Energy entering ecosystems as sunlight is transferred by producers into chemical energy through photosynthesis. That energy then passes from organism to organism in food webs. Populations of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem. All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi, are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food.
Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.
Make two other placards for water and grass. Write the words and their definitions on the board. Instruct the students to make a list of the animals that they see in the video in the Animal column. As they write each animal they are to make a checkmark in the other appropriate columns to show if the animal is a predator, prey, or both. They will then make a checkmark in the appropriate column indicating whether it is an herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore.