Vocab
A sequence of living things in which each one feeds on the living thing below it.
Food chain
A living thing that helps break down dead and decaying matter. Some familiar ones are mushrooms, mold and yeast.
Fungi
A model made of intersecting food chains.
Food web
A living thing that is no longer found alive anywhere on Earth today.
Extinct
A living thing (almost always a plant) that takes energy from the sun and makes its own food. They are found in the first level of a food web.
Producer
Usually made by gathering plant material such as leaves and vegetable peels into a pile and letting it decompose over many months thanks to bacteria and fungi. The resulting substance can be used as a fertilizer for plants
Compost
Living things that break down dead and decaying organisms. The most common are bacteria and fungi.
Decomposer
A process by which plants use sunlight to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water
Photosynthesis
Tiny living things that are everywhere around us. We can only see them with a very powerful microscope. They come in different shapes such as rods, spirals, and spheres. They are important in an ecosystem to break down dead and decaying matter
Bacteria
An animal found at the top of a food web and is not eaten by any other animals. Examples include sharks, owls and lions
Apex Predator