Photosynthesis
Left side (before the arrow) in a chemical equation.
What is reactants
What do we call organisms that cannot make their own food?
consumers
What do the arrows in a food chain show?
It shows the direction of the flow of energy.
What is it called when organisms struggle for food, water, and other needs?
competition
The first layer of the energy pyramid
producers
This reactant of photosynthesis enters the plant from the air through pores in the leaves.
What is carbon dioxide
The energy passes from one organism to another in this: _______.
food chain
Are food chains always long?
No, they can be short.
For example, leaves --> caterpillar --> caterpillar dies before being eaten by a bird.
In food webs, organisms are often ___, as well as ___.
predators, prey
The top layer of the energy pyramid
What is apex consumer/ tertiary consumer
This product of photosynthesis is the simplest carbohydrate and provides the plant cells with chemical energy.
What is glucose
What do we call organisms that break down dead producers, consumers, and waste?
decomposers
Why are decomposers left out of food chain diagrams?
They take part in every step of the food chain.
What happens if there is too much competition for food?
One population would win out and others would die out.
Energy obtained from eating another organism
What is heterotroph
Cellular respiration occurs in this cell part.
What is mitochondria
What shows how all the food chains in an ecosystem are connected?
food web
** Which is true?
1. The energy in a food chain passes from consumers to producers.
2. The energy in a food chain passes from producers to consumers.
2. The energy in a food web passes from producers to consumers.
** What can happen if there are too many organisms in a food web?
competition
** How much of a plant's energy passes to the next level animal, the herbivore?
10%
This product of photosynthesis is considered a waste because it doesn't contribute to the production of glucose or the growth of the plant.
What is oxygen
** Why is the job of decomposers important for the ecosystem?
They return substances to the ecosystem as nutrients.
** What happens to the plants and animals when they die?
Decomposers break them down.
** Is it only animals that compete?
Do plants compete?
Yes, they compete for nutrients in the soil and sunlight.
** Where does the rest of the energy in the energy pyramid go, if not to the animals?
Some is lost as heat, and some is passed as waste.