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FOOD CHAIN
LESSON 1
FOOD CHAIN
Table of Contents
4 Launch!
Sun. Chemical energy passing through the food chain starts with the sun.
6 Chemical Collisions
A1: Chemical Energy. Hydrogen and helium are the chemical elements in the sun.
A2: Producers. Producers use energy from the sun during photosynthesis.
26 Consuming Critters
34 Web of Life
A5: Food Chains and Webs. Food chains and webs show the transfer of chemical
energy in an ecosystem.
A6: Energy Pyramid. Energy transfers from the sun to producers to consumers
in the trophic levels.
Launch!
(Sun)
SUN!
where does
chemical energy
begin in a food
chain?
Ready?
Materials
Borrow book Energy from the Sun, by Allen Fowler (J 333.7923 Fo).
Sticky notes
Pencil
Set?
Unit 4-All Lessons: Sun
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 1: Chemical Collisions (Chemical Energy)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producer Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 5: Web of Life (Food Chains and Webs)
Hawaii
Standards
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
Keiki Storytime!
Living Sunlight: How Plants
Bring the Earth to Life by
Molly Band and Penny
Chisholm (J 572.46 Ba)
Interesting Fact
Launch!
Brainstorm why the sun is important as a class.
Suggest ideas why the sun is important.
Hawaii Nei
Hawaii gets an average of
3,172 hours of sunlight per
year. Thats why so many
good things can grow here!
Name groups. Example, Gives heat, gives light, makes plants grow.
Light, heat, and energy! The sun provides heat to keep us warm, light for us
to see, and light energy for plants to grow. Plants use the suns energy to
produce its own food. Then some animals eat the plants to get their energy.
Other animals will eat the plant eating animals to get their energy! Without
the sun, life would be impossible!
Chemical Collisions
(Chemical Energy)
what kind of
energy starts
in the sun?
CHEMICAL
ENERGY!
Ready?
Nothing to prepare.
Materials
Play dough
Tray
Spinning tops
Pop-pops
Hawaii
Standards
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
Set?
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producer Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 5: Web of Life (Food Chains and Webs)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 7: Pyramid of Life (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A1
Think about it...
Engage
Play Hydrogen, Hydrogen, Helium! (Duck, Duck, Goose).
Whats in a
Word?
Helium comes from the
Greek word for sun,
helios because it was first
discoverd in the sun.
Sit in a class circle and go over the instructions for Duck, Duck,
Goose.
Choose one student to be it.
Name that
Scientist
Heliologist is a person who
studies the sun.
Try to tag them before they sit down in your empty space.
Historical Note
Pierre Janssen discovered
helium in the sun during a
solar eclipse in 1868.
Chemical Collisions
Explore
Model nuclear fusion individually.
Roll play dough into two balls.
These are your hydrogens.
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A1
Explain
Sunlight is the main source of energy on earth. It provides light energy for us to
see and for photosynthesis in plants. It also provides heat energy for warmth.
But did you ever wonder, from where does the sun get all its energy? Chemical
reactions! Reactions happen deep in the center of the sun.
Hydrogen and helium! Like other stars, the sun is a big ball of gas made of
hydrogen and helium. Think back to what you learned in Unit 1 about atoms.
They are the tiny building blocks of all matter. Hydrogen and helium are two
kinds of atoms.
Interesting Fact
Although the sun looks like a
solid sphere, it is 100% gas!
Chemical Collisions
How does chemical energy in the sun transform into light and heat energy?
Elaborate
Create collisions in small groups.
Gather around smooth, flat surface.
Example: table or tray.
Observe any speed changes when one top crashes into another.
Collisions! The energy released from hydrogen bonds is incredibly strong. But as
energy travels out from the suns core, it bounces off of more hydrogens. Each time
it bounces, it loses energy. Your top lost energy each time it crashed too. By the time
energy reaches the suns surface, it is mostly visible light energy.
10
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A1
Invention Center
Scientists can make
hydrogen collide in highly
controlled environments.
The energy these collisions
create can be used for
electricity.
How it Works
Evaluate
Go outside and throw two party snaps on the sidewalk at the same
time.
Discuss how the party snaps are like the elements in the sun.
Talk about the chemical reactions in the snaps compared to those in the sun.
