7.

5C diagram the flow of energy through living systems, including food chains, food webs, and energy
pyramid

THURSDAY, 2/4/16

You need:
-Journal
-Pen/Pencil
*RETEST
TOMORROW
OVER CYCLING
OF MATTER!*

Warm-Up:
In your
journal
Describe the
role(s) the
snake is
playing in this
food web

MATTER AND ENERGY IN

ECOSYSTEMS

ENERGY FLOWS THROUGH AN

ECOSYSTEM
Energy comes in as sunlight
Passed along food chains from producer to consumer
Some is lost as heat
Energy does NOT cycle!

HOW DOES ENERGY ENTER AN ECOSYSTEM?

Producers/Autotrophs- Living things that make their own food.
Most use photosynthesis to make their food.

CONSUMERS/HETEROTROPHS-

ORGANISMS THAT GET THEIR ENERGY BY

CONSUMING OTHER ORGANISMS.
Type of Consumer

What it Does

Herbivore

feeds only on producers

Carnivore

eats other animals

Omnivore

eats producers and other

consumers

Decomposer

feeds on the remains of organisms

and helps decompose them

FOOD CHAINS
A model that shows how energy flows in an
ecosystems through feeding relationships
The arrows point in the direction that energy is being
passed

FOOD WEBS
Used to show how food chains in a community are
interconnected.

ENERGY PYRAMID
Energy Pyramid- A model used to show the amount of
energy available in each step of a food chain.

TROPHIC LEVEL- STEPS OF AN

ENERGY PYRAMID
10% of the energy
available at one trophic level
transfers to the next trophic
level.

Producers have the most

energy and the largest
population size.

HOW DOES MATTER MOVE IN ECOSYSTEMS?

We now know that decomposers play an important role in
returning nutrients to the ecosystem.

HOW DOES MATTER MOVE IN ECOSYSTEMS?

Matter cycles through ecosystems. It is used over and
over again.
Law of Conservation of Matter:
What goes in must come out! Nothing is created or
destroyed, it is just recycled.

WATER CYCLE
Water covers about 70% of Earths surface
Water continually cycles from Earth to the atmosphere
and back again.

NITROGEN CYCLE
The atmosphere is mainly
nitrogen. Nitrogen cycles
between the Earth and the
atmosphere.
nitrogen fixation- the process
that changes atmospheric
nitrogen into nitrogen
compounds that are usable
by living things

CARBON CYCLE
Every living thing
contains carbon (organic)
Carbon cycles through
ecosystems

COMPOSTING IS A CYCLE!
Compost- Combination of
biomass and organic material
that decays naturally.
Compost bins might include:
Soil, grass clippings, kitchen
scraps, newspaper, etc.

RETEST TOMORROW!
REVIEW due at the start of class