Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit explores the interdependence of organisms in ecosystems, including food webs and insect-pollinated crops. It examines how organisms interact with their environment and the impact of toxic materials. It also highlights the importance of biodiversity and preserving genetic material.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify producers and consumers and explain what is shown by a food chain diagram.

Key Notes

• Producers are organisms that can make their own food, including plants and some microorganisms.
• Consumers (e.g. humans and other animals) cannot make their own food; they get their food by eating other organisms.
• A food chain diagram shows the feeding relationships between populations of organisms.
• The arrows in a food chain diagram represent transfers of biomass.
• A change in the size of a population will affect other populations in the food chain.

Vocabulary To Learn

• producer: A producer is an organism that makes its own food.
• consumer: A consumer is an organism that eats other organisms for food.
• food chain: A food chain diagram shows how food is transferred from one population of organisms to another.
• population: A group of organisms of the same type in the same place is called a population.
• model: Scientists use models as simpler representations of complex things and ideas.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Arrows mean "eats" in a food chain diagram. Each level is an individual organism.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Adaptations of predators and prey Study Guide
• Bioaccumulation Study Guide
• Ecosystems and habitats Study Guide
• Food webs Study Guide
• Pollination and human food security Study Guide
• Predator-prey relationships Study Guide
• The importance of biodiversity Study Guide
• Using chemicals in farming Study Guide