Matter & Energy Flow S

Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.

Energy is the ability to do work or cause change.

Primary consumers are organisms that eat producers (plants) for energy, such as rabbits and mice.

An ecologist studies relationships among living things and their environment.

The sun is the primary source of energy for all ecosystems.

Trophic levels are the different levels in a food chain, representing the flow of energy from producers to consumers.

Energy is lost as heat and not all energy is passed to the next trophic level.

Decomposers are organisms that break down dead material and recycle nutrients back into the ecosystem.

A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as one organism eats another.

A food web is a complex network of interconnected food chains in an ecosystem.