BACKGROUND:

The environment is full of different animals with different needs.  Students should learn early how these organisms are grouped.    Every organism needs to find food, which is the basis of the food chain and food web. 

There are many different food chains in a specific area.  Other organisms are just like humans in that most vary their diets.  If an organism relies solely on one organism for food, the first organism will be in trouble if the second dies out.   Individual organisms, however,  do prefer specific food, but they usually vary their diets depending on what is available.  The food chain refers to  "who eats whom" relationship.  For instance, humans eat hamburger which comes from the meat of a cow, which eats only grass (herbivore).  But humans don't only eat meat, they eat many other items that come from both animals and plants (omnivore).  If you plotted the entire food habits of an organism this would be called a food web.  

PROCEDURE:

1. There are many ways to refer to the components of a food web.  If you wish to determine the place that an organism has in a food chain you would do a breakdown that is similar to the one shown under “Position in Food Chain.” 

POSITION IN FOOD CHAIN
PRODUCER	CONSUMER	DECOMPOSE/REDUCE
green plants	predatory	bacteria
		worms

2. If you are interested in how an organism produces energy and not what they eat, you would use the words listed in "what they eat." 

WHAT THEY EAT
HERBIVORE	CARNIVORE	OMNIVORE
nectar eating	insectivore	scavenger
seed eating	fish eating	filter feeder
frigivore (fruit)	meat eating	detritus feeders
algae eaters

3. Use the enclosed pictures of different animals and  have students make a list of the organism and  determine what they eat and where they are in the food chain.
     
   Large cat  - consumer, carnivore
   Fern - producer
   Owl - consumer, carnivore
   Fish - consumer, omnivore
   Plant - producer
   Cow - consumer, herbivore
   Bird - consumer, omnivore
   Horse - consumer, herbivore
   Rooster - consumer, omnivore
   Eagle - consumer, carnivore
   Snake - consumer, carnivore
   
4. Read  Working on the Food Chain to students.  Then make a worksheet from the second column (highlight, copy, and paste into a word processing program like Microsoft Word) and have students put in the appropriate term that they learned.

Working on the Food Chain by Cassy Fries Producers are organisms that make food on their own It's through photosynthesis, that plants can be grown Plants use the sun's energy to convert minerals in the land When it comes to feeding animals, producers give a helping hand Zelda the Zebra munches on shrubs and green grass Zelda is a herbivore, it's a plant eaters class An animal as a hyena likes plants and meat A black and white zebra, would be such a treat Harry the hyena, called an omnivore He needs to be careful when he hears a lion's roar Larry the Lion a fierce eating carnivore Has a diet of meat, and nothing more When animals die, their bodies decay Decomposers and scavengers feed on what lays As the animal's remains are broken down into pieces The soil receives nutrients from decomposers feces Decomposers such as fungi, bacteria, and ants Help nourish the growth of all sorts of plants This cycle of life is called the food chain And hunting can be a dangerous game Animals eat other animals in order to survive If one animal is extinct, what will keep other alive? If too many animals die the chains can break and the other animal's lives will be at stake.

Working on the _________ by Cassy Fries _________ are organisms that make food on their own It's through photosynthesis, that plants can be grown Plants use the sun's energy to convert minerals in the land When it comes to feeding animals, _______ give a helping hand Zelda the Zebra munches on shrubs and green grass Zelda is a __________, it's a plant eaters class An animal as a hyena likes plants and meat A black and white zebra, would be such a treat Harry the hyena, called an ________ He needs to be careful when he hears a lion's roar Larry the Lion a fierce eating ________ Has a diet of meat, and nothing more When animals die, their bodies decay _________ and ________ feed on what lays As the animal's remains are broken down into pieces The soil receives nutrients from ____________feces _____________ such as fungi, bacteria, and ants Help nourish the growth of all sorts of plants This cycle of life is called the __________ And hunting can be a dangerous game Animals eat other animals in order to survive If one animal is extinct, what will keep other alive? If too many animals die the chains can break and the other animal's lives will be at stake.