Food Chains and Webs Worksheets

Food Chains and Webs --- "What's for dinner?
"
Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. For example, plants get
energy from the sun, some animals eat plants, and some animals eat other animals.
A food chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community (an
ecosystem) to obtain nutrition. A food chain starts with the primary energy source,
usually the sun or boiling-hot deep sea vents. The next link in the chain is an organism
that makes its own food from the primary energy source -- an example is photosynthetic
plants that make their own food from sunlight (using a process called photosynthesis)
and chemosynthetic bacteria that make their food energy from chemicals in
hydrothermal vents. These are called autotrophs or primary producers.
Next come organisms that eat the autotrophs; these organisms are called
herbivores or primary consumers -- an example is a rabbit that eats grass. The next link
in the chain is animals that eat herbivore - these are called secondary consumers -- an
example is a snake that eats rabbits. In turn, these animals are eaten by larger
predators -- an example is an owl that eats snakes. The tertiary consumers are eaten
by quaternary consumers -- an example is a hawk that eats owls. Each food chain ends
with a top predator and animal with no natural enemies (like an alligator, hawk, or polar
bear).
The arrows in a food chain show the flow of energy, from the sun or hydrothermal
vent to a top predator. As the energy flows from organism to organism, energy is lost at
each step. A network of many food chains is called a food web.
Food Chain Questions
1. What travels through a food chain or web?
2. What is the ultimate energy for all life on Earth?
3. Food chains start with what?
4. The 1st organism in a food chain must always be what type of organism?
5. Name 2 food-making processes.
6. Where do chemosynthetic bacteria get their energy?
7. Define herbivore.
8. Herbivores are also called _________________________.
9. What are animals called that feed on herbivores?
10. Secondary consumers are eaten by larger ________________.
11. _________________ consumers eat secondary consumers.
12. Make a food chain with a producer and 3 consumers.
Trophic Level
The trophic level of an organism is the position it holds in a food chain.
Primary producers (organisms that make their own food from sunlight
and/or chemical energy from deep sea vents) are the base of every food
chain - these organisms are called autotrophs.
Primary consumers are animals that eat primary producers; they are
also called herbivores (plant-eaters). Secondary consumers eat primary
consumers. They are carnivores (meat-eaters) and omnivores (animals that
eat both animals and plants).
Tertiary consumers eat secondary consumers. Quaternary consumers
eat tertiary consumers. Food chains "end" with top predators, animals that
have little or no natural enemies.
When any organism dies, it is eventually eaten by detrivores (like

vultures, worms and crabs) and broken down by decomposers (mostly
bacteria and fungi), and the exchange of energy continues.
Some organisms' position in the food chain can vary as their diet
differs. For example, when a bear eats berries, the bear is functioning as a
primary consumer. When a bear eats a plant-eating rodent, the bear is
functioning as a secondary consumer. When the bear eats salmon, the bear
is functioning as a tertiary consumer (this is because salmon is a secondary
consumer, since salmon eat herring that eat zooplankton that eat
phytoplankton, that make their own energy from sunlight). Think about how
people's place in the food chain varies - often within a single meal!
Food Web Questions

1. What is used to indicate the flow of energy in a food chain or web?
2. What happens to energy as we move from step to step in a chain or web?
3. Define food web.
4. What is meant by trophic levels?
5. Define autotroph.
6. The 1st trophic level consists of _______________ producers called
_________________.
7. Name the 2nd trophic level (both names).
8. Secondary consumers may be _______________ eating meat or
_______________ that eat both plants and animals.
9. What is the 3rd trophic level called?
10. What is the 4th trophic level called?
11. At the 5th trophic level would be _____________ consumers that eat
_____________ consumers.
12. Give an example of 3 detrivores. On what do they feed?
13. What organism feeds on dead plants and animals and helps recycle
them?
14. Both ______________ and ______________act as decomposers
15. Can an organism fill more than one trophic level --- yes or no? Give an
example.
Numbers of Organisms:
In any food web, energy is lost each time one organism eats another.
Because of this, there have to be many more plants than there are
plant-eaters. There are more autotrophs than heterotrophs, and more
plant-eaters than meat-eaters. Each level has about 10% less energy
available to it because some of the energy is lost as heat at each level.
Although there is intense competition between animals, there is also
interdependence. When one species goes extinct, it can affect an entire
chain of other species and have unpredictable consequences.
Equilibrium
As the number of carnivores in a community increases, they eat more
and more of the herbivores, decreasing the herbivore population. It then
becomes harder and harder for the carnivores to find herbivores to eat, and
the population of carnivores decreases. In this way, the carnivores and
herbivores stay in a relatively stable equilibrium, each limiting the other's
population. A similar equilibrium exists between plants and plant-eaters.
1. In food chains and webs, what trophic level must you have more of
than others?
2. Each trophic level has how much LESS energy?
3. What may happen if a species goes extinct?
Complete the Food Chains Worksheet
Circle the organisms that complete the food chains below.
Food Chain Worksheet
Read the passage then answer the questions below.
Food Chain Worksheet
Read the passage then answer the questions below.
Match each Food Chain Word to its Definition
Food Chain Trophic Levels - Worksheet

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Food Chains and Webs --- "What's for dinner?

2. What is the ultimate energy for all life on Earth?

3. Food chains start with what?

5. Name 2 food-making processes.

6. Where do chemosynthetic bacteria get their energy?

8. Herbivores are also called _________________________.

9. What are animals called that feed on herbivores?

10. Secondary consumers are eaten by larger ________________.

11. _________________ consumers eat secondary consumers.

12. Make a food chain with a producer and 3 consumers.

When any organism dies, it is eventually eaten by detrivores (like

Food Web Questions

2. What happens to energy as we move from step to step in a chain or web?

3. Define food web.

4. What is meant by trophic levels?

7. Name the 2nd trophic level (both names).

8. Secondary consumers may be _______________ eating meat or

_______________ that eat both plants and animals.

9. What is the 3rd trophic level called?

10. What is the 4th trophic level called?

12. Give an example of 3 detrivores. On what do they feed?

14. Both ______________ and ______________act as decomposers

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14. Both and act as decomposers