1. FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS 1
YEAR 7 SCIENCE

2. CLASSIFYING ORGANISMS
Species can be classified according to their method of nutrition:
Producers = make food
Consumers = eat food 2

3. PRODUCERS Make their own food
They do this by using light energy from the Sun, carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to produce food - in the form of organic molecules like glucose.
The process is called photosynthesis.
eg. plants, algae, some bacteria

5. CONSUMERS Cannot make their own food
They need to consume (eat) plants and/or animals.
There are different groups of consumers:
Animals that eat only plants.
Animals that eat only animals.
Animals that eat both animals AND plants.

9. CONSUMERS Some organisms are specialist feeders
This means that they eat only one type of food
eg.
Nectivore – eats nectar
Insectivore – eats insects
Frugivore – eats fruit
Folivore – eats leaves (eg. Koalas only eat eucalyptus leaves)

10. EAT OR BE EATEN? Species can also be classified to whether they are:
predators
prey
Eyes on the SIDE, HIDE
Eyes on the FRONT, HUNT 10

11. Feeding types

12. WAYS TO CLASSIFY ORGANISMS
There are lots of ways to classify organisms: For example:
Producer vs consumer
Herbivore vs carnivore vs omnivore
Predator vs prey
Heterotroph vs autotroph
Consuming dead vs alive organisms
Digesting dead things inside vs outside 12

13. MAKE IT OR EAT IT?
Species can be classified according to their method of nutrition:
Autotrophs
heterotrophs
However, a few species have both methods. 13

14. MAKE IT OR EAT IT? Autotroph: Heterotroph:
An organism that makes its own organic molecules (food) using photosynthesis
Heterotroph:
An organism that needs to obtain its organic molecules from other organisms
Needs to INGEST and DIGEST their food 14

15. AUTOTROPH EXCEPTIONS Sundew plants Sacoglossan sea slugs
are carnivorous plants
are autotrophic but they "hunt" for insects to get additional nutrients,
Sacoglossan sea slugs
are heterotrophic
perform kleptoplasty to capture intact, functional chloroplasts from their algal food sources to be able to photosynthesise 15

16. DECOMPOSERS Bacteria and fungi are consumers called decomposers.
They eat decaying matter - dead plants and animals and in the process they break them down and decompose them.
When that happens, they release nutrients and mineral salts back into the soil - which then will be used by plants!

18. DECOMPOSERS There are 2 groups of decomposers: Detritivores
Decompose and digest their food inside their body
Saprotrophs
Animals that decompose their food outside the body and then ingest it