Student Exploration: Food Chain

https://www.explorelearning.com/class code: HQF3RB

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

The Food Chain Gizmo shows a food chainwith hawks, snakes, rabbits, and grass. In this
simulation, the hawks eat snakes, the snakes eat rabbits, and the rabbits eat grass.

1. Producers are organisms that do not need to eat other organisms to obtain energy.

A. Which organism is a producer in this food chain?

___grass______________________ (1)

B. Where does the producer get its energy? _______from the

sun_______________________ (1)

2. Consumers must eat other organisms for energy. Which organisms are consumers in this

food chain? _______Snakes and

Hawks_______________________________________________ (3)

Gizmo Warm-up
The SIMULATION pane of the Gizmo shows the current population,
or number, of each organism in the food chain.

1. What are the current populations of each organism? (2)

Hawks: __42___ Snakes: __278___ Rabbits: _2566____

Grass: _27300____

2. Select the BAR CHART tab, and click Play ( ). What do you
notice about each population as time goes by?

__The population of the rabbits gets larger from eating grass and then it gets smaller
because the snakes then ate the rabbits. The population of the hawk did not change.
_________________________________________________________________(1)

If populations do not change very much over time, the ecosystem is inequilibrium.

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3. Notice the populations decrease as you go from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Why

do you think this is so? __Because in the top of the food chain, there is the hawk and no

animal can eat it.__________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________(2)

This diagram, showing decreasing populations at each level, is called an energy pyramid.

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 Activity A: Get the Gizmo ready:
Predator-prey  Click Reset ( ).
relationships  Check that the BAR CHART tab isselected.

Question: Predators are animals that hunt other animals, called prey. How do predator
and prey populations affect one another?

1. Observe: Run the Gizmo with several different starting conditions. You can use the + or –
buttons to add or remove organisms, or you can choose Diseased from the dropdown lists.

2. Form hypothesis: How do you think predator and prey populations affect one another?

__Predator and prey populations affect each other because if a predator of one prey kills
that one animal than that animal dies and the prey decrease by one and when one predator
dies from being killed or just naturally dying, then the predators decrease by
one.____________________________________________________________________(2)

3. Predict: Based on your hypothesis, predict how changing the rabbit population will affect the
other organisms at first. Write “Increase” or “Decrease” next to each “Prediction” in the table.
(6)

Change Grass Snakes Hawks

Doubling Prediction: Decrease Prediction: increase Prediction: increase
rabbit
population Result: Decrease Result: increase Result: decrease
Halving Prediction: increase Prediction: decrease Prediction: decrease
rabbit
population Result: increase Result: decrease Result: decrease

4. Test: Add rabbits until the population is about twice as large as it was (200% of balance).
Click Play, and then Pause ( ) after approximately ONE month. Next to each “Result” line
in the table, write “Increase” or “Decrease.” Click Resetand then halve the rabbit population
(50% of balance). Record the results for this experiment in the table as well.

A. How did doubling the rabbit population affect the grass, snakes, and hawks at first?

_The snake population has gotten bigger and so did the hawks, The grass however,
decreased._____________________________________________________________
_____

________________________________________________________________(3)

B. How did halving the rabbit population affect the grass, snakes, and hawks at first?

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 C.

_Halving the rabbit population caused no grass to be consumed. On the other

hand, snakes didn’t have anything to so they died which means the hawks died
as well.
________________________________________________________________
__

_______________________________________________________________(3)

(Activity A continued on next page)

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Activity A (continued from previous page)

5. Predict: Predict how changing the snake and hawk populations will affect the other
organismswithin the first month. In the tables below, write your predictions. (12)

Change Grass Rabbits Hawks

Doubling Prediction: decreased Prediction: decreased Prediction: increased
snake Result: decreased
population Result: decreased Result: increased
Halving Prediction: decreased Prediction: increased Prediction: decreased
snake
population Result: decreased Result: increased Result: decreased

Change Grass Rabbits Snakes

Doubling Prediction: decreased Prediction: increased Prediction: decreased
hawk
population Result: decreased Result: increased Result: decreased
Halving Prediction: decreased Prediction: Increased Prediction: Increased
hawk
population Result: decreased Result: Decreased Result: Increased

6. Test: Click Reset. Try each experiment with the Gizmo. Record each result after one month.

A. How did increasing the snakes affect the grass? ______The grass increased by a
little. __________

_________
Explain why: the snakes will eat more rabbits due to the increase, and when more rabbits get
eaten, that means less grass to be eaten.______
________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________(3)

B. How did increasing the hawks affect the rabbits? __The rabbits increased,
__________________________

Explain why: _The hawks eat more snakes and less snakes means less rabbits
eaten. _______________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________(3)

7. Draw conclusions: In general, what effect did removing prey have on predators? __prey are
the predators food and if there are no more food, than the predators will starve then
die._______

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 _____________________________________________________________________(1)

What effect did removing predators have on prey? ____Prey get to live and not get eaten.
_____________________________

______________________________________________________________________(1)

Extend your thinking: In North America, many top predators, such as wolves, have been driven
nearly to extinction. What effect do you think this has on their main prey, deer? Write your
answer on a separate sheet, and/or discuss with your classmates and teacher.
Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:
Long-term  Click Reset.
changes  Select the GRAPH tab.

Question: An ecosystem is a group of living things and their physical environment. How
do ecosystems react to major disturbances?

1. Observe: Kill off most of the hawks using the – button, and then click Play. Observe the
GRAPH for about 12 months, and then click Pause. What happens? (2)

_The snake population got larger by a little bit and the rabbits have gone way down the
chart. The grass on the other hand gained a lot because less rabbits mean less grass
eaten.____________________________________________________________________
____

_____________________________________________________________________

2. Experiment: Click Reset. Try making other changes to the ecosystem. Use the + or –
buttons, or choose Diseased from the dropdown lists. Click Play and observe for at least 12
months. Explain what happens (2)

___I made the rabbit’s diseased and increased them by 25 and after 12 months, the rabbit,
snake, and hawk population went way down. The grass on the other hand, went way up the
chart.____________________________________________________________________

Complete the 5 multiple choice assessment questions –at the bottom of gizmo.
(5)

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