The Virtual Woodland Worksheet

Transcription

1 Food Chains All living things need food to give them energy to move and grow. A food chain can show us how living things get their food by showing us what feeds on what in a particular habitat. Food chains always begin with a green plant and are short and simple. Here is an example of a woodland food chain: Producer Plants are called producers because they produce their own food using energy from the sun. This process is called photosynthesis. Consumer Animals and insects cannot make their own food. Instead, they get the energy they need by consuming other organisms. Animals are consumers. 1. What would happen to the owls if a flood wiped out the producers in the woodland? 2. What could happen to the amount of shrews if a disease killed all the owls in the woodland? 3. How might a serious drought affect this food chain? 4. Create your own woodland food chain.

2 Food Webs In a woodland habitat lots of different food chains exist and will link together to form more complex patterns of feeding relationships. These patterns are known as food webs. The food web below describes feeding relationships in a woodland. 1. If all the green plants in the woodland were killed by pollution what would happen to the food web? 2. The woodland has a year of unusually cold weather. What effects will this have on the producers? 3. What will that mean for the consumers? 4. Boundary fencing around the woodland is damaged. How could this affect the woodland s food webs?

3 Create Your Own Woodland Food Web Food webs always start with green plants. Starting with the tree at the bottom, create your own woodland food web using words or pictures. Tree

4 Habitats A habitat is a place where a collection of plants and animals live. The habitat provides them with food and shelter. A garden, pond, field, woodland, tree or even a leaf can be a habitat. The plants and animals that live in one habitat are suited to living there. They may not be able to survive in other habitats or conditions. When a habitat changes, the animals and plants that live there are affected. Read the information in the chart below and say whether or not you think each creature could survive in another habitat. Give reasons for your answer. Woodland Creature Creature Information Could this creature survive in this habitat? Why? Beetle This female beetle lays her eggs in soil. The eggs hatch into larvae that feed in or on the soil. A pond Bumble Bee Bumble bees can only eat pollen and nectar which they get from flowers. Song Thrush A song thrush likes a shady place in a bush or tree to build its nest. A song thrush's diet includes worms, insects, berries and snails. An icy habitat A park Fly Flies feed on dead plants and animals. Flies like to live around rotting food, decaying meat and animal droppings! Flies are much more common in warm weather. Grey Squirrel Squirrels live around trees in woodlands and urban areas. Trees offer squirrels food, shelter and protection. On a beach In the desert Hedgehog Hedgehogs eat lots of insects. They take shelter in leaves, moss and grass. Hedgehogs hibernate through the winter months in nests hidden in bushes and hedges. In your garden

5 The Virtual Woodland Trees in the Woodland Although, like other plants, trees are producers and produce their own food there are some things that every healthy tree needs. Water Sunlight A mature tree can drink 100 gallons (454 litres) of water a day. A tree without water will become weak, the leaves will dry up and the tree will eventually die. All green plants rely on the sun to produce food. The leaves of the tree use sunlight, along with water and carbon dioxide from the air to make the food the tree needs to grow and stay healthy. This process is called photosynthesis. Nutrients Sunlight As well as water, the roots of a tree take up nutrients from the soil. The nutrients are carried through the trunk and branches to different parts of the tree. Oxygen Carbon Dioxide Water Glucose During photosynthesis trees release oxygen in to the air which all animals (including humans) need to breath. Roots Roots hold the tree upright and supply it with minerals and water from the soil. Roots also help to create the space around the tree to give it the room it needs to grow. Warmth A seed cannot develop into a plant or tree if it is too cold. A seed needs warmth to germinate and start to grow into a healthy tree. A healthy birch tree can produce up to 1 million seeds in a good year. water and nutrients from soil. 1. Use the internet and books to find out what types of pollution can affect the trees in the woodland. Use the information above to help you. 2. Make a list of human activities that endanger the woodland. 3. What can we do to protect trees and woodland habitats?