Roles of an Ecosystem
What is a producer?
An organism that uses sunlight to make its own food
What do arrows represent in a food web?
The flow of energy
These organisms break down dead plants and animals and put it back into the soil. What are they?
Decomposers
What does an omnivore eat?
Both plants and animals
A student identifies grass, an apple tree, a squirrel, and an earthworm. Which TWO organisms make their own food using sunlight?
Grass and Apple Tree
How can an invasive species be harmful to the ecosystem?
What type of consumer eats the secondary consumers?
The tertiary consumer
Where does energy start in an ecosystem and what is the first role of organisms it goes to?
Starts with the sun and goes to the producers
Two organisms live together. One benefits, but the other is neither helped nor harmed. How is this different from a relationship where both organisms benefit?
The first one is commensalism and the other one is mutualism.
Why are producers in an ecosystem the most important organism?
Because they use the sun to make food and without them there would be no flow of energy
Show picture A
What would be directly effected if corn was removed from this food web?
grasshopper
A vine wraps around a bush and steals the water and sunlight, harming the bush. What type of symbiotic relationship is this?
Parasitism
In the food chain grass → mouse → snake → hawk, identify the primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers.
Mouse: Primary
Snake: Secondary
Hawk: Tertiary
Show picture A:
Which organism gets indirect energy from the flowering plant?
Frog
An invasive vine spreads across a forest floor and blocks sunlight from reaching native plants. Explain ONE way this could affect the ecosystem.
Native plants may decrease because they receive less sunlight, and animals that depend on those plants for food or shelter may also decrease.