Predator

 =Predator: =

__What is a Predator?__
A predator is a type of animal that kills in a process called predation. Predation is where an animal kills another living thing, for food, or use of its remains. The organisms the animal feed on, or uses its resources for, is called prey. [4] The prey is like a victim in the situation, and is lower in the food chain. [1] Predators relate to Gray Area, because the mountain lions are predators to the deer. The deer are eaten by the mountain lions, making deer, the prey. [6]

__Examples:__
For example, field mice are eaten by red tailed hawks. This makes the field mice the prey, and the red tailed hawks, the predators. Bears and wolves are also predators. They feed on organisms like, fish, deer, birds and other small mammals found nearby. [1]


[5]

__Why do predators only eat certain animals?__
Predators choose to only eat certain animals for many different reasons. Some of the reasons, could be, the area the predators live in only provide certain food options. Another reason could be that the organisms they are preying on, provide the right amount of energy for them to survive, so they have no need to expand their diet. [1]

[9]

__Why do predators need prey?__
 Predators need prey so they can survive. The prey the Predators consume gives the predators energy. In a food chain, energy is passed down when an organism is eaten, however, only 10% of the energy the organism has is given to the predator. The other 90% is lost through heat. When you move up the food chain, the less energy there is to offer. [3] The picture below is an energy pyramid. KCAL stands for kilocalories. Kilocalories are used for measuring the amount of energy an animal is given when it consumes another organism. [8]

__What would we do without predators?__
Without predators in our enviornment, there would be no food chain, the prey population would greatly increase, and there would be nothing for us to depend upon to keep the number of organisms under control. [3]

= = =__Sources:__=

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[9] Red-tailed hawk picture http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator

 * 1) In the Gizmo™, with the **SIMULATION** pane visible, click Reset. At the right side of the Gizmo is a list of places where water is found.
 * 2) Which of the locations listed would you expect to contain the largest percentage of Earth's water?
 * 3) What would you guess that percentage is?
 * 4) Click the Oceans button.
 * 5) What percentage of Earth's water is in its oceans?
 * 6) Where can water go from the Earth's oceans? (The buttons on the right side of the Gizmo list all the options.)
 * 7) Click Atmosphere.
 * 8) How does water get from the oceans into the atmosphere?
 * 9) What percentage of Earth's water is contained in its atmosphere?
 * 10) Challenge: If 13,000 cubic kilometers of water is 0.001% of the water on Earth, what is the approximate volume, in cubic kilometers, of ALL of the water on Earth? (Remember, 1% is one hundredth, 0.1% is one thousandth, 0.01% is one ten thousandth, etc.)
 * 11) Click Clouds.
 * 12) By what process does water vapor turn to water droplets in clouds?
 * 13) What other role do clouds play in Earth's climate?
 * 14) Click Precip (rain) . What are the wettest and dryest locations in the United States?
 * 15) Click Soil.
 * 16) What percentage of the planet's water is contained in soil? What fraction is equivalent to that percentage?
 * 17) How does the amount of water in soil compare to the amount contained in the atmosphere?
 * 18) Click Vegetation.
 * 19) How is the water in plants transferred to the atmosphere?
 * 20) How might the water contained in plants be transferred to animals or people?
 * 21) Click Person.
 * 22) About how much water do you need to drink every day?
 * 23) Why do you think people in the United States use so much more water than people in Africa?
 * 24) Click Wastewater . In cities and towns, human waste is pumped through sewers to the wastewater treatment facility.
 * 25) How is wastewater cleaned?
 * 26) Where can the cleaned water go next?
 * 27) Click Oceans . Then, click the **PATH** tab to display the locations that the water has passed through, in order.
 * 28) Where did the water in this example begin its trip? Where did it end up?
 * 29) This type of a path, with the same beginning and ending point — in this case the ocean — is called a cycle. How many locations did the water pass through in this cycle?

Follow Your Own Water Cycle
In this activity, you will create several examples of water cycles on your own.
 * 1) Click the **SIMULATION** tab and then click Reset. Click Ocean to specify the starting point of this cycle.
 * 2) Click Atmosphere, then Cloud , then Precip (snow) . What determines whether precipitation falls as rain or as snow?
 * 3) Click Ice/Snow . What percentage of Earth's water is in the form of ice or snow at any one time?
 * 4) Due to greenhouse gas emission, many scientists agree that the Earth is gradually warming up. If global warming continues, what do you think will happen to the glaciers and icecaps of the Earth? What consequences will this have for people and other living things?
 * 5) Continue choosing new locations for the water to pass through until the cycle is complete and the water returns to the ocean. How many locations does your new water cycle pass through? List them, in order. (You don't have to remember them all. Use the **PATH** tab.)
 * 6) Click Reset and create one more water cycle. Begin wherever you like, but be sure it is truly a cycle (begins and ends in the same location). Make sure that your new cycle passes through Industry and through Agriculture.
 * 7) Worldwide, what percentage of human water usage does industry account for? (Note: This relates to water //usage// now, not water //supply//.) What is the percentage in the United States?
 * 8) Worldwide, what percentage of human water usage is the result of agricultural activity?
 * 9) What are some of the ways water is used in industry? If possible, discuss your ideas with your classmates and teacher.
 * 10) Consider your own household water usage.
 * 11) Besides drinking and cooking, in what other ways do you use water?
 * 12) Which activity do you think accounts for the greatest percentage of your own personal water usage?
 * 13) In what ways could you reduce your water usage if there was a water shortage?