3. Feeding Relationships
Success Criteria
Your learning has been successful if you can do the following:
Describe the difference between a producer and a consumer.
Describe a herbivore:
Describe an omnivore and give an example.
Describe a carnivore and give an example.
Describe a decomposer and give an example.
Vocabulary
Learn these so you can communicate this concept well.
Nutrition: All living organisms need food. Part of MRS C GREN.
Producer: An organism that can make its own food, using energy from the sun.
Consumer: An organism that cannot make its own food, and must eat other organisms.
Herbivore: A type of consumer that only eats plants.
Carnivore: A type of consumer that only eats animals.
Omnivore: A type of consumer that eats both plants and animals
Decomposer: A type of consumer that eats dead plants and animals.
Do Now in Pg 11 of your Knowledge Book
1. A lion has sharp teeth to help it catch and kill its food. What kind of adaptation are the sharp teeth?
2. Pick an animal and give an example of a behavioural adaptation it has.
3. Pick a plant and give an example of a structural adaptation it has.
4. Look at the photo and finish writing the sentences. Make sure it has full stops.
Vocabulary Quiz!
Get ready for a vocabulary quiz on Page 14 of your Knowledge Book
Subtitle
All living things have to get nutrition to stay alive. NUTRITION includes energy (from glucose which is a sugar) and nutrients (vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C and iron).
Plants are special because they can make their own glucose by doing photosynthesis. Plants are called PRODUCERS because they can produce their own food. This is important as animals need this food to eat (and we need oxygen - also made by plants).
Animals can’t make their own food. They have to consume plants and other animals. Because of this animals are called CONSUMERS.
There are different types of consumers:
HERBIVORES: consume plant material, including leaves and fruit.
CARNIVORES: consume animal material, including eggs and meat.
OMNIVORES: consume both plant and animal material.
DECOMPOSERS: consume dead plants and animals.
Examples of HERBIVORES are sheep, rabbits, kākāpō and the extinct moa.
It’s not just leaves that herbivores eat. Anything that comes from a plant can be consumed. Fruit, nectar from flowers, seeds and wood are all eaten by different herbivores.
There are different types of carnivores. One type are called predators, which hunt, kill and eat animals for their food (prey). Examples include cats and wolves. The native New Zealand snail (Powelliphanta) is an unusual snail as it is a carnivore, sucking up earthworms like spaghetti!
Carnivores that find already dead animals and eat them are called scavengers, for example hyena and vultures.
Consumers that eat both plants and animals are called omnivores. For example rats, humans, chickens and pigs are omnivores.
Consumers that break down dead plants and animals are called decomposers, for example worms.
