The Magic Research

The Magic Research John is a student from 5th grade that is studding the food webs at home, because he has got an exam. He doesn’t understand very well, how a food web works, so suddenly a friendly spider appears in his room, to help him.

“Hello John!, I am a spider and I am going to explain you the web of life because, you see, I am an expert on webs.” The spider says.

“O thank you. I don’t understand very well this. It`s very difficult” John says.

“No, no, no. Don’t say that John! It is very easy, you are going to understand it now” He says. “In the nature there are lots of different kinds of plants and animals, and they need each other to survive. That’s what the web of life is all about.”

“I am going to introduce you some of my friends. I live in a garden, I know lots of plants and animals. Some of them are my friends, some of them are not so friendly and some of them are my dinner. Come with me and look.”

“Hello John. I am a flower. The plants are friends of everyone in the web of life.” The flower says.

“Why are you friends of everyone? Are you very funny?” John asks.

“No, no, jeje” The flower laughs. “A lot of animals survive because they eat us. These animals are herbivores. But also humans like you survive because we provide you oxygen.”

“Ooooo, now I understand. For that reason you are a friend of everyone” John says.

“Hello John” a bird says “I am a bird, I eat seeds, which come from plants”.

“Hello John” a squirrel says “I don’t eat spiders; I eat nuts, which come from plants” “Besides I must say that we aren’t just a source of food. For many animals, we are their home!” The flower says.

“I live on the tree branches” the bird says.

“Me too” the squirrel says.

“I know that, the trees are your home, and this is a habitat,”. John says “Ooo fantastic, you know it” the spider says “Do you think that large animals are more important than small ones?”

“Yes, I think so” John says.

“No, no, no” the spider replays “Come with me”

“Hello John” the bee says “I am a bee. We are small animals, we visit the flowers and take nectar to make honey at the same time we take pollen. And we fly from one flower to the next, so some of the pollen falls of into the flowers and the plants use it to reproduce” “O, interesting, but the animals only eat plants?” John asks.

“No, no, no” the spider says. “There are other animals: the pedrators, like the lion or the wolf” “Hello John,” the wolf says “I am a predator, I hunt and eat other animals. I am not herbivore, I am carnivore. The animals I eat are called prey” “Besides there are animals that eat both plants and meat, they are omnivores”. The spider explains.

“Yes, I understand now” John says “the animals which eat plants are herbivores, the animals which eat meat are carnivores and the animals which eat meat and fish are omnivores”.

“Perfect” the spider says “Now come with me”.

“Hello John” vulture says “I am a scavenger I eat other animals like the pedrators, but I don’t hunt. I eat what other predators kill or animals that die of natural causes.”

“So the predators like the wolf or the lion are at the top of the food chain, no?” John asks.

“Not exactly” the spider explains “Come with me” “Hello John” a tick says “I am a tick. We feed off of the blood of other animals. Even predators are food for other animals” “O so the predators are not the most important animals” John says.

“No, no, no. When a predator dies, the scavengers and bugs eat it. What they don’t eat becomes part of the soil – providing nutrients to the soil and food for-you guessed itplants!” The spider says. “So you see, in the web of life, every animal and every plant relies on others to survive and no one part of it is more important than another. That’s why preserving habitat and protecting species is very important! Be a defender of wildlife!!!!”