FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS
RECALL Challenge: Define the following words
A food chain is a sequence of organisms that are linked by their feeding relationships. It shows how energy and nutrients are transferred from one organism to another in an ecosystem. A food web is a complex network of interconnecting and overlapping food chains that shows feeding relationships within a community. It consists of all the food chains in a single ecosystem, and each living thing in an ecosystem is part of multiple food chains. Watch the video to see my mutant science geek lab creatures in the deranged environment we created for them. Beasts and monsters everywhere! Who will be top predator? Top class special effects worthy of a 1970's episode of Doctor Who (our favourite programme).
SUPERSTAR STUDENT REVISION FACTS!
Hi there hi-flyers! Food webs are an essential topic in GCSE Biology and Combined Science. Let’s explore them further:
Definition: A food web is a network of interconnected food chains. Unlike individual food chains, which show a linear sequence of feeding relationships, food webs provide a more realistic representation of how organisms interact within an ecosystem.
Interdependence: Changes in the population of one organism can have big effects on other organisms. It's why populations can become endangered or suddenly erupt in numbers and have bad effects on entire ecosystems!
Energy Flow: Food webs illustrate the transfer of energy between different trophic levels (such as producers, herbivores, and carnivores). They reveal how energy flows through various organisms within a specific ecosystem.
Pyramids of Numbers and Biomass: Food webs can be represented as pyramids of number (showing the number of organisms at each trophic level) and pyramids of biomass (displaying the mass of living material at each stage). These pyramids help us understand the efficiency of energy transfers within the ecosystem.
So remember science boffins, understanding food webs is crucial for comprehending the intricate relationships that sustain life in ecosystems. 🌿🦉🐍
Natural Selection
It's hard being out there as living organism. There is always danger, constant threats and the battle to find food before other members of your species, the need to reproduce. Millions of species have come and gone in the battle for survival that is life. Who lives? Who dies? Well a lot of it is down to natural selection. Investigate this further using this excellent interactive applet from our friends at Phet! Be the judgemental god of rabbits as you tinker with the bunny- wabit's environment and genes.