NOAA Link
Learn about solar events
caused by chemical
reactions in the sun.
www.oar.noaa.gov
Assess
SC.K.3.1 Identify similarities and differences between plants and animals.
SC.1.3.1 Identify the requirements of plants and animals to survive (e.g., food,
air, light, water).
SC.2.3.1 Describe how animals depend on plants and animals.
11
Productive Primary
Producers
(Producers)
What living thing
can create its
own food from
the sun?
Producers!
Ready?
Nothing to prepare.
Materials
Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Potted plants (4 plants)
Markers
Tape
Jar (with lid)
Tea bags
Water
Ice
Sugar
Cups
Hawaii
Standards
Set?
Unit 3-Lesson 3-Activity 3: Get a Grip (Tide Pool Producers)
Unit 3-Lesson 3-Activity 5: Reef Restaurants (Coral Reef Producers)
Unit 3-Lesson 3-Activity 6: Life in the Meadows (Halimeda)
Unit 4-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Round to Day and Night (Day/Night)
Unit 5-Lesson 8-Activity 1: Producing Producers (Producers)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 1: Chemical Collisions (Chemical Energy)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producer Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 5: Web of Life (Food Chains and Webs)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
12
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A2
What is a producer?
Engage
Whats in a
Word?
Produce comes from the
Latin word producere, which
means bring forth.
The harder it is to say, the better. Ex: Planting producers in pairs helps
to produce plenty of produce.
More Words
Product, production,
produce, and productive all
come from the same root
word (producere ). What do
their English meanings have
in common?
Scientists say...
...autotrophs for living
organisms that produce their
own food.
13
Explore
One student: Draw a sun on a paper.
Hold the sun and walk around the room.
Reach arms in the air and make a circle with your hands (leaves).
Twist your body so your leaves always faces the sun.
How it works
Leaves! Special cells in their leaves transform light energy into chemical energy (food).
The leaves face toward the sun to capture sunlight during the day.
14
14
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A2
A3
Explain
What if your body could feed itself with only water, air (carbon dioxide), and
sunlight? Producers do exactly that everyday! They do so through a chemical
reaction called photosynthesis.
Reading Resource
Photosynthesis: Changing
Sunlight into Food by Bobbie
Kalman (J 572.46 Ka)
What is a producer?
Plants, algae, and phytoplankton! All three produce (make) their own food
through a chemical reaction. Remember U5.L2.A1 and A2? Plants need
sunlight to make their own food or they will die.
NOAA Link
Go to NOAAs ocean food
web to better understand the
vital role plankton.
http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/
plankton/
15
Elaborate
Observe plants individually.
Label four identical potted plants.
Give a little more water every day and talk to your plant while you
water it.
Pot #3: Water and put under a close lid box or in a closet.
Give a little more water every day.
Record observations.
Explain results.
How it works
1616
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A2
A3
Web Resource
Watch real plants follow the
path of the sun.
www.youtube.com
Search >Phototropism in
tomatoes-timelapse
Evaluate
What living thing can create its own food from the sun?
Make Sun Tea as a class.
Think About It
How are plant leaves and
solar panels alike? Both turn
toward the sun to capture its
energy.
Assess
SC.K.3.1 Identify similarities and differences between plants and animals.
Related Link
In fact, the new international
space station that is being
built has solar panels that
are arranged like the leaves
on a plant!
SC.1.3.1 Identify the requirements of plants and animals to survive (e.g., food,
air, light, water).
SC.2.3.1 Describe how animals depend on plants and animals.
17
Primary (Primary
Producer
Eaters
Consumers)
PRIMARY
CONSUMERS!
Primary Consumers get energy by eating producers.
Ready?
Explore
Copy limu and honu drawing instructions on the board (U6.L1.A3-page 32).
Materials
Markers
Paper
Pencil
Limu and honu drawing
instructions
(U6.L1.A3-page 32)
Leaves/grass
Construction paper
Q-tips
Bleach
Hawaii
Standards
Set?
Unit 5-Lesson 2-All Activities: Alive and Eating
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 1: Chemical Collision (Chemical Energy)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 5: Web of Life (Food Chains and Webs)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
SC.K.1.1
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
18
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A3
Think about it...
