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Lesson ⁦3-1⁩: Relationships in Ecosystems

Science · Fifth Grade, Primary · Unit 3: Interactions in Ecosystems · First Semester

A 10-question quiz; after every question you'll see the right answer with an explanation.
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What will you learn in this lesson?

Living things in an ecosystem depend on one another for food and shelter. In this lesson you learn the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers, build food chains and food webs, and learn about relationships such as competition and symbiosis.

  • Identifies the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem
  • Distinguishes the first-level and second-level consumers in a food chain
  • Explains a food web as overlapping food chains
  • Describes relationships between living things such as predation, competition, and symbiosis

💡 Tip: The first-level consumer is the first animal right after the plant. In grass → grasshopper → lizard → falcon: the grasshopper is the first-level consumer, the lizard the second, and the falcon the third.

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Worked examples from the Relationships in Ecosystems lesson questions

A living thing that makes its own food is called:
  • A producer
  • A consumer
  • A decomposer
  • A predator
✓ A producer
Producers, such as plants, make their food by photosynthesis.
What is the role of decomposers, such as fungi and bacteria, in an ecosystem?
  • They break down the remains of dead organisms and return materials to the soil
  • They make their food from sunlight
  • They hunt large animals
  • They carry pollen between flowers
✓ They break down the remains of dead organisms and return materials to the soil
Decomposers break down dead living things and wastes, returning materials to the soil for plants to use.
Show more examples (3)
An animal that eats both plants and animals is called:
  • An omnivore (eats plants and meat)
  • A herbivore
  • A carnivore
  • A decomposer
✓ An omnivore (eats plants and meat)
Omnivores feed on both kinds, like humans and bears.
In the food chain grass → locust → lizard → falcon, what is the first-level consumer?
  • The locust
  • The grass
  • The lizard
  • The falcon
✓ The locust
The grass is a producer, and the locust is the first to eat it, so it is the first-level consumer, followed by the lizard and then the falcon.
What do the arrows in a food chain represent?
  • The direction energy moves, from the one eaten to the one that eats it
  • The direction animals move in a place
  • The order of living things by size
  • The direction water flows
✓ The direction energy moves, from the one eaten to the one that eats it
The arrow points from the living thing that is eaten to the living thing that eats it, that is, in the direction energy moves.

FAQ about the Relationships in Ecosystems lesson

What is the difference between a food chain and a food web?

A food chain is a single path of energy moving from a producer to consumers in order. A food web is a set of overlapping chains in one ecosystem, because most animals eat more than one kind of food.

What do the arrows in a food chain represent?

They show the direction energy moves, from the living thing that is eaten to the living thing that eats it, so the arrow points from the grass to the grasshopper.

How do I study the lesson Relationships in Ecosystems and test myself on it?

Start the lesson quiz on Study with Ghada: 10 questions from the Science Fifth Grade, Primary question bank. After each answer you'll see the right answer with an explanation, and any questions you miss move to “Review my mistakes” until you master them.

Are Study with Ghada quizzes free and aligned with the curriculum?

Yes, completely free. They're built on the Science - Grade 5 - Semester 1 lessons in the same order as the book, and every question is reviewed and approved by a teacher before students see it.

Unit 3 lessons: Interactions in Ecosystems

⁦3-2⁩ Adaptation and Survival All Science Fifth Grade, Primary lessons →
← ⁦2-2⁩ Life Cycles ⁦3-2⁩ Adaptation and Survival →