SC.912.L.17.9 Made by Janice Garcia E.O.C Review

Producers Producers get their energy from the sun through a process called Photosynthesis. Plants take the sunlight and use its energy to make sugar. The plant uses this sugar, also called glucose to make many things, such as wood, leaves, roots, and bark. Oxygen is also produced by the plant in this cycle, which is then let off into the air

Photosynthesis

Consumers Animals are called consumers because they can not make their own food, instead they eat other organisms. There are 3 consumers --PRIMARY CONSUMER --SECONDARY CONSUMER --TERTIARY CONSUMER

Primary Consumers Primary consumers feed directly upon primary producers to obtain their nutrients and energy. This group of organisms includes familiar grazers such as cattle, horses and zebras. Example: Grass is a producer. A dear is a Primary consumer. The dear eats the grass (producer).

Tertiary Consumer A carnivore at the top level in a food chain that feeds on other carnivores or an animal that feeds only on secondary consumers and producers. Tertiary consumers are mostly on the highest level of a food chain. Some examples includes, lions, hawks and even humans.

Decomposers Decomposers break down dead plants and animals. They break down the waste of other organisms. Decomposers are very important for ecosystems because if they weren't in the ecosystem, the plants would not get essential nutrients, and dead matter and waste would pile up. Worms, molds, fungus, bacteria, and actinobacteria are some general categories of decomposers.

Trophic levels are the feeding position in a food chain such as primary producers, herbivore, primary carnivore, etc. Plants form the first trophic level, the producers. Herbivores form the second trophic level, while carnivores form the third and even the fourth trophic levels. The feeding of one organism upon another in a sequence of food transfers is known as a food chain. In an ecosystem there are many different food chains and many of these are cross-linked to form a food web. There are 3 types of ecological pyramids. - Number pyramid -Biomass pyramid -Energy pyramid

Energy Flow Chart

The Water Cycle The water cycle is made up of different parts -evaporation (and transpiration) -condensation -precipitation -collection EVAPORATION -Evaporation is when the sun heats up water in oceans or other water sources and turns it into vapor. The water vapor or leaves the river, lake or ocean and goes into the air. CONDENSATION -Water vapor in the air gets cold and changes back into liquid, forming clouds. This is called condensation.

PRECIPIATION -Precipitation occurs when so much water has condensed that the air cannot hold anymore. The clouds get heavy and water falls back to the earth as rain, hail, sleet or snow. COLLECTION - When water falls back to earth as precipitation, it may fall back in the oceans, lakes or rivers or it may end up on land. When it ends up on land, it will either soak into the earth and become part of the “ground water” that plants and animals use to drink. The cycle starts all over again.

Carbon Cycle Carbon is a part of the ocean, air, rocks and even living things. Carbon is attached to some oxygen in a gas called carbon dioxide. Plants use carbon dioxide and sunlight to make their own food and grow. Plants that die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made of carbon like coal and oil over millions of years. fossil fuels When humans burn fossil fuels, most of the carbon quickly enters the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.

Carbon Cycle Chart

Energy in Joules Joules is a measure of energy. It measures heat, electricity and mechanical work. It was named after English physicist James Prescott Joule. The joule is a unit equivalent to a Newton-meter, or a kilogram-meter squared per second per second.