Minds On

Food chains

Examine the following image. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What words come to mind?

Record your ideas on paper, digitally, or orally. If possible, compare your thoughts with others.

A food chain. The chain, in order, contains grass (producer), a grasshopper (consumer), a bluebird (consumer), a snake (consumer), an owl (consumer), mushrooms (decomposer), which then points back to the grass (producer).

Pause and Reflect

Pause and reflect

Think about this food chain as a series of interconnected living things where each depends on the next as a source of food. The fungus is an example of a decomposer – which is needed to break the other organisms down to be used as nutrients for the producers. Grass is labelled as a producer, since it is an organism that “produces” its own food through photosynthesis. The grasshopper and owl are consumers, who need to consume other organisms to survive because they cannot produce their own food.

What would happen if all the grasshoppers disappeared? Or if the owl population suddenly increased? You may wish to record your thoughts on paper, digitally, with an audio recording, or in a method of your choice.

Acknowledgements(Opens in a new window)

Action

Future impacts

This learning activity connects new and existing approaches for young scientists to create positive changes in their communities.

In the Minds On section, we examined an example of a food chain that showed a flowchart of living things that eat one another. But food chains are just a small snapshot of what actually happens in nature.

Did You Know

Food chains vs. food webs

Food chains show a very basic chart of food sources for living things, but food webs show much larger, more complicated, feeding connections between all sorts of different organisms. This is why food webs are a much more realistic explanation of what actually happens in nature. Food webs are often made up of many different food chains.

Examine the following images of the food sources in a food chain and a food web. How are they different? How are they alike?

A food chain and a food web. The food chain contains a wolf, decomposer, plants, and a deer in a cyclical pattern. The food web contains a fox, an eagle, a squirrel, plants, a grasshopper, and a bird with feeding connections between all organisms.

The Atlantic salmon plays an important role in the Inner Bay of Fundy marine habitat, and can be placed at the centre of a food web about that community. To investigate more about this species and the role it plays in its habitat community, we will be engaging with certain stages of the Scientific Research Process. In particular, the steps Research and Record.

Explore the following video to learn about the steps of the Scientific Research Process.

Protecting Atlantic salmon

The Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick is the habitat that a certain breed of Atlantic salmon call home. The salmon are born in the freshwater river systems connected to the Bay, and eventually make their way to the ocean after their first two-to-four years of life. As consumers, they rely on the communities in both rivers and the ocean to provide the organisms they can feed on to survive, such as small fish and crustaceans.

Parks Canada. (2020, October 2). From river to ocean. Fundy National Park.

https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/fundy/nature/conservation/saumon-salmon/riviere-ocean-river-ocean

Let’s explore the community in which the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic Salmon live. Check out the following map to explore the location of the inner Bay of Fundy and the over 50 rivers that feed the bay:

The inner Bay of Fundy is between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. New Brunswick is west, Nova Scotia is east, and P E I is North.

A map of the Inner Bay of Fundy near New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

The population of Atlantic salmon at the Inner Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick has been in decline for several years, taking a toll on the rest of the habitat community. Atlantic salmon are more than simply an essential part of certain animal and human diets; they are an important part of the network of over 50 rivers that feed into the Bay of Fundy, and they can survive in both the freshwater of the rivers and the saltwater in the bay.

Because of the important role that Atlantic salmon play in this habitat, added to the fact that they are already classified as an endangered species, there are efforts being made to better protect this vital species.

Check out the following video entitled “Fish Talk with Leo: Citizen Science” to learn more about the importance of Atlantic salmon and how they are being protected by the Fort Folly Habitat Recovery Program:

After examining the video, respond to the following prompts in a method of your choice:

  • Why are Atlantic salmon considered so important to the Fort Folly habitat?
  • What are some of the benefits of the nutrients left behind by salmon in freshwater habitats?
  • What risk would exist if there were no conservation efforts to protect this salmon population?

Press ‘Hint’ to access possible answer.

  • one reason that Atlantic salmon are considered essential to the Fort Folly habitat is because they are a source of food for a number of different organisms in the community, such as bears and eagles
  • the nutrients left behind by salmon in freshwater rivers can feed other small fish and insects, which are important components of other organisms’ diets in the habitat
  • without intervention by groups like the Fort Folly Habitat Recovery Program, the Atlantic salmon could go extinct

Identifying roles and interconnections

The example of Atlantic salmon in the Bay of Fundy demonstrates the interconnected nature of habitat communities. Earlier, you explored the concept of a food chain and food webs, as well as the different roles than organisms play within these networks. Whether they are producers, consumers, or decomposers, organisms in any given habitat rely on others to generate what they need to survive.

Explore the following food web that features the salmon and many other organisms that share the same habitat.

After you have investigated the web, select at least 5 organisms from the image, and:

  • explain their relationship(s) to the other organisms on the web
  • describe their roles in the web (producer, consumer, or decomposer)

Record your answers on paper, digitally, in an audio recording or using another method of your choice.

A food web featuring the salmon and many other organisms that share the same habitat, such as the river otter, crayfish, shrimp, wood turtle, black flies, and berries. There are several connections between all these organisms. Some include dead and decaying matter connecting to water plants and regular plants, and crayfish, which are connected to lake herring and shrimp. The shrimp is connected to the sandpiper and salmon. The sandpiper is connected to the otter, while salmon is connected to the otter, humans, eagle, and black bear. Regular plants are connected to black flies, which are connected to black bears and berries, which are connected to wood turtles.

Pause and Reflect

Pause and reflect

The Atlantic salmon population in the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick is in decline. Examine the food web once more, and consider:

  • Why might the salmon be in decline?
  • What impact will this decline have on the river community?

You may wish to record your thoughts on paper, digitally, as an audio recording or in another method of your choice.

Check your understanding!

For each of the following images, select the corresponding vocabulary term.

Pause and Reflect

Pause and reflect

Answer the following questions about the food web. Record your answers on paper, digitally, as an audio recording or in another method of your choice.

  • What would happen to the black bear population if the salmon died from disease? How would this affect the rest of the food web?
  • What would happen to the black fly population if all the water plants died due to water pollution? How would this affect the rest of the food web?

Consolidation

Making connections

Consider the way that the local community of people in Fort Folly contributes to the salmon protection program. What are some ways that people can become citizen scientists and help protect the food chains in their own community? Why is this so important?

You may record your response on paper, digitally, as an audio recording or in another method of your choice.

Reflection

As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

I feel…

Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.