Learning objectives

Students will investigate the flow of energy and matter through food chains, trophic levels, and a food web. Students will be able to predict the effect of removing individual species or trophic levels from a food web.

Real world application

Coastal Texas once consisted of wide grasslands home to a variety of species. As humans colonized these areas, the grasslands disappeared. The Attwater prairie chicken has fallen from a population of over one million birds to two small populations propped up by breeding efforts. How does the loss of a single species affect a community?

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