Vocabulary
What is a producer?
an organism that makes its own food (usually using sunlight)
What is the food chain
model that shows how energy moves from one organism to another
What is a food web?
a group of connected food chains
What is an energy pyramid?
a diagram that shows how energy moves through trophic levels
What role do decomposers play?
recycling nutrients back into the ecosystem
What is a consumer?
An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms
What organism usually starts a food chain
Producer
Why are food webs more realistic than food chains?
because organisms eat many different things
Which level has the most energy?
Producers
Give an example of a producer.
grass, plants, or algae
What is a decomposer?
An organism that breaks down dead organisms and waste
In a food chain: grass → rabbit → fox, what is the rabbit?
Consumer
What type of organism eats plants and animals?
Omnivore
What level is directly above producers?
Primary consumers
Give an example of a decomposer
Fungi or bacteria
What is an ecosystem?
A community of living and nonliving things interacting in an area
What happens to energy as it moves up a food chain?
Energy decrease at each level
What happens if one organism disappears from a food web?
It can affect other many other organisms
Why do higher levels have less energy?
Energy is lost as heat and used for life processes
Why are ecosystems balanced?
organisms depend on each other for survival
What is a role in an ecosystem?
The job or function an organism has in its environment
Why are producers important in a food chain?
they provide the original source of energy for other organisms
What does a food web show about ecosystems?
how organisms depend on each other for energy
Why are there fewer predators than plants?
there is less energy available at higher levels
What would happen if decomposers disappeared?
dead organisms would build up and nutrients would not return to the soil