Unit 1, Lesson 4: What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?
How do decomposers recycle in nature? (this will be your paragraph answer)
Example: 1. Fungus mushrooms break down dead material into soil through digestive juices. 2. Nutrients in the soil are used by plants such as grass. 3. The grass can become food for a deer. 4. The deer will die and fungus will break sown the dead body. 5. The cycle will repeat.
What are 2 types of decomposers?
Fungi and Bacteria
What happens to the digested material that a large fungi doesn't use (large mushroom)?
The leftovers remain as soil.
Decomposer
an organism that breaks down dead material
Mold fungi can store extra food as _____________ for a short period of time.
sugar
What living organism helps decomposers?
Earthworms help decomposers by breaking down dead material into smaller chunks decomposers can digest with their digestive juicies.
Can fungus such as mold store food for a long period of time?
No
Where do all the wastes that decomposer make go to?
Their waste (CO2, soil, and their own dead bodies), return to the air, soil, and water of an ecosystem where they can be used by other living things.
Where do decomposers get energy from?
They get energy from the dead matter or wastes that they decompose and eat. The dead material is their food.
How do fungi digest dead material?
They make digest juices and put them outside their bodies to digest the dead material. They suck some of the digested material back in and leave what they don't need as soil.
What is compost?
a mixture of soil (which have decomposers such as fungi mushrooms) and decaying matter (non-living fruits and vegetables)
What are some wastes that decomposers make?
carbon dioxide gas (when they break down food), soil (when the digest food with their digestive juices), and their dead body when they die
What matter do decomposers break down?
dead plants, dead animals, and their wastes
What are the 3 types of fungi?
large fungi or large mushrooms, small fungi or mold, and yeast
