Science A
Plants use _________ and air to make their own food.
water
A mixture of plant and animal remains, clay, and rock particles
Soil
Plants absorb _______________________ from the air and combine it with water to produce their own food in a process called photosynthesis.
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide gas moves from the atmosphere and into living things as part of what process?
Plants producing food.
Animals release a _____ into the air that plants use to make their own food.
gas
An organism that is very small and cannot be seen without the help of a microscope
Microbe
At each level of a food web, _______________ is released from living organisms back into the environment as waste.
Energy
What is the role of a decomposer?
They return nutrients back into the soil from dead organisms.
A _____ bin is one way to observe the process of decomposition in our homes and classrooms.
compost
A substance that is necessary for growth and survival
Nutrients
A(n) ___________________ can be described in terms of its components
Liquid water is moved from living things to the environment when animals __________.
Urinate
Decomposers are important in the nitrogen cycle. _______ is one example of a type of decomposer.
Bacteria.
Anything that has mass and takes up space
_________________ flows with interactions in an ecosystem.
How does the decomposition of a fallen tree contribute to the health of a forest?
As the tree decays, nutrients cycle to other organisms.
Bacteria break down _______ organisms or the waste of organisms and return them to the soil as _______.
dead, nutrients
Describe how bacteria helps cycle matter.
Bacteria breaks down dead organisms or waste products of living organisms and releases them back into the soil. The matter is then used by plants and animals.
How is the cycling of matter related and different to how energy interacts in an ecosystem?
Both food chains and matter cycles are passed between organisms. Both food chains and matter cycles make ecosystems possible. Food chains have a starting point (the Sun) and matter cycles have no beginning point. Matter cycles don’t have to exist in only organisms, but can be found in the atmosphere or soil.)
Matter moves directly from plants to animals when plants are eaten by animals. Matter also moves from plants to animals indirectly through _________.
air