Producers and Plants
What do we call organisms that make their own food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide?
Producers
What is the general name for organisms that eat other organisms?
Consumers
What shows the path that food (energy) takes from one organism to another?
Food Chain
What do we call organisms that break down dead plants and animals?
Decomposers
Name two examples of producers
Examples: plants and algae
What do we call animals that only eat plants?
How are ecosystems the same? How are they different?
Same: All have non-living and living components
Different: Animals, Climate, Location, Size
According to the study guide, what happens to materials after decomposers break down dead organisms?
Materials are returned to the environment for plants to use (recycled into soil/nutrients).
Producers need three main things to make food. List them.
sunlight, water and carbon dioxide
What term describes animals that eat both plants and other animals?
Omnivore
Using the Food Chain example (Leaf → Caterpillar → Chameleon → Snake → Mongoose), which organisms are the consumers?
Caterpillar, Chameleon, Snake and Mongoose
Give one reason decomposers are important for producers.
Decomposers break down dead material and return nutrients to soil so producers can use them to grow.
Explain why producers are the first step in most food chains.
Producers make food (energy) that is passed to consumers; they are the base of most food chains.
Give one example of a consumer from the food web described in the study guide
Rabbit, Mouse, Owl, etc.
What is the main difference between a food chain and a food web?
A food chain shows a single path of energy flow; a food web shows many interconnected feeding relationships.
Name two types of organisms that commonly act as decomposers
Common decomposers: fungi (mushrooms), bacteria, earthworms
Describe how producers contribute to the biosphere and name one nonliving factor that helps them survive.
Producers convert sunlight into food supporting the biosphere; nonliving factor example: sunlight (also temperature, moisture).
Explain how an animal’s diet (herbivore, carnivore, omnivore) affects its role in an ecosystem.
Herbivores eat producers carnivores eat other animals- omnivores can occupy multiple levels — this influences energy flow and food web connections.
What happens if an organism in a food web is removed?
Their predators may starve and their prey may become overpopulated.
What happens to producers and consumers when they die?
Decomposers break down dead producers and consumers. They are then returned into the soil to help living things grow.