FOOD CHAINS GAME Materials you need: This laminated cardboard, a die, a sheet of paper, a pen How to play:

1. Play with a partner. 2. Throw a die. The number tells you on which plant to start. 3. Work out the longest possible food chain that includes this plant. 4. Ask your partner to check your food chain. 5. Add up your score for all the organisms in your food chain. 6. Now its your partners turn. 7. At the end of the game, the person with the highest score is the winner.

MATCHING EXERCISE ECOLOGY TERMS Match each of the following terms with its definition below: ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, HABITAT, COMMUNITY, POPULATION, NICHE, CHLOROPHYLL, PHOTOSYNTHESIS, RESPIRATION, PRODUCER, CONSUMER, CARNIVORE, HERBIVORE, OMNIVORE, SCAVENGER, DETRITUS, DETRITIVORE, DECOMPOSER, FOOD CHAIN, FOOD WEB 1. The study of the interrelationships of living organisms and their environment 2. A group of organisms living together in a given area at a particular time 3. Dead animals and plants, and wastes (e.g. faeces) 4. The number of a given species in a given area at a particular time 5. An organism that feeds on plant matter 6. The role or position a species occupies in a community. This includes where it lives, on what it feeds, what its predators are, and what factors limit the growth of the population. 7. The area in which a particular organism lives, e.g. a rainforest 8. A complex diagram using two or more food chains 9. A green plant that produces its own food by the process of photosynthesis 10. An organism that obtains its nutrients from detritus 11. An animal that feeds on dead or dying organisms, e.g. ant, crab, worm 12. A list of organisms linked by arrows, which shows the feeding patterns of organisms in an area. The list almost always begins with a producer. 13. All the living and non-living conditions that act on an organism and affect its chance of survival 14. A meat-eater 15. An organism that eats both plant and animal matter 16. An organism that breaks down dead organisms or wastes into simpler substances which can be used by producers, e.g. bacteria, mould 17. An organism that does not photosynthesise but obtains its food by eating or consuming part or all of another organism

18. The process by which animal and plant cells utilise oxygen, produce carbon dioxide and conserve the energy in the form of sugar molecules 19. The process by which green plants use carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to make sugars 20. Green pigment in plants

Food Chain A food chain is the series of organisms showing feeding relationships. A food chain almost always begins with a green plant (producer) which is eaten by an animal (consumer). The arrow means is eaten by, and shows the flow of matter and energy along the food chain. There are no decomposers in a food chain.

Example of a Food Chain Grass(Producer) Grasshopper(1st order Consumer) Kookaburra(2nd order Consumer) Questions 1. (a) GRASS ( SHEEP ( PRAWN ( HUMAN ( TUNA (

) )

) )

(b) PHYTOPLANKTON ( )

In the food chains above, identify the producer, the primary consumer and the secondary consumer. 2. Write a food chain in each of the following habitats: (a) desert (b) rainforest coral reef dragonfly larva mussel caddisfly larva zooplankton phytoplankton
3.

small fish snail

(a) From the food web above, write down 2 different food chains: (b) Name the producer Name the primary consumers

(d) Name the secondary consumers (e) Name the tertiary consumer (f) Are any organisms in more than one trophic level? If so, which ones and in which trophic levels are they? (g) Explain how the organisms would be affected if the snail population died out.
Heron Pelican

Large fish Crab Zooplankton Phytoplankton

4.

Small fish Prawn Eel grass Mud whelk

(a) From the food web above, write down 2 different food chains: (b) Name the producer Name the primary consumers (d) Name the secondary consumers

e f

(e) Name the tertiary consumer (f) Are any organisms in more than one trophic level? If so, which ones and in which trophic levels are they? (g) What would happen to the food web if a marina being built destroyed the eel grass area?

(h) What effect would overfishing of crabs, both male and female, have on the other organisms?

(I) Boat anti-fouling paint contains heavy lead which biologically accumulates along a food chain in the same way as does mercury and DDT. Which organism would suffer the greatest effect if large quantities of anti-fouling paint were released into the waterways? Explain.

BIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS IN THE ENVIRONMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONSHIPS

ABIOTIC FACTORS

BIOTIC FACTORS

SYMBIOSIS

COMPETITION

PREDATORPREY RELATIONSHIP

Parasitism

Mutualism

Commensalism

Symbiosis - a relationship in which two organisms of different species 'live together' for a period of time Parasitism - a form of in which one organism derives nutrients from the second organism which suffers some harm but is usually not (e.g. A tick is the that feeds off a dog which is the .) Mutualism - a form of symbiosis in which both organisms (e.g. ) each other

Commensalism - a form of symbiosis in which one organism helps the other organism, but there is no nor harm done in return (e.g. A clown fish lives inside a sea anemone and is protected by it. The sea anemone derives no benefit nor harm from the relationship.) Predator / Prey Relationships the relationship in which one organism (predator) hunts and eats another ( ) (e.g. ) Competition a relationship where two types of organisms compete for the same resource such as food, , (e.g. sheep and kangaroos compete for grass)

CYCLES IN NATURE WHAT IS A CYCLE?

