Food Chain Hide & SeekFood Chain Hide & Seek
An Introduction to Food WebsAn Introduction to Food Webs
Moorea Coral Reef Long Term Ecological Research ProgramMichele Kissinger
A food chain is a series of plants and animals connected
by the food they eat.
Here is a simple food chain:
The Lion
The Grass
The Zebra
which is eaten by:
is eaten by:
Another way to think about it:
The Lion
The Grass
The Zebra
which gives energy to:
gives energy to:
Can you draw a food chain based on the Food Chain Hide & Seek game?
The Emperor
The Plankton The Damselfish
The Squirrelfish
is eaten by:
gives energy to:
is eaten by:
gives energy to:
is eaten by:
gives e
nergy to:
Food chains are made up of Producers and Consumers
• Producer: An organism that can make its own food– Ex. A tree can make energy using the sun through
photosynthesis
• Consumer: An organism that must eat others for food– We have to eat food to get energy, we cannot make energy
from the sun
Can you name the Producer in our Hide & Seek game?
The Phytoplankton! (plant plankton)
Phytoplankton use sunlight to make their own food.
Note: There are two types of plankton,
phytoplankton (plant plankton) and zooplankton (animal plankton)
Can you name the Consumer(s) in our Hide & Seek game?
They all need to eat (consume) other plants or animals to survive!
The Zooplankton
The Damselfish
The Squirrelfish
The Emperor
There are many types of consumers:
• Herbivores: Eat plants
• Carnivores: Eat meat
• Omnivores: Eat both meat and plants
• Decomposers: Consume waste and dead materials
What types are the Consumers in our game?
Herbivores
Zooplanktoneat phytoplankton
Carnivores
Squirrelfish
Emperors
Omnivores
Damselfisheat phytoplankton
and zooplankton
Decomposers
Bacteria
this one is extra
bacteria recycle dead plants and animals
into nutrients phytoplankton can use
Have you noticed:All organisms need energy to live!
Life is a complicated race to find food.
Events that effect one organism effect all other organisms
connected to them in a food chain
Let’s look at how this
works in our game…
What would happen to our food chain if there were
more yellowtail dascyllus?
(Will the squirrelfish and emperor arrows point up or down?)
• The number of squirrelfish could go up because there is more food (damselfish).– Then the number of emperors could go up because
there are more squirrelfish to eat.
What would happen if there were more smallmouth squirrelfish?
• The number of emperors could go up because there is more food.
• But the number of damselfish could go down because there are more predators.
What would happen if there were less longnose emperors?
• The number of squirrelfish could go up because there are less predators.
» But what else?!• Then the number of damselfish could do down because
there are more squirrelfish predators!
And last, what would happen if there was
less coral?• The number of damselfish could go down because there
are less places to hide.– Then the number of squirrelfish could go down
because there are less damselfish to eat.– Then the number of emperors could go down
because there are less squirrelfish to eat.
Why might the population of coral decrease?
• Pollution can directly hurt coral and fish.• Pollution can also hurt fish by taking away
their coral habitat or making them sick.
Remember Pollution?
This lesson covers California State Science Content Standards:
4th Grade Life Science• 2a
– plants are the primary source of matter and energy entering most food chains
• 2b – producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores,
and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem
• 2c– Decomposers recycle matter from dead plants and animals
Credits
This Lesson Was Developed By:
Michele Kissinger
Education and Outreach Coordinator
Moorea Coral Reef LTER
Funding By: