Green Book Chap 2:1-2:2

Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem

Quiz GB 2:1-2:2Total of 36 points

25 or more points = 24 or less points =

GB 2:1-2:2

(10) Organisms can be placed into three energy roles in an ecosystem. They are:

ProducersConsumers

Decomposers

(1)PRODUCER:

An organism that makes its own food.

Producers use most of the energy they make for

themselves.

•(11) Energy first enters most ecosystems as SUNLIGHT

•Photosynthesis is how producers makes its own food.

(12) The Equation for Photosynthesis:

6CO2 + 6H2O + sunlight(& chlorophyll) C6H12O6 + 6O2

• The chemical reaction by which green plants use water and carbon dioxide and light from the sun to make glucose.

• ENERGY is stored in glucose; glucose is stored as starch.

The energy that is not used by producers can be passed on to

organisms that cannot make their own energy.

Organisms that cannot make their own energy are called

CONSUMERS.

(2) Consumers are organisms that obtains energy by feeding on

other organisms

Consumers that eat producers to get energy:

• Are first-level or primary consumers

• Are herbivores (plant-eaters)

Most of the energy the first-level consumer gets from the producer

is used by the consumer.

Some of the energy (about 90%) moves into the atmosphere as

heat through life processes of the consumers.

Some energy in the first-level consumer is not lost to the atmosphere or used by the

consumer itself.

This energy is available for another consumer.

A consumer that eats another consumer for energy:

• Is called a secondary or second-level consumer

• May be a carnivore (meat eater) or a herbivore

• May be a predator

• May be a scavenger

Most of the energy the second-level consumer gets from the

first-level consumer is used by the second-level consumer.

Some of the energy is lost as heat, but some energy is stored and can passed on to another consumer.

A consumer that eats a consumer that already ate a consumer:

• Is called a third-level consumer

• May be a carnivore or a herbivore

• May be a predator• May be a scavenger

Consumers that eat producers & other consumers

• Are called omnivores• Omnivores eat plants

and animals

Consumers that hunt & kill other consumers are called predators.They animals that are hunted &

killed are called prey.

Consumers that eat other consumers that have already died are called scavengers.

(4) Scavengers are carnivores that feeds on the bodies of dead

organisms.

If there were only producers and consumers all of the dead organisms would pile up all over the planet. These dead organisms, and living organisms' waste, is removed from the ecosystems by Decomposers.

(3) Decomposers are organisms that break down wastes and dead organisms and return the raw

materials to the environment.

Decomposers: - bacteria- Fungi (mold & mushrooms)

The transfer of energy from sun to producer to first-level consumer to second-level consumer to third-level consumer can be shown in a FOOD

CHAIN.

(5)A Food Chain is a series of events in which one

organism eats another and obtains energy.

Another way of showing the transfer of energy in an ecosystem is the

ENERGY PYRAMID.

(14) The most energy is available at the producer level. At each level in the

pyramid, there is less available energy than at the level below.

Energy pyramids show • That the amount of available energy

decreases down the food chain• (13) 90% of energy is used for an

organism's life process or put into the environment. That means only 10% of the energy is stored.

• It takes a large number of producers to support a small number of primary consumers

• It takes a large number of primary consumers to support a small number of secondary consumers

Food Webs:• (6) Consists of the

many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.

• They show the feeding relationships in an ecosystem

Recycling Matter:Matter in an ecosystem is limited. If matter could not be recycled, ecosystems would

quickly run out of the raw materials necessary for life.

(15) Matter is made up of tiny particles called atoms.

Some important matter that is recycled within an ecosystem are:

- Water- Carbon- Nitrogen

(7) The Water Cycle is the continuous process by which water moves from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back.

(19) The three processes that occur during the water cycle are:Evaporation - Condensation - Precipitation

Draw The Water Cycle!

Check out the Water Cycle@BrainPop

Carbon is important because it is the building block for the matter that makes up the bodies of

living things. (16)Carbon is used by Producers, is in the air as Carbon Dioxide, and is the Building Block of life

The Carbon and Oxygen Cycles:

Check out the Carbon Cycle@BrainPop

The Nitrogen Cycle

(17) Like carbon nitrogen is a necessary building block in the matter that makes up

living things.

(8) Nitrogen Fixation is the process of changing free nitrogen gas into a usable form of

nitrogen.(18) Most nitrogen fixation is performed by by

certain kinds of bacteria.(9) Nodules are bumps on the roots of certain

plants where these bacteria live.

Check out the Nitrogen Cycle@BrainPop