3. Organisms are interdependent on each other for survivals. Animals and plants depend on a complex system of food for survival. In a typical food web: The sun provides energy for the grass; grasshoppers feed on the grass; birds and frogs eat the grasshoppers; snakes eat birds, frogs and mice; owls and hawks will eat the birds as well as snakes, frogs and mice. When an animal dies, it is decomposed by worms, fungi and bacteria action and nutrients are released to the soil during the decaying process for the grass to use again. Connecting the many plants and animals with lines representing their functions and food chains within this web would create a tangled maze. It is obvious that all forms of life in the ecosystem are dependent on all other living and non-living things for food, nutrients and energy.



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