Week 3 Energy Flow in Ecosystems

​Week 3 Energy Flow In Ecosystems

By Kayla Lowen

Energy Roles

• Producers: Organisms that make their own food, usually using sunlight. They are the foundation of every food chain. (e.g., plants, algae).

• Consumers: Organisms that get energy by eating other organisms.

  • Herbivore: Eats only plants.

  • Carnivore: Eats only animals (meat).

  • Omnivore: Eats both plants and animals.

• Decomposers: Organisms like bacteria and fungi that break down dead organisms and waste, returning nutrients to the soil. They are nature's recyclers.

Multiple Choice

Which organism is a decomposer?

•  A vulture eating a dead animal

• A lion hunting a zebra

•  A bacterium breaking down a fallen log.

• A rabbit eating grass

Multiple Choice

A deer eats plants for energy. A deer is a(n)

• carnivore
• omnivore
• scavenger
• herbivore

Multiple Choice

An organism that makes its own food using energy from the sun is called a

• Consumer

• Decomposer

• Producer

• Scavenger

Multiple Choice

An animal that eats both plants and animals is a(n):

• omnivore
• scavenger
• carnivore
• herbivore

Multiple Choice

Which of the following organisms is a primary consumer?

• A wolf that eats a deer

• A snake that eats a mouse.

• A rabbit that eats clover.

• A hawk that eats a snake

Food Chains vs. Food Webs

1. Food Chains vs. Food Webs:

   • Food Chain: A simple, single path showing how energy flows from one organism to another. The arrows show the direction the energy is moving.

     • Example: Grass → Rabbit → Fox

In this example, the rabbit is the primary consumer (eats the producer), