A CAUSE OF THE GREAT POTATO FAMINE NAME _________________________ PERIOD __________ DATE _________________________ 1. Give the scientific definition of a "food producer". _____________________________________________________________________ 2. Give an example of a "food producer" using the scientific definition. _____________________________________________________________________ 3. Energy from the sun is captured by producers and used by animals. These units of energy (from now on each unit of energy is abbreviated as a UE) are then used by higher level living things as food. State a synonym which nutritionists use for the concept of UE. _____________ 4. Each producer starts with five units of energy. What is the total number of UE given out to all the plants. ____________________________________________________ 5. Give the scientific definition of a "herbivore". _____________________________________________________________________ 6. Give an example of a "herbivore" using the scientific definition. _____________________________________________________________________ 7. Do herbivores eat all the plant material produced? __________________________ Give examples of how plants use UE without herbivores having access to them? _____________________________________________________________________ 8. Using the above reasons, the food producers use 1 of the five UE given it by the sun. (The food producers may now take one of the UE and put it aside.) 9. The herbivores want the rest of the UE. On the teacher’s command, collect the rest of the UE from the producers. DO NOT RUN, PUSH, JUMP, OR IN ANY WAY BECOME A SAFETY HAZARD. Only take one step each time the bell rings. Touch the UE first and it is yours.Wait two bell rings before you move again. 10. Each herbivore should get some UE. Calculate how many each herbivore should get on the average? ______________________________________________________ 11. Because they competed for the food, some got more, some less. If a herbivore didn’t get any food, drop out. You starved to death. Yes, life isn’t very fair, especially if you’re a plant. 12. The herbivores used a lot of energy doing what they do. Exactly how do they use energy? _____________________________________________________________ 13. Also, not all of the herbivores can be consumed by carnivores. What parts aren’t? ____________________________________________________________________ 14. The herbivores use 80% of the UE the have for the above things. Take 80% of the UE for yourselves and put it aside. How many UE are left? _________________________ 15. Carnivores come across the herbivores. Give examples of carnivores. _____________________________________________________________________ 16. The carnivores want the rest of the UE. On the teacher’s command, collect the rest of the UE from the herbivores. DO NOT RUN, PUSH, JUMP, OR IN ANY WAY BECOME A SAFETY HAZARD. Only take four steps each time the bell rings (herbivores still only take two). Lightly touch the herbivore on the arm first and their UE are yours. Wait two bell rings before you move again. 17. Because they competed for the food, some got more, some less. If an carnivore didn’t get any food, drop out. You starved to death. 18. The carnivores used a lot of energy doing what they do. Exactly how do they use energy? ____________________________________________________________________ 19. Also, not all of an carnivore can be consumed by a large omnivore. What parts aren’t? ____________________________________________________________________ 20. The carnivores use 90% of the UE the have for the above things. Take 90% of the for yourselves and put it aside. 21. A large omnivore come across the carnivores. Give an example of a large omnivore. ____________________________________________________________________ 22. The omnivore want the rest of the UE. On the teacher’s command, collect the rest of the UE from the herbivores. DO NOT RUN, PUSH, JUMP, OR IN ANY WAY BECOME A SAFETY HAZARD. Only take six steps each time the bell rings (carnivores still only take four). Wait two bell rings before you move again. Lightly touch the carnivore on the arm first and their UE are yours. How many UE did the omnivore get? _______________________________________ 23. Why would it have been better for the large omnivore to eat the food producers directly? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 24. What happened to the amount of energy as it moved from the bottom (producers) to the top (large omnivore? _____________________________________________________________________ 25. Why is the above transfer of energy called an Energy Pyramid? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 26. What might be a danger be to the people of a country that reserved a large percentage of its tillable farmland for animal husbandry. Why? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 27. Describe a cause of the Potato Famine that struck Ireland in the 1840’s. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________