WHAT AM I?
I grow, need energy, and respond to my environment.
What is living?
Grass — Oak Tree — Sunflower — Rabbit
What is the rabbit? It is a consumer; the others are producers.
“Something has to move from place to place to be living.”
Incorrect. Plants are living even though they do not move from place to place like animals.
A squirrel eats an acorn from an oak tree. Which organism is obtaining its energy by consuming another organism?
What is the squirrel?
A rabbit population loses most of the plants it normally eats. What problem will the rabbits face?
They will have less food/energy available.
I was never alive, but plants need me to make food. I fall from the sky and can collect in lakes.
What is water?
Water — Sunlight — Rock — Mushroom
What is the mushroom? It is living; the others are nonliving.
“A dead leaf and a rock should both be classified as nonliving because neither is currently alive.”
Incorrect. The leaf is once living, while the rock was never alive.
A dead tree falls in a forest. Years later, it is soft and decaying, with fungi growing on it. What process is occurring?
What is decomposition?
A fallen tree is broken down over time. What type of organisms are helping this happen?
Decomposers, such as fungi and certain bacteria.
I am alive, but I cannot make my own food. I get energy by eating plants, animals, or both.
What is a consumer?
Paper — Wooden Chair — Dead Leaf — Plastic Bottle
What is the plastic bottle? The others came from once-living organisms.
“A rabbit is a consumer even though it doesn't eat other animals.”
Correct. Consumers obtain energy by eating other organisms; they do not have to eat animals.
A caterpillar eats a leaf. A bird eats the caterpillar. How many consumers are described?
What are two consumers?
An ecosystem contains plenty of sunlight, water, animals, and decomposers—but suddenly loses almost all of its plants. Which major ecosystem role has been lost?
Producers.
I am no longer alive, but I used to carry water from the roots to the leaves of a plant.
What is once-living wood?
Hawk — Rabbit — Deer — Grass
What is grass? It is a producer; the others are consumers.
“A wooden table and a tree belong in exactly the same category because both are made from wood.”
Incorrect. The tree is living; the wood in the table came from something that was once living.
A student finds grass, a grasshopper, a frog, fungi, water, and rocks near a pond. Sort all six as living or nonliving.
Living: grass, grasshopper, frog, fungi
Nonliving: water, rocks
Imagine dead leaves and dead organisms continue accumulating but very little decomposition occurs. Which group is probably missing or greatly reduced? Explain your reasoning.
Decomposers, because organisms that break down dead organic material are missing or reduced.
I am living. I don't hunt animals or eat plants. Instead, I obtain nutrients as dead material is broken down. What role might I have in an ecosystem?
What is a decomposer?
Mushroom — Decomposer Bacteria — Oak Tree — Mold
What is the oak tree? It is a producer; the others can function as decomposers.
“Decomposers only matter after an organism dies, so they don't affect living producers.”
Incorrect. Decomposition helps recycle nutrients through ecosystems, which can then support living organisms such as plants.
In that same pond ecosystem, classify the grass, grasshopper, frog, and fungi by their ecosystem roles.
Grass — producer
Grasshopper — consumer
Frog — consumer
Fungi — decomposer
A disease kills most of the plants in an ecosystem. Predict a two-step ripple effect involving consumers.
Answers will vary. Example: Plant populations decrease → plant-eating consumers have less food → their populations may decrease → consumers that eat those animals may then have less food.