Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: Food Chain
Vocabulary: consumer, ecosystem, energy pyramid, equilibrium, food chain, population,
predator, prey, producer
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
The Food Chain Gizmo shows a food chain with hawks, snakes, rabbits, and grass. In this
simulation, the hawks eat snakes, the snakes eat rabbits, and the rabbits eat grass.
1. Producers are organisms that do not need to eat other organisms to obtain energy.
A. Which organism is a producer in this food chain? Grass
m
er as
B. Where does the producer get its energy? The sun
co
eH w
o.
2. Consumers must eat other organisms for energy. Which organisms are consumers in this
rs e
ou urc
food chain? Rabbits and snakes
o
Gizmo Warm-up
The SIMULATION pane of the Gizmo shows the current population,
aC s
or number, of each organism in the food chain.
vi y re
1. What are the current populations of each organism?
Hawks: 42 Snakes: 278 Rabbits: 2,566 Grass: 27,300
ed d
ar stu
2. Select the BAR CHART tab, and click Play ( ). What do you
notice about each population as time goes by?
is
The snake population increased a little bit. The grass grew a lot, and the hawk population
Th
did not grow . And the rabbit population increased by 1.
_________________________________________________________________________
If populations don’t change very much over time, the ecosystem is in equilibrium.
sh
3. Notice the populations decrease as you go from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Why
do you think this is so? The population of food will increase as the food chain goes up, but
food has to be available for the lower levels of the food chain.
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 08-18-2021 02:28:54 GMT -05:00
2019
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67063036/FoodChaincompleteddocx/
, This diagram, showing decreasing populations at each level, is called an energy pyramid.
m
er as
co
eH w
o.
rs e
ou urc
o
aC s
vi y re
ed d
ar stu
is
Th
sh
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 08-18-2021 02:28:54 GMT -05:00
2019
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67063036/FoodChaincompleteddocx/
Student Exploration: Food Chain
Vocabulary: consumer, ecosystem, energy pyramid, equilibrium, food chain, population,
predator, prey, producer
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
The Food Chain Gizmo shows a food chain with hawks, snakes, rabbits, and grass. In this
simulation, the hawks eat snakes, the snakes eat rabbits, and the rabbits eat grass.
1. Producers are organisms that do not need to eat other organisms to obtain energy.
A. Which organism is a producer in this food chain? Grass
m
er as
B. Where does the producer get its energy? The sun
co
eH w
o.
2. Consumers must eat other organisms for energy. Which organisms are consumers in this
rs e
ou urc
food chain? Rabbits and snakes
o
Gizmo Warm-up
The SIMULATION pane of the Gizmo shows the current population,
aC s
or number, of each organism in the food chain.
vi y re
1. What are the current populations of each organism?
Hawks: 42 Snakes: 278 Rabbits: 2,566 Grass: 27,300
ed d
ar stu
2. Select the BAR CHART tab, and click Play ( ). What do you
notice about each population as time goes by?
is
The snake population increased a little bit. The grass grew a lot, and the hawk population
Th
did not grow . And the rabbit population increased by 1.
_________________________________________________________________________
If populations don’t change very much over time, the ecosystem is in equilibrium.
sh
3. Notice the populations decrease as you go from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Why
do you think this is so? The population of food will increase as the food chain goes up, but
food has to be available for the lower levels of the food chain.
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 08-18-2021 02:28:54 GMT -05:00
2019
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67063036/FoodChaincompleteddocx/
, This diagram, showing decreasing populations at each level, is called an energy pyramid.
m
er as
co
eH w
o.
rs e
ou urc
o
aC s
vi y re
ed d
ar stu
is
Th
sh
This study source was downloaded by 100000829957125 from CourseHero.com on 08-18-2021 02:28:54 GMT -05:00
2019
https://www.coursehero.com/file/67063036/FoodChaincompleteddocx/
