Complete the food chain by mentioning the names of the organisms in (c) and (d).
Topic: Completing a food chain
Answer
A correct completion continues the chain to the next trophic levels, for example: (c) a SECONDARY CONSUMER such as a FROG or a SMALL FISH (d) a TERTIARY CONSUMER such as a SNAKE, HAWK or KINGFISHER
(Accept any organism that correctly eats the one before it.)
Read the organisms already printed in the diagram, then ask at each blank: WHAT EATS THE ONE BEFORE IT?
The trophic levels always run in the same order:
PRODUCER (green plant) → PRIMARY consumer (herbivore) → SECONDARY consumer (small carnivore) → TERTIARY consumer (large carnivore)
TWO CHECKS before you write: each organism must be able to EAT the previous one — a sparrow cannot eat a snake the arrow means "is eaten by", so it points in the direction ENERGY flows, from the eaten to the eater
Because only about 10% of energy passes from one level to the next, chains rarely run beyond four or five links.