Producers, herbivores and carnivores

Producers, herbivores and carnivores

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
This task is about identifying producers, herbivores, and carnivores and explaining these terms.
 
a)
For the food chains above identify all the producers, the herbivores, and the carnivores.
 
Producers:
 
 
Herbivores:
 
 
Carnivores:
 
 
 
b) i)
Explain what a producer is
 
 
 
 
  ii)
Explain what a herbivore is
 
 
 
 
  iii)
Explain what a carnivore is
 
 
 
 
 
c)
What does the arrow () mean in these food chains?
 
 
Task administration: 
This task can be completed with pencil and paper.
Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
Science, Knowledge, Living World
Keywords: 
ecology, food chains, producers, herbivores, carnivores, diagrams
Description of task: 
Students identify the producers, herbivores, and carnivores in four illustrated food chains. Students then explain each of these terms and explain what the arrows in food chains mean.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Interpret representations
This resource provides opportunities to discuss using scientific language and scientific conventions for representing feeding relationships (a food chain).
 
Science capabilities: 
Interpret representations
Making Better Sense: 
Food Chains
Answers/responses: 

 

Y8 (11/02)
a)  

Producers: seaweed, grass, wheat, cabbage.

Herbivores: fish, cow, mouse, snail.

Carnivores: seal, killer whale, human, cat, small bird, hawk.

moderate

moderate

difficult

b)

i)
ii)
iii)

A producer is an organism/plant that makes its own food.
An animal that eats plants.
An animal that eats other animals.

very difficult
 moderate
easy
c)   An answer that explains that the arrow represents energy flow from one living thing to another, or it tells us what eats what, e.g., humans eat cows, and cows eat grass. easy