1. What does the suffix troph mean? The suffix troph means nourish.

2. What do you think a trophic level is? Trophic level is a level of feeding.

3. How about food chains, food webs? Compare and contrast those terms you learned in biology. Food chains are relationship of how energy is transferred up the trophic levels. Food webs are visual maps of feeding relationships and energy flow. The difference between a food chain and a food web is a map contains more possibilities.

4. Quickly sketch a food chain using organisms that might be found on our school grounds. a. What do you have to do to turn it into a food web? Do so.

5.

Look at the following diagrams called Energy Pyramids.

a. What do they all have in common? They all have primary producers and consumers.

b. How are they different from one another? They are different from one another because they are species from different environments.

6. Why are there are more organisms at the base and less organisms as you travel up the pyramid? a. Any idea what an energy pyramid shows? There are more organisms at the base and fewer organisms as you travel up the pyramid because they need to have equilibrium. An energy pyramid shows the flow of energy from plants at the bottom that receives the most energy of sunlight, and as it moves up to the herbivores, it display the energy transferring from the plants to the herbivores and the how the amount of energy received as it goes up is less than the bottom.

7. Two of the pyramids have numbers. Do you see a pattern in the numbers? a. What might the numbers mean? o Yes there is a pattern in the numbers. The numbers might mean the amount of energy in each category.

1. Calculate the number of gh a hen needs to eat per year 25 * 365 = 9125gh per year.

2. How many gh are needed for a years supply of hens for you, the farmer? 9125 * 365 = 3,330,625gh for a year supply of hens.

3. What is the total mass in kg, of the gh needed to feed all the hens for one year? 3,330,625 / 1000 = 3330.625kg of gh is needed to feed all the hens for one year.

4. How many kg of soybeans are needed to feed all the gh for one year? (3,330,625 * 30)/1000 = 3,330.625kg of soybeans are needed to feed all the gh for one year.

5. Sources tell us that Native American Indians ate gh. So you can too! These early Americans could collect about 90 kg of gh per hour, when they were abundant. How many people cold the gh feed, compared to the one person that the hen fed? (perhaps you could dip the gh in chocolate) (3330625/365) /600 = 15 people

6. You need to consume 3000 calories/day. If you only ate only soybeans how many grams of soybeans would you have to eat per day for calories alone? (1/3000) * (1/365) * 99918.75 * 3.3 *1000 = 301 farmers

7. Cows produce about 19 kg protein/acre/year and soy produces 200 kg of protein/acre/year. a. Which is more efficient to eat? Why? Soy is more efficient to eat because it produces more than cows.

b. Have you ever eaten a soy burger? (veggie burger)? Why or why not? I have never ate a soy burger/ veggie burger because I like meat, and I do not feel like eating the ones that school provides for us.

8. In theory, the earth could support many more people if we ate at a lower trophic level. a. List 2 benefits of doing this. Can feed more people Vegetables are healthier than meat

b. List 2 drawbacks of eating lower on the food chain. More organisms on the top Less organisms on the bottom

c. What are some benefits of being a vegetarian? Gains more energy Healthier

d. What are some drawbacks? Limits the type of food to eat Wont get the natural nutrients that is contained in meat

9. And then there are fish to eat! Large predatory fish usually are found at the 3 rd or 4th trophic level of an energy pyramid. What does this mean in terms of energy loss? Plants have 102 103 more energy than fish does; therefore you would not get that amount of energy.

10. Large predatory animals can also be problematic to eat because of bioaccumulation and biomagnifications of toxins such as lead or mercury in their habitats. What do those two big words mean and why should this be considered when discussing food chains and trophic levels? Bioaccumulation accumulation of a substance in a living organism. Occurs when an organism absorbs toxins at a greater rate than releasing toxins Biomagnifications concentrations of toxins in organism as a result of ingesting other plants or animals. This should be considered when discussing food chains and trophic levels because some organisms in the bottom level of the food chain may contains those, then other organisms consume them and eventually humans consume those organisms, which causes humans to have toxins in their bodies.

11. Do you think about the food you eat? Why or why not? I do not think much about the food I eat because I eat whatever my parents prepare for me.