11.3 · Consumers and What They Eat

From Ohio 5th Grade Science Power Workbook · Chapter 11 · Lesson 11.3.

Big idea: Consumers get energy by eating. Some eat plants, some eat animals, and some eat both.

Learning goals: Describe the different things consumers eat

Explain that all of them are still consumers

Identify Ohio examples

Three kinds of eater

A consumer that eats only plants is an herbivore. A deer is one. So is a rabbit.

A consumer that eats only animals is a carnivore. A hawk is one. So is an owl.

A consumer that eats both is an omnivore. A raccoon is one.

All three are consumers. They all get energy by eating other living things.

The role does not change

Whatever a consumer eats, its role is the same. It cannot make its own food, so it has to eat.

The energy still traces back to a producer either way.

Worked examples

Question: A raccoon eats berries in the summer and small animals in the spring. What kind of consumer is it, and does its role change with the season?

Steps: Check what it eats. Both plants and animals.

That makes it an omnivore.

Its role does not change. It is a consumer all year, because it always gets energy by eating other living things.

Answer: It is an omnivore. Its role stays the same — it is a consumer whatever it eats, because it cannot make its own food.

Common mistakes

An omnivore is not a third role

Herbivore, carnivore and omnivore describe what a consumer eats.

They are all still consumers. The role is decided by how the organism gets energy, and all three get it by eating.

Check your thinking: Ask the role question first — make, eat, or break down. Then ask what kind of eater, if the question wants it.

Ohio connection

What an Ohio backyard eats

A white-tailed deer browsing at the edge of an Ohio yard is an herbivore. A red-tailed hawk overhead is a carnivore.

A raccoon going through the same yard is an omnivore, taking berries one night and insects the next. All three are consumers.

Think: A hawk and a deer eat completely different things. Explain why they still have the same role in the ecosystem.

Remember

Herb, carn, omni

Herbivore — plants, like an herb garden. Carnivore — meat. Omnivore — omni means all, so both.

Practice tip

Remember: Two questions, in order.

Tip: First: what is the role — producer, consumer or decomposer? Only then: if it is a consumer, what kind of eater is it? Ohio asks the role question far more often.

Written practice

Explain why a deer and a hawk have the same role in an ecosystem, even though they eat completely different things.

Sample response: Both are consumers. What decides an organism's role is how it gets its energy, not what it eats. The deer eats plants and the hawk eats animals, but neither can make its own food, so both have to get energy by eating other living things.

Scoring guide: 1 point: says both are consumers.

1 point: explains that role depends on HOW energy is acquired, and both get energy by eating other living things.

Ohio's classification is by how energy is acquired, so both belong in the same role.