1. Vocabulary
Producers: organisms that use sunlight to make the food they need from carbon dioxide and water
Consumers: all organisms in an ecosystem that eat to get the energy they need
Decomposers: consumers that break down the tissues of dead organisms

2. Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Abiotic: a non-living organism
Biotic: a living organism
‘A’ = not
‘Bio’ = living

3. Venn Diagram Abiotic Biotic -Water -Glass -Sand -Plastic -Dirt -Gold
-Oxygen -Rocks
-Temperature
-Clouds
-Whale -Coral
-Mushroom
-Snail -Paper
-Trees -Steak
-Mold -Hair
-Grapes
-Athlete’s Foot
-Salad -Grass
Desert
Tundra
Ocean

4. Comprehending
1. If all of the rocks ( A ) are removed from a desert ecosystem, what would happen to the population of rock dwelling lizards ( B ) and in turn the animals which eat them?
2. A ten mile area of trees ( B ) is removed from the tropical rainforest. How will this affect the amount of water ( A ) and the amount of oxygen ( A ) in the area?

5. Producers A Producer is a living thing that makes its own food.
Plants, grasses, shrubs, and trees are examples of producers.
Other examples include algae and bacteria.
Plants use the energy in sunlight to make or produce their own food.

6. Consumers Animals and people can’t produce their own food.
A Consumer is a living thing that gets energy by eating other living things.
All animals are consumers.

7. Consumers Continued There are three types of consumers
Herbivores: consumers that eat only or mostly plants.
Mice, rabbits, deer, and insects.
Carnivores: consumers that eat only or mostly animals.
Sharks, walruses, cats, lions, foxes
Omnivores: consumers that eat both plants and animals.
Pigs, bears, raccoons, and humans.

8. Decomposers Living things give off waste material.
A decomposer is a living thing that gets energy by breaking down wastes and dead plants and animals.
Decomposers break the material down into simpler materials which become part of the soil that helps plants grow.
Examples: bacteria and fungi such as mushrooms.

9. The Flow of Energy in Ecosystems

10. Food Chains
A food chain is a model that shows the path of energy from one living thing to the next.
If one kind of organism is removed from this food chain, all the other organisms in the food chain will be affected.

11. Food Web
A food chain shows the flow of energy from one living thing to the next.
Several food chains connect to form a food web.
Food Chains and Webs - Brain Pop

12. Example of a Food Web

13. Energy Pyramids Energy moves through ecosystems.
It goes from small animals to big animals to the biggest animals.
As each animal eats it stores only the energy it gets from the plant or animal it eats.
The bottom level always contains producers and holds the most energy.

14. Energy Pyramids Continued
Each higher level contains less energy and fewer living things.
The carnivores are at the top of the energy pyramid and contain least amount of energy.

15. Energy Pyramids
Each level is reduced
by 10 %.