Unit 1.1: Role of Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers in an Ecosystem

How Fungi Digest Food:

1. Typically, fungi release digestive juices into the dead material they are growing in and the dead material is broken down into simple materials. 2. The simple materials are taken into the fungus for survival. 3. Leftover matter enters soil and air, becoming a nonliving part of the ecosystem.

Organism

Any living thing.

What is an organism?

Any living thing.

What does the flower do for the plant?

Flowers are the reproductive part of most plants. It contains pollen and eggs. It develops into a fruit.

Digestive Juices

Fungi use this to digest dead materials.

Sugar

This is what fungi store excess food as.

Dead or Dormant Bacteria

This is what happens to bacteria that does not have access to enough food.

Emergent Layer

Top layer, which is at the top of the tallest trees and very sunny. Butterflies, eagles, parrots, and bugs are found here.

Mouth, Stomach, Small Intestine, Large Intestine

What are the four parts of digestion?

Solid Waste, Carbon Dioxide, Dead Animals

What are the three types of wastes created by consumers?

Oxygen

A gas found in air that is produced as waste during photosynthesis.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

A gas found in the air that is used to make food by photosynthesis.

Methane

A gas made by some bacteria when they break down material, which is dangerous because it is poisonous and flammable.

Molds

A group of small fungi that get energy by breaking down food.

Composting

A mixture of soil and decaying matter that provides materials plants need.

What is photosynthesis?

A process that most plants use to make their own food. Plants use energy from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make sugar, which they use as food. They also produce oxygen as a waste product, which they release into the air.

Gills

A structure that some animals have that lets them get air underwater.

Sun

All energy that humans use was once energy from what?

Ecosystem

All living and nonliving things that interact with each other in a given area.

Soil, Water, Air

All the wastes from decomposers are released into the nonliving parts of the ecosystem.

Tropical Rainforest

An ecosystem near the equator that is warm and humid.

Decomposer

An organism that breaks down dead organisms and their wastes.

Consumer

An organism that gets energy by eating other organisms.

Dormant

An organism that is still alive but is not growing or developing.

Producer

An organism that makes its own food.

Waste Materials

Decomposers produces this from the food they digest, when they move, and when they grow.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Decomposers produces this when they break down food to release energy.

Dead Plants, Dead Animals, and Their Wastes

Decomposers use these things to live and grow.

Animals

Eat smaller organisms than themselves. EX: Fish eat insects and smaller fish, ducks eat duckweed, turtles eat insects, water birds eat fish.

Mammals

Group of animals that nourish their young with milk.

Fish and Tadpoles

Have gills.

Wastes from Decomposing Matter

Help plants grow by taking up the nutrients from the soil. They use the waste materials as nutrients, recycling them.

Sunlight

Helps maintain the temperature of the pond and air for the organisms.

Sugar and Fat

How do consumers store excess food? Consumers need to be able to store extra food so they have energy and matter available when they are unable to eat. Examples: 1. Birds use the fat during migration. 2. Whales use blubber during migration. 3. Bears use fat for hibernation.

Breathe, Move, Sleep

Humans use the energy they consume when they...

Female Fish

Lay eggs in cattails and they live there until they can hatch and survive on their own.

Water Lilies

Leaves sit above the water to get sunlight and air, while the roots take in nutrients from the mud.

Nutrients

Like food, but does not give energy and is found in soil.

Canopy

More light can be found here and contains life. Plants grow toward top layer and insects, colorful birds, and monkeys can be found here.

Where do producers store excess food?

Most plants store food in their stems, roots, or bulb. Most food is used immediately by the producer. However, some food is stored when plants cannot perform photosynthesis (nighttime or no leaves in the winter).

Active Bacteria

Must be surrounded by food sources because they cannot store excess food.

Fungi

One group of living things that are neither plant nor animal. EX: Mushroom

Bacteria

One group of organisms that are too small to be seen without a microscope.

Nonliving Things

Organisms rely on these to survive.

What do the leaves do for the plant?

Plant's leaves have tiny openings to take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen in the air. The leaves capture sunlight by chlorophyll, which is the green substance found in the leaves and other parts of the plant.

Algae

Plantlike organism that sits on the surface of the water.

Pond Plants

Rely on nonliving things like water, sun light, soil, nutrients and air.

Ecologists

Scientists who study relationships between organisms and environments.

Pond Ecosystem

Small body of freshwater found in natural areas, on farms, or in city parks.

Examples of Nonliving Things

Soil, water, air, and sunlight.

Compost Piles

Systems of decaying organisms, soil, and decomposers.

Forest Floor

The bottom layer, which includes earthworms, beetles, snakes, jaguar.

Mouth

The digestive process breaks down food into simple materials. Where does digestion begin?

stomach

The first step in digestion is the mouth, then food get broken down by digestive juices in the...

Food Chain

The human eats the cow (steak) for energy, the cow ate the grass (producer) for energy, the grass got its energy from the sun. This is an example of a...

Understory

The layer of the rainforest with little, which requires plants to have big leaves to catch it. Birds, snakes, mammals, and lizards can be found here.

Circulation

The process of moving blood in a large, complicated loop through the body.

Digestion

The process that breaks down food into simple materials that an animal's body can use.

Photosynthesis

The process that producers use to make food using sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make sugar, which they use as food. They also produce oxygen as a waste product, which they release into the air.

What do the roots do for the plant?

The roots absorb or take in water and nutrients from the ground. It also holds the plant in place.

What does the stem do for the plant?

The stem supports the plant. The stem transports or carries the sugar (glucose) they make, and the water and nutrients from the roots to other plant parts.

Ecology

The study of how living and nonliving things interact in their environments.

Grow, Repair, Move, Keep warm.

What do consumers use the materials and energy from food to do?

Air, Soil, and Water.

What happens to all these wastes? All wastes become part of the nonliving things in an ecosystem.*All matter is recycled in an ecosystem and used by other living organisms.

Bloodstream

Where does the circulatory system carry digested food through?

What captures the energy in the sun?

chlorophyll

Plants grow quickly in the rainforest because...

it has lots of water and sunlight.

What type of matter do plants need to make their own food?

water and CO2.