What is a consumer?
Keiki Storytime
Where Does Your Food Go?
by Wiley Blevins (J 612.3 Bl)
Engage
Discuss what the word consumer means as a class.
Draw an outline of a C on your paper.
Make your C into a creature to illustrate what a consumer is.
Add background characters and scenery.
Show your C creature and explain what it consumes to the class.
Whats in a
Word?
Consume comes from the
Latin word consumere,
meaning to use up, eat,
waste.
19
Explore
Make an Herbivorous Honu grass drawing individually.
Find soft green leaves or grass outside.
Draw a producer (limu) on paper.
20
20
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A3
A4
Scientists Say...
Explain
Animals need energy to move, grow, and breathe. They get their energy by
eating (consuming) food.
What is a consumer?
Anything that consumes (eats) food! All animals are consumers, because
they cannot produce their own food like plants, algae, and phytoplankton.
Interesting Fact
Algavores are herbivores
who eat only algae.
Plant eater! Primary consumers, also called herbivores, eat producers to get
energy. Through eating, energy is transferred from producer to consumer,
just like you transferred the green color from the leaves to your honu
drawing.
21
Elaborate
Search through a dictionary as a class.
Brainstorm why producer eaters are called herbivores.
Write the word herb and look up the definition.
Write the word vore and look up the definition.
Write the word herbivore and look up the definition.
How it works
Herb means a flowering plant and vore means to devour or swallow. Therefore,
herbivore means a plant devouring animal.
22
22
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A3
A4
Evaluate
How does chemical energy in producers transfer to consumers?
Explain by drawing a diagram.
Reading Resource
What is a Herbivore? by
Bobbie Kalman (J 591.54
Ka)
NOAA Link
Read about consumers in an
estuary.
www.estuaries.gov
Search Life in an Estuary >>
Cycle of Life
Assess
SC.K.1.1 Use the senses to make observations.
SC.K.3.1 Identify similarities and differences between plants and animals.
SC.1.3.1 Identify the requirements of plants and animals to survive(e.g., food,
air, light, water).
SC.2.3.1 Describe how animals depend on plants and animals.
23
2.
24
2.
3.
25
Consuming Critters
(Secondary Consumers)
What type of
animal eats PRIMARY
CONSUMERS for
energy?
SECONDARY
CONSUMERS!
Ready?
Engage
Materials
9 paper plates
6 paper plates
Green constuction paper
Scissors
Glue
Hole punch
String
Plastic cups (14)
Permanent markers
Going on a Fish Hunt
Hawaii
Standards
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
Explore
Label cups with different colored permanent pens (one color per group).:
Producers (eight cups), Primary consumer (three cups), Secondary.
consumer (two cups). Tertiary consumer (one cup).
Elaborate
Familiarize yourself with the Going on a Fish Hunt lyrics (U6.L1.A4-page 30).
Evaluate
Set?
Unit 5-Lesson 2-All Activities: Alive and Eating
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producers Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 5: Web of Life (Food Chains and Webs)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
26
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A4
Think about it...
Engage
Make an secondary consumer individually.
Keiki Storytime
Seashore food chains by
John Crossingham and
Bobbie Kalman (J 577.69919
Cr)
Hang the small paper plate fish inside mouth of larger fish.
What do you think you call this fish?
nteresting Fact
We often think of carnivores
as large animals, like sharks.
Some carnivores are actually
quite small, like coral polyps
and copepods.
On a related note
Coralinavores eat coral.
Planktivores eat plankton.
Both coral and plankton are
animals.
27
Consuming Critters
Think about it...
Explore
Play Rhythm Consumer Cup Stack.
Class: Clap to rhythm: clap, clap, slap.
Class: Call out Primary, Secondary, or Tertiary in order on each slap.
Example: Clap, clap, primary. Clap, clap, secondary. Clap, clap, tertiary.
Set out 8 producer cups, 3 primary consumer cups, 2 secondary consumer cups, 1
tertiary consumer cup.
Volunteers: Use cups (consumer critters) to cover (eat) the other cups.
If primary is called, cover a producer cup with a primary consumer cup.
Then grab that stack and cover another producer cup.
Repeat with 2 more producer cups.
28
28
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A4
5
Explain
All animals are consumers. They consume food for its chemical energy. We
learned scientists call animals that eat producers, primary consumers or
herbivores. Now you will learn about secondary and tertiary consumers, also
known as, carnivores!
Primary consumer eater! An animal who receives its energy from eating a
primary producer. Producers (plants) get their energy from the sun. Primary
consumers (animals) eat producers, some of that stored chemical energy is
passed on to them.
Think About It
Are you primary, secondary
or tertiary consumer?
NOAA Link
Many more tertiary
consumers live in the
Northwestern Hawaiian
Islands than the main
Hawaiian Islands:
www.noaa.gov
Search large carnivores nwhi
>> NOAA Magazine Online
29
Consuming Critters
Think about it...
Elaborate
Chant and do actions to Going on a Fish Hunt.
Listen for different types of consumers in the ocean.
Going on a fish hunt (repeat)
Going to catch a big one (repeat)
Im not afraid! (repeat)
Got my fins. (repeat)
Got my teeth. (repeat)
Sun has set. (repeat)
Going on a fish hunt (repeat)
Going to catch a big one (repeat)
Im not afraid! (repeat)
Coming to green seagrass. (repeat)
Yuck! Im not herbivore! (repeat)
Im carnivore! (repeat)
Cant go around it! (repeat)
Cant go under it! (repeat)
Got to go through it! (repeat)
Swish, Swash (repeat)
Whew! Made it!
Going on a fish hunt (repeat)
Going to catch a big one (repeat)
Im not afraid! (repeat)
How it works
3030
Carnivores eat the animals that eat the producers (herbivores). If the herbivores are
the primary or first consumers, than carnivores are the second consumers. They get all
their chemical energy from eating other animals. The hunter in your song is a carnivore
because it eats fish. Other ocean consumers eat coral, seagrass, algae, plankton, and
dead consumers.
Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative * U6.L1.A4 * www.reefpulsehawaii.com
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A4
5
Evaluate
How does chemical energy transfer to secondary and tertiary
consumers?
Answer by doing the Eat Em Up Nesting Activity on p.32.
Reading Resource
Read What is a Carnivore?
by Bobbie Kalman (J 591.53
Ka)
Whats in a
Word?
Discuss as a class.
Scientists Say...
Assess
SC.K.3.1 Identify similarities and differences between plants and animals.
SC.1.3.1 Identify the requirements of plants and animals to survive(e.g., food,
air, light, water).
SC.2.3.1 Describe how animals depend on plants and animals.
31
Eat Em Up
32
32
32
Producer
Sun
32
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A4
33
Web of Life
(Food Chains and Webs)
FOOD CHAIN!
Ready?
Engage
Materials
(U6.L1.A5-pp 40-43)
Yarn
Scissors
Tape
Food Web Twister card
Copy Food Chain Links cards (one of each set per group) (U6.L1.A5-pages
40-43).
Elaborate
(U6.L1.A5-p.44-47)
Hawaii
Standards
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
34
Set?
Unit 5-Lesson 2-All Activities: Alive and Eating
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 1: Chemical Collisions (Chemical Energy)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producers Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A5
Think about it...
Engage
Reading Resource
Coral reef food chain by
Kelley Maculay and Bobbie
Kalman (J 577.78916 Ma)
Link together to form a food chain in the order they pass energy.
Glue or tape ends together.
NOAA Link
Make a food chain mobile
from the Why is Hawaiis
Ocean Important: A Keiki
Activity Book.
www.coastalscience.noaa.
gov/education
>> For Kids
35
Web of Life
Think about it...
Explore
Build a Food Web in small groups.
Hang your food chain on the back of a chair.
One chain per chair.
Create a food web by linking the animals to other things they eat on other food
chains.
Cut and tape yarn to connect the links.
36
36
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A5
A7
Explain
You have learned how energy passes along an ecosystem. How can you keep
track of all the different relationships? A food chain or food web!
Model showing what eats what in a habitat! It tells us how energy flows from
the sun to producers, to primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers. Food
chains highlight relationships, such as how animals depend on plants.
