FLOW OF ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEM S Food Chains

FLOW OF ENERGY IN ECOSYSTEM S Food Chains & Food Webs

Turn and talk to a partner. v. How do you get your energy? v. From where does that energy come? v. Why do you need energy?

PHOTOSY NTHESIS §Plants use the sun’s energy to make their own food – turning light energy into chemical energy. §The food that plants make is a form of sugar. §When we eat, we can trace the path of energy back to the sun knowing we get our energy from the sugar the plant made using sunlight. Sugar is created in the plant.

ALL LIVING THINGS NEED ENERGY Living things use energy to carry out basic life processes, such as movement and growth.

PRODUCERS, CONSUMERS, AND DECOMPOSERS All living things can be categorized as a producer, a consumer, or a decomposer. Producer, consumer, and decomposer describe the role an organism has in the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

PRODUCERS §Producers are organisms that produce their own energy from sunlight. §Producers turn sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into food in the form of a sugar. §Plants are producers.

CONSUMERS §Consumers are organisms that eat other organisms for energy. §Consumers may eat producers or other consumers. §Animals are consumers.

Consumers can be categorized by what they eat as herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. § Herbivores are consumers that only eat producers. § Carnivores are consumers that only eat other consumers. § Omnivores are consumers that eat both producers and consumers.

DECOMPOSER S §Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and their wastes into smaller and simpler forms of matter, such as nutrients, carbon dioxide, water, and organic matter that all become part of soil, air, and water. §Decomposers include fungi, bacteria, and some invertebrates like worms.

DECOMPO SITION §Decomposition involves physical and chemical changes. §Breaking matter down into smaller parts is a physical change, like ripping up a piece of paper. §Breaking matter down into simpler parts is a chemical change, like burning a piece of paper. §Through decomposition, organic matter is changed into

WHAT ABOUT SCAVENGERS ? §Scavengers are animals that feed on dead animals and plants. §Scavengers eat dead organisms but don’t break them into smaller and simpler pieces. §They do help with decomposition by leaving behind smaller pieces of the dead organism, but

FLOW OF ENERGY Sun Producer s Consume rs Decompose rs Nutrients, Water, Carbon Dioxide

FOOD CHAINS o A food chain shows the flow of energy between a producer, consumers, and a decomposer. producer consumer decomposer

FOOD CHAINS o Why do the arrows point from producer to consumer to decomposer? o What do the arrows show us? producer consumer decomposer

FOOD CHAINS o The source of all energy in a food chain is the sun. o The energy flows from the sun to the producers to the consumers to the decomposers. producer sun consumer decomposer

FOOD WEBS producers consumers decomposer

FOOD WEBS sun producers consumers decomposer

decomposer FOOD WEBS consumers producers sun

FOOD WEBS decomposer consumers producers sun

FOOD WEBS dandelion s sun blackberrie s acorns producers grasshopp er squirre l fox worm hawk raccoon consumers decomposer

Food Chain Food Web