what do i need to know about Ecology?

[joonkimdds]

Which of the following is a secondary consumer?
answer = snake that eats mice

reason is because mice feed on plant (that's first consumer), then snake eat that first consumer.

my question is...what do mice eat? what kind of plants?
I thought mice only eat cheese...and drink pee in the sewer.

I watched Tom & Jerry and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and none of those cartoons showed a mouse eating plants.

A master of ninja turtle ate pizza with extra CHEESE, and Jerry always eat Cheese, even though he sometimes eat a small slice of meat when he is with Tom or Bulldog.

so could someone please tell me how the mice can be the first consumer?

and how am i supposed to know what eat what when i face this kind of problem again? I mean i know what the second consumer means except I don't know what animal eats what except some basics.

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[joonkimdds]

According to Princeton Review AP biology there is a problem that states that

Plants => insects => mice => snakes =>birds

If I look at this, Snake eating mice is supposed to be tertiary consumers not the secondary.

Could I say that the problem from Kaplan blue book made an error for this problem?

 

[joonkimdds]

bump, anyone?

 

[lintydent]

Campbell says:

"Herbivores, which eat primary producers (plants or algae), are the primary consumers. Carnivores that eat herbivores are secondary consumers, and carnivores that eat otherh carnivores are tertiary consumers. Detritivores or decomposers, are consumers that get their energy from detritus, which is nonliving organic material, such as the remains of dead organisms, feces, fallen leaves, and wood."


Mice eat insects which are herbivores...thus mice are secondary consumers.

AND----what does "bump" mean? I keep seeing it on sdn.

 

[lintydent]

Oops. to address your question, snakes eat mice (carnivores) .....carnivores who eat carnivores are tertiary consumers.

Like humans....when we eat animals that eat other animals we are tertiary consumers. But when we eat...other herbivores, we are classified as secondary consumers.

There's a question like this on topscore I think. So if you haven't taken the 2nd topscore test, you'll find a similar question in there.


EDIT:....I skipped your whole thing about the jerry and rat thing....I don't think it's important to know what mice eat, but rather the concept of what primary, secondary and tertiary consumers are. A question like this is ambiguous and test wouldn't expect you to know what mice eat...they would either tell you or address the concept with a different question.

 

[joonkimdds]

Oops. to address your question, snakes eat mice (carnivores) .....carnivores who eat carnivores are tertiary consumers.

Like humans....when we eat animals that eat other animals we are tertiary consumers. But when we eat...other herbivores, we are classified as secondary consumers.

There's a question like this on topscore I think. So if you haven't taken the 2nd topscore test, you'll find a similar question in there.

so....r u saying that snakes eat mice is tertiary consumer or the secondary consumer?
if you say it's secondary, does that mean secondary consumer can eat secondary consumer? that's really confusing....

I didn't buy topscore, but is it a good book? or is it CD just like DAT achiever?

 

[lintydent]

so....r u saying that snakes eat mice is tertiary consumer or the secondary consumer?
if you say it's secondary, does that mean secondary consumer can eat secondary consumer? that's really confusing....

I didn't buy topscore, but is it a good book? or is it CD just like DAT achiever?

If mice eat cheese then snake is secondary.
If mice eat insect then snake is tertiary.

topscore is like achiever....program wise.you can get an online code. $50.
Content wise, it is very different.

 

[joonkimdds]

If mice eat cheese then snake is secondary.
If mice eat insect then snake is tertiary.

topscore is like achiever....program wise.you can get an online code. $50.
Content wise, it is very different.

well...the Kaplan blue book only says
"Snake eats mouse" without saying whether mice ate cheese or insect.
so how can i find out whether it's secondary or tertiary?

or should i say kaplan blue book sux

 

[lintydent]

well...the Kaplan blue book only says
"Snake eats mouse" without saying whether mice ate cheese or insect.
so how can i find out whether it's secondary or tertiary?

or should i say kaplan blue book sux

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse

Kaplan is assuming they only eat plants. But you said Princeton shows they eat insects. Wikipedia says they're omnivores. But as long as the mice eat other animals, they are carnivores, and thus snakes are tertiary consumers.

Kaplan is prone to having many errors.

 

[ChronarchB]

dude your making too many assumptions with it. mice eat seeds and crap. when you buy a mouse at the pet store what kind of food do you buy them????? its all seeds/pellets/corn etc thus they are primary consumers.

 

[lintydent]

dude your making too many assumptions with it. mice eat seeds and crap. when you buy a mouse at the pet store what kind of food do you buy them????? its all seeds/pellets/corn etc thus they are primary consumers.

So, carnivores that eat animal primary consumers, are secondary consumers.

 

[joonkimdds]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse

Kaplan is assuming they only eat plants. But you said Princeton shows they eat insects. Wikipedia says they're omnivores. But as long as the mice eat other animals, they are carnivores, and thus snakes are tertiary consumers.

Kaplan is prone to having many errors.

Bah....I hate Kaplan Blue book test....this is the second time i found the errors from bio section only.... I thought Barron is the only book with many errors....

anyway they r cute pictures from wiki

Thanks for ur help.

 

[joonkimdds]

dude your making too many assumptions with it. mice eat seeds and crap. when you buy a mouse at the pet store what kind of food do you buy them????? its all seeds/pellets/corn etc thus they are primary consumers.

then what about the Princeton Review AP bio that says mice eat insects?
and also the other guy said mice is omnivores.

Schaum's Outline (p.208) says primary consumers are herbivores and secondary consumers are carnivores and omnivores. This makes mice a secondary consumer and snake eating mice should be tertiary consumer.

 

[planetmrmr]

you guys are wack. The Kaplan Book says explicity that the snake is eating the mouse from choice (A) where it says that "Mouse eats grass or plant or whatever." In this case there is no doubt the answer is secondary consumer. The Kaplan Book is great.

 

[dying2badentist]

then what about the Princeton Review AP bio that says mice eat insects?
and also the other guy said mice is omnivores.

Schaum's Outline (p.208) says primary consumers are herbivores and secondary consumers are carnivores and omnivores. This makes mice a secondary consumer and snake eating mice should be tertiary consumer.

dude...you are a *****! quit trying to be an intellectual...get a life!

 

[lizjunk]

According to Kaplan:
Producer (autotrophs)-->Primary Consumers (heterotrophs/herbivores-eat plants)-->Secondary Consumers (heterotrophs/carnivores)-->Tertiary Consumers (heterotrophs/carnivores)-->detrivores

so: grass-->insects-->spiders/mouse/bats-->hawks/human-->mushroom

 

[joonkimdds]

According to Kaplan:
Producer (autotrophs)-->Primary Consumers (heterotrophs/herbivores-eat plants)-->Secondary Consumers (heterotrophs/carnivores)-->Tertiary Consumers (heterotrophs/carnivores)-->detrivores

so: grass-->insects-->spiders/mouse/bats-->hawks/human-->mushroom

Mushroom eat Human
anyway...u r saying that mouse is secondary consumer thus snake eating mouse is tertiary consumer, correct?

 

[djeffreyt]

Joon,

Seriously overthinking. The DAT isn't just a straight memorization test. Much of it is, but quite a bit relies on your ability to make common sense assumptions. If you keep tripping up over simple questions and sit too long thinking over this crap, you'll never finish the test on time.

Mice eat seeds
Snakes eat mice
Snakes are secondary consumers.