Producers, Consumers & Decomposers By: Cammie’s Corner

Producers, Consumers and Decomposers You probably know that you get energy from the food you eat. You might be surprised to learn that all the food energy on Earth comes from the sun. Without the sun, every living thing on Earth would go hungry. Nothing would survive. All living things are divided into three main groups: producers, consumers, and decomposers.

Parts of an Ecosystem trees flowers grasses bacteria An ecosystem is made up of all the living and nonliving things in a certain area. Some living parts of an ecosystem are plants: trees flowers grasses bacteria

Other living parts are animals: Birds Insects humans

Water Sunlight Soil Rocks Minerals air The nonliving parts of an ecosystem include: Water Sunlight Soil Rocks Minerals air

Nonliving parts also include conditions such as: Temperature amount of rainfall amount of sunlight

All the living things in an ecosystem depend on each other. Living things also depend on many of the nonliving things around them. All the parts work together to keep the ecosystem in balance.

A habitat is a home, or the place where a certain kind of living things spend its life. An ecosystem is made up of many habitats. An ecosystem can be big or small. It can be as big as a whole forest or lake. It can also be as small as a rotting log or the space under a rock

Producers Plants are called producers because they use the energy in sunlight to make, or produce, their own food. A producer is a living thing that makes it’s own food. Each producer uses sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide from the air to make food

Did you know. Producers give us oxygen to breathe Did you know? Producers give us oxygen to breathe. When producers use sunlight to make food, they give off oxygen. That puts oxygen we need into the air.

Most producers are plants: Grasses Shrubs trees other producers: Algae bacteria

Consumers Animals including people cannot produce their own food. People can cook and eat food, but they cannot produce food from sunlight, as plants can. The word consumer means “to eat”. When you eat a food, you consume it. A consumer is a living thing that gets energy by eating other living things.

All animals are consumers. There are three main types of consumers: Herbivores: consumers that eat only or mostly plants. Because plants, trees, and shrubs make their own food, herbivores get energy from eating these producers. Mice, rabbits, deer and many insects, cows, zebras, and elephants are also herbivores.

Carnivores: eat only or mostly animals. In the ocean, sharks, walruses, seals and octopuses are common carnivores. On land, carnivores include cats, foxes, hawks, lions, wolves, and eagles.

Omnivores: eat both plants and animals. Pigs, bears, raccoons, and humans

Decomposers Sooner or later, all living things die. Some living things cause dead plants and animals to decay, or rot away. A decomposer is a living thing that gets energy by breaking down material from dead plants and animals.

Decomposers break the material down into tiny pieces that become part of soil. They add nutrients to the soil. Nutrients are things that help plants grow. Bacteria, molds, and some mushrooms are decomposers. Earthworms are both decomposers and consumers.

Discussion Question: Think of a forest with trees, moss, foxes, squirrels, robins, mice, hawks, mushrooms, and mold. Identify the role of each living thing. Is it a producer, consumer or decomposer?

Producer consumer consumer consumer consumer consumer decomposer decomposer