Vocabulary
Organisms that make their own food and release oxygen
Producers
Do plants eat soil? True of False.
False.
Plants take IN nutrients from the soil and air. They use the energy from the sun to make their own food. Plants also need water.
Where do producers get their energy from?
The Sun
What are three kinds of decomposers?
worms, mushrooms, mold, fungi
Would a carnivore go extinct without the sun?
Yes, because they get their energy from the sun. Even though carnivores do not produce their own food or eat plants, the organisms they do eat get their energy from plants, which get their energy from the sun.
EVERYTHING CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE SUN. :)
What is a consumer? What is their role in an ecosystem?
Animals and humans are consumers. Consumers give off carbon dioxide that plants need to produce their own food and release oxygen.
Plants take in _________ from the air and release ______________ back into the air.
Plants take in CARBON DIOXIDE from the air and release OXYGEN back into the air.
What do the arrows in a food web represent?
The transfer or flow of energy between organisms.
Ex: A squirrel eats acorns from an oak tree.
So, we would draw an arrow from the oak tree to the squirrel.
Decomposers are important in the food chain because they....
Break down dead organisms and recycle nutrients into the soil.
All the living and non-living things in a specific area
Ecosystem
Where does all of the energy in an ecosystem come from?
The sun
This would happen if you put tape on the stomata on the leaves of plants
It would die because it isn't getting air.
In an ecosystem, how are food webs and food chains different?
Food webs show the relationship between many different food chains in a single ecosystem.
How do you know mold is a decomposer from our experiment?
The food got smaller and/or disappeared
Carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores are all examples of what?
Consumers
Define nutrients
Things needed for an organism to grow and be healthy
The main thing plants use to grow
Air. A plant cannot grow without air. It needs the carbon dioxide from the air in order to grow.
What would cause the predator population of an ecosystem to increase?
An increase in prey populations
Why do you have to clean a fish tank but not a pond?
A fish tank doesn't have decomposers to break down waste or plants to produce oxygen, so you need a filter and a bubbler.
What is competition in an ecosystem?
Where organisms fight for available resources.
Ex: Crickets and earthworms are both decomposers who eat dead leaves. They are in competition with each other.
organisms that break down waste and dead material into nutrients for plants
decomposers
Why are decomposers important for plants?
Decomposers break down dead plants and animals. This releases carbon dioxide into the air that plants need to grow. This also releases nutrients back into the soil.
Which pair of organisms needs to switch places in order for this ocean food chain to be correct?
Kelp-->Shark-->Fish-->Seal-->Plankton
Shark and Plankton
What does a robin eat in a food chain?
A. dead leaves
B. squirrels and hawks
C. worms and crickets
D. acorns from an oak tree
C. Worms and crickets
Our class releases a bunch of robins in an ecosystem as an experiment. Robins love to eat worms and crickets. What will happen to this ecosystem when the robins start living there?
Dead leaves will pile up because the robins will eat all of the decomposers in the ecosystem.
Remember, crickets and worms are decomposers. Without them, dead leaves will pile up.