A cycle shows the of certain elements and compounds (e.g. water, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus) in different forms in ecosystems.

WATER CYCLE

The provides the heat energy required for the cycle to continue. The oceans and are the main reservoirs of water. In the space below, sketch the water cycle. Draw labelled arrows showing evaporation, condensation, precipitation (e.g. rain) and transpiration.

THE WATER CYCLE

CARBON AND OXYGEN CYCLES

Carbon occurs in all living organisms in the forms of carbon dioxide, carbohydrates (sugars and starches), proteins and . Oxygen occurs in all living organisms in the forms of oxygen gas, water, carbon dioxide, (sugars and starches), proteins and fats. Photosynthesis Photosynthesis is the process used by containing green chlorophyll to utilise sunlight, carbon dioxide and to form sugar (as glucose) and oxygen.

Sunlight Carbon +Water Dioxide CO2 + H2O Glucose + Oxygen Chlorophyll Sugar Sunlight C6H12O6 + O2

Chlorophyll Respiration Respiration is the process that most living organisms (including animals, plants, fungi and ) use to obtain energy from glucose sugar and . The wastes formed are carbon dioxide and water. Glucose+Oxygen C6H12O6 + O2

Carbon +Water+Energy Dioxide CO2 + H2O +Energy

Nutrition Living organisms contain a large quantity of carbon in the form of carbohydrates, proteins and so on. When one organism another, that carbon is passed from one organism to another. Decomposition Almost all living organisms require oxygen. When decomposing bacteria and break down dead organisms and their wastes such as , they take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide into the . Combustion The of living matter produces carbon dioxide and water. In the space below, sketch the carbon and oxygen cycles. Draw labelled arrows showing respiration, photosynthesis, decomposition and combustion.
THE CARBON AND OXYGEN CYCLES

NITROGEN CYCLE
There are two interrelated parts of the Nitrogen Cycle.

First Part of the Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen gas forms about % of the atmosphere. However, no animals and few plants can utilise nitrogen in this gaseous form. Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria converts atmospheric to amino acids, which are the components of . Examples of nitrogen-fixing bacteria are the cyanobacteria Nostoc, soil bacteria Azotobacter and Clostridium, and the legume root

bacteria Rhizobium. Examples of legumes are pea and plants. These plants add natural to the soil. Atmospheric nitrogen can also be fixed or converted to a more solid form by lightning. In reverse, Denitrifying Bacteria in the convert ammonia, a nitrogenous waste in urine, back to atmospheric nitrogen.
Second Part of the Nitrogen Cycle Nitrogen in animals and plants is

in the form of amino acids and proteins. As one organism eats another along the food , the nitrogen passes from one organism to another. Animals also excrete nitrogenous wastes in urine as urea, uric acid or ammonia. This passes down to the . When animals and plants die, Putrefactive Bacteria in the soil converts the body amino acids and proteins to ammonia in the soil. These bacteria also convert urea and uric acid to ammonia in the soil. Nitrite Bacteria in the soil convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil. Nitrate Bacteria in the soil convert those nitrites to nitrates in the soil. These are used by the plants as fertilisers.

PHOSPHORUS CYCLE Phosphorus is an essential component of many chemicals within living organisms. Examples include the energy-rich compound ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) and the phosphates used by plants as . Phosphorus cycles in a complex way which is different from the elements of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen. Phosphorus in the form of phosphates is deposited as faeces and guano on land masses such as the island of Nauru. Rain then erodes the phosphorus-rich guano into the ocean. The guano then is eroded further in the ocean. There is little deposition back onto the .

FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS

Food Chain A food chain is the series of organisms showing feeding relationships. A food chain almost always begins with a green (producer) which is eaten by an (consumer). The arrow means is eaten by, and shows the flow of matter and

energy along the food chain. There are no Example of a Food Chain Grass(Producer)

in a food chain

because they are so widespread and are not specific to just one food chain. Grasshopper(1st order Consumer) Kookaburra(2nd order Consumer)

Producer usually a green plant that produces its own food by First-order Consumer (also called the primary consumer) the organism that eats the Second-order Consumer (also called the secondary consumer) the organism that eats or derives nutrients from the Herbivore Carnivore an organism that obtains nutrients from an Omnivore an organism which eats both Scavenger an consumer that eats Decomposer - an organism such as organisms and their wastes Trophic Level A trophic level is each level in a food are always lost as urine, faeces and heat energy at each trophic level. Food Web a animals (e.g. crab) or fungi that breaks down dead . Matter and energy Detritivore a consumer that obtains its nutrients from detritus blood or flesh

of interrelated food chains in a given area

Kingfisher

Small fish

Frog

Tadpole

Water Beetle Snail

Algae