Producers, Consumers and Decomposers All organisms in an ecosystem need energy to live. Organisms...
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Producers, Consumers and Decomposers All organisms in an ecosystem need energy to live. Organisms can be grouped by how they get energy. Organisms in an
Producers, Consumers and Decomposers All organisms in an
ecosystem need energy to live. Organisms can be grouped by how they
get energy. Organisms in an ecosystem are grouped as producers,
consumers, or decomposers.
Slide 2
You get your energy from the food you eat. ALL the food energy
on Earth comes from the sun. Without the sun everything on Earth
would go hungry and die in time.
Slide 3
Living Things Living things are divided into 3 main groups:
Producers Consumers Decomposers Each group has a certain role, or
part to play which is their niche. By the end of this lesson you
will find out what group you belong to.
Slide 4
Producers Plants use the energy in sunlight to make, or PRODUCE
their own food, so they are called PRODUCERS. Animals including
people cannot produce their own food. You can make yourself a
PB&J. However, the bread is coming from a bag and the peanut
butter is coming from a jar.
Slide 5
Example of Producers
Slide 6
Consumers Consumer means eat. As you gobble up your PB&J
you are consuming it. As a result, you and ALL animals are
consumers. Some consumers, such as grasshoppers, eat plants. Other
consumers, such as birds, eat the grasshoppers. Then larger
consumers, such as a hawk, eat the birds.
Slide 7
Examples of Consumers
Slide 8
Consumers Some organisms must get energy by eating other
organisms. These organisms are called consumers. Consumers can be
organized into three groups: herbivores, carnivores, and
omnivores.
Slide 9
Herbivores Herbivores are consumers that eat only plants. Since
plants, trees, and shrubs make their own food, herbivores get
energy from eating these producers. In a forest ecosystem, deer and
rabbits are common herbivores. In a savannah ecosystem in Africa,
zebras and elephants are common herbivores.
Slide 10
Carnivores Carnivores are consumers that eat only other
animals. In marine ecosystems, sharks, walruses, seals, and
octopuses are common carnivores. In land ecosystems, lions, wolves,
hawks, and eagles are common carnivores. Some carnivores are called
scavengers. These carnivores eat animals that are already dead.
Most of the time, scavengers eat leftovers from other carnivores.
One example of a scavenger is a vulture.
Slide 11
Omnivores Omnivores are consumers that eat both plants and
animals. Since they can eat a variety of organisms, omnivores can
easily adapt to changing environments. Pigs, bears, raccoons, and
humans are examples of omnivores. Organisms such as fungi and
bacteria get energy in a different way than producers or consumers.
These organisms, called decomposers, get energy by breaking down
nutrients in dead organisms. As they break down the nutrients,
decomposers produce simple products such as water and carbon
dioxide. These products are returned to the ecosystem for other
organisms to use. Decomposers are very important because they
return nutrients and products to the ecosystem. One way to think of
decomposers is as recyclers. Termites and earthworms are examples
of decomposers.
Slide 12
Decomposers Sooner or later ALL living things DIE! What if they
did not decay, or rot away? Imagine what the Earth would look
like?
Slide 13
Decomposers Thankfully living things called decomposers cause
dead plants and animals to decay. Decomposers break dead things
into tiny pieces. These pieces become food in the soil to help more
plants grow.
Slide 14
Examples of Decomposers Mushrooms Earthworms Mold Tiny
algae
Slide 15
Land and Water Producers, consumers, and decomposers live both
on land and in the water. Tiny algae in a pond are producers. The
tadpoles that eat the algae are consumers. The bigger fish that eat
the minnows are also consumers. Worms and insects living in the mud
at the bottom of the pond are decomposers. v
Slide 16
What is a food chain? A food chain is a sequence of organisms,
each of which uses the next, lower member of the sequence as a food
source
Slide 17
What is a food web? A food web is an interlocking pattern of
food chains
Slide 18
Energy Pyramid An energy pyramid shows the amount of energy at
each level of a food web.
Slide 19
Discussion Question Think of a forest with foxes, squirrels,
birds, mice, mushrooms, and mold. Identify the role of each living
thing. Is it a producer, consumer, or decomposer?