Multiple food chains! Most animals eat more than one prey and have more
than one predator. Aunty says to think of a food web as a bunch of food
chains woven together, like a spiders web! Some connections in your
food web: turtles eat sea grass and algae; urchins eat turf algae and algae;
butterfly fish eat turf algae and algae; groupers eat urchins and butterfly fish;
eels eat butterfly fish and urchins; sharks eat turtles, eels, and groupers.
Hawaii Nei
Scientists consider most
deep ocean waters around
Hawaii as biological deserts.
Why? Food chains tend
to be long, complex, and
inefficient.
On a related
Note
Due to these biological
deserts, predators spend
more time and effort
searching for food.
37
Web of Life
Think about it...
How many different ways can energy pass through a food web?
Elaborate
Play Food Web Twister as a class.
Take a Food Web Twister card.
Tape to your shirt.
_______ gets its chemical energy from ______. Use food web list (U6.L1.A5-page 48).
Example: Algae gets its energy from the sun.
How it works
Lots! The sun uses chemical energy to create light and heat energy. Producers change
light energy into chemical energy during photosynthesis. Chemical energy passes from
one consumer to the next when consumers eat.
38
38
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A5
A7
Evaluate
Keiki Storytime
Who Eats What? by Patricia
Lauber (J 574.53 L)
NOAA link
Learn about the National
Marine Fisheries Services
Food Web Dynamics
Program!
Assess
www.nefsc.noaa.gov
>>Site Index >> Food Web
Dynamics Program
39
40
Primary Consumer
(Herbivore) - Honu
Secondary Consumer
(Carnivore) - Tiger Shark
Sun
Producer - Seagrass
Sun
Primary Consumer
(Omnivore) - Coral
Producer - Phytoplankton
Secondary Consumer
(Carnivore) - Crown-of Thorn Seastar
41
42
Sun
Primary Consumer
(Herbivore) - Ornate Butterflyfish
Secondary Consumer
(Carnivore) - Moray Eel
Producer - Algae
Primary Consumer
(Herbivore) - Urchin
Secondary Consumer
(Carnivore)- Grouper
Sun
43
44
Sun
Algae
Urchin
Eel
Phytoplankton
Parrotfish
Grouper
Sea Star
45
46
Lobster
Monk Seal
Butterflyfish
Shark
Octopus
Zooplankton
Coral Polp
Crab
Oyster
Loggerhead Turtle
Human
47
48
49
energy
pyramids!
how do you
show how much
energy passes
along?
Ready?
Engage
Explore
Materials
Popcorn
Paper
Scissors
Markers
Hawaii
Standards
SC.K.3.1
SC.1.3.1
SC.2.3.1
Evaluate
Set?
Unit 5-Lesson 2-All Activities: Alive and Eating
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 1: Chemical Collisions (Chemical Energy)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 2: Productive Primary Producers (Photosynthesis)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 3: Primary Producers Eaters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 4: Consuming Critters (Consumers Eat)
Unit 6-Lesson 1-Activity 6: Tropical Trophic Tiers (Energy Pyramid)
Go!
Develop Know-Wonder-Learn chart with students.
50
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A6
Think About It...
Think about it...
Engage
Play How Full Are You? as a class.
Wash your hands then sit in a circle.
Pass a bowl of popcorn around and take one popcorn each.
Eat your piece of popcorn.
Pretend you are an herbivorous fish that just munched on a popcorn size
piece of algae.
Would you still be hungry?
Interesting Fact
Because the energy in
plants delivers less chemical
energy than in animals,
herbivores have to eat a lot
of plants in order to live. The
manatee is a large herbivore
that has to eat ten to fifteen
percent of its weight a day.
Thats about two hundred
pounds a day for an adult
manatee. Thats a LOT of
vegetables.
Hawaii Nei
51
Marine ers
uc
Prod
e
Marin res
ivo
Carn
Apex Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Producers
Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Producers
Explore
Create a Tropical Trophic Pyramid in small groups.
Fold 12 yellow origami boxes (p. 56-57).
Draw a sun (or write sun) on boxes.
Cut and paste algae (p. 58) onto green boxes or write producer on boxes.
Look at www.marinelifephotography.com for other examples from Hawaii. Examples:
red, green, brown algae, seagrass, phytoplankton.
Cut and paste herbivores (p. 59) onto blue boxes or write herbivore on boxes.
Look at www.marinelifephotography.com for other examples from Hawaii. Examples:
angelfish, anthias, blennies, boxfish, butterfly fish, damelfish, dart fish, chubs, sea
urchins.
Cut and paste carnivores (p. 59) onto pink boxes or write carnivores on boxes.
Look at www.marinelifephotography.com for other examples from Hawaii. Examples:
barracudas, bigeyes, bonefish, cowfish, eels, filefish, flatfish, frogfish, goatfish, milkfish,
seahorse, triggerfish, trumpetfish.
Cut and paste apex carnivore (p. 59) onto purple box or write apex carnivore on
boxes. Look at www.marinelifephotography.com for photo examples from Hawaii.
Example: shark.
Stack green marine producer boxes on sun boxes. Next stack the blue herbivore
boxes, then pink carnivore boxes, and last the purple apex carnivore box on very top of
pyramid. Stagger the boxes.
52
Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A6
Explain
Energy pyramids are another way to show a food chain. They can be divided into
steps in the food chain, called trophic levels. In other words, producers are the
first trophic level, primary consumers are the second, secondary consumers are
the third trophic level.
Lots! An herbivore needs to eat lots of plants or algae in order to get enough
chemical energy from the producer. The consumer uses energy from the
producers to move, breathe, and grow, so they need to eat a lot in order to
have enough energy to pass on to the animal that eats them.
Flow of energy! All life on Earth depends on the sun for energy. Therefore
the sun is the base of the pyramid. Trophic level one on the pyramid
includes the producers. Level two are the primary consumers (herbivores).
Level three are the secondary consumers (carnivores). Level four are the
apex carnivores. The levels become smaller and smaller as you move up,
because only 10% of energy from one trophic level moves to the next. Most
of the energy is used to digest, grow, breathe and reproduce.
53
e
Marin
Apex
ores
iv
n
r
a
C
Apex Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Apex Marine
Carnivores
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Herbivores
Marine
Producers
Marine
Producers
Marine
Producers
Elaborate
Build and topple your energy pyramid.
Build your food pyramid again (without the sun boxes).
Demonstrate what would happen if there were more herbivores than producers.
Carefully remove some producer boxes.
How it Works
Pyramid would fall apart! If there is not enough producers for the herbivores to eat, the
some herbivores would begin to die. If they die, then the carnivores would not have
enough to eat, so some of them may die too. Even though the producers are always at
the bottom of the food chain, they are very important to all life on earth!
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Reef Pulse - U6 L1 A6
Evaluate
How is energy passed through the energy pyramid?
Design your own food pyramid individually.
Interesting Fact
Humans are omnivores
and tertiary consumers.
We need a lot of the suns
energy to allow us to move
and work.
Form a pyramid (with three different color pieces) and glue to blank
paper.
Label each level.
Draw the sun below your pyramid.
Draw the energy path from the sun to each section.
Describe the flow of energy.
If there was only one piece of algae for each fish, would all the
fish be able to survive?
NOAA link
View a marine food
pyramid chart.
www.ncdc.noaa.gov
Search Food pyramid
transfer of energy
Assess
SC.K.3.1 Identify similarities and differences between plants and animals.
SC.1.3.1 Identify the requirements of plants and animals to survive (e.g., food,
air, light, water).
SC.2.3.1 Describe how animals depend on plants and animals.
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3. Fold the right edge and the left edge into 4. Repeat fold to the centerline by folding the top edge down
and the bottom edge up. Open.
the centerline. Open.
56
Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative * U6.L1.A6 * www.reefpulsehawaii.com
11. Done!
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Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative * U6.L1.A6 * www.reefpulsehawaii.com
Producer
Producer
Caulerpa
(Green alga)
Limu kohu
(Red alga)
Producer
Producer
Limu kala
(Brown alga)
Padina
(Grown alga)
Producer
Producer
Limu manuea
(Red alga)
Halimeda
(Green alga)
Herbivore
Herbivore
Butterflyfish
Wana
Herbivore
Carnivore
Chub
Menpachi
Carnivore
Apex Carnivore
Roi
Mao
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Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative * U6.L1.A6 * www.reefpulsehawaii.com