Food-Energy Models at the Quail Shelter

Two Routes to a Quail

At a farm's quail shelter, keeper Imani records what the birds eat. The quail peck millet grains from a feeder and eat mealworms from a shallow dish. They also receive other foods as part of their care. Imani's class follows the millet and mealworm foods to build models. The students want to explain how food can supply energy for a quail to walk, grow, repair its body, and keep warm.

The millet grains came from plants grown in a sunny farm field. Millet plants use light from the sun to make food. They store some of that food in their grains. After harvest, the farmer dried the grains and kept them in a closed storage bin. Weeks later, Imani brought some grains to the shelter. The grains still contained stored food energy when the quail ate them.

The mealworms came from a separate feeding tray. Care records show that these mealworms ate crushed millet grains before they were fed to the quail. Mealworms are animals. Like quail, they use energy from food to move and grow. The class traces the millet portion of their food, rather than trying to include everything the mealworms might have eaten.

During an evening visit, students see quail eat from both the feeder and the dish. The shelter is shaded, and sunlight is not reaching either food at that time. After eating, a quail walks across the shelter. The students do not measure how much energy it uses or how much energy each food provides. Their notes identify food sources and feeding events, not energy amounts.

The class uses arrows to show energy transfers. An arrow points from the source of energy toward its receiver. For example, Sun → plant means that light energy reaches a plant. Plant → animal means energy transfers when an animal eats plant food. Animal → animal means energy transfers through eating another animal. A plant label can stand for food made by that plant, including harvested grains. Students can join routes into a model with branches when foods share a source or a receiver.