and mild

Description: Slime molds look like moving goo and help break down dead plants. They can slowly move to find food and even solve simple mazes.

Stop the Invasion 3.NEW. Slime Mold

Tardigrade (Water Bear)

Aquatic Ecosystems

Habitat: Moss, soil, and freshwater

Climate: Many different climates

Description: Tardigrades help break down tiny bits of organic matter and are famous for surviving extreme conditions, including freezing and drying out.

Stop the Invasion 3.NEW. Tardigrade (Water Bear)

D. Reading Food Chains

Food chains are similar to food webs. Food chains show how the flow of energy of all living things in an ecosystem are connected.

To understand the impact of pythons and other invasive species, we have to know how an ecosystem works BEFORE the invaders arrive. 

Here’s an example of two different food webs. A grassland ecosystem and the Everglades. See how the energy flows all the way from the grass up to the hawk in the grasslands and from the plants to the alligator in the Everglades?

Directions: See if you can act like a scientist and figure out how to read these food webs like a scientist and answer the 5 questions below.

Grass Lands Food Web

Everglades Food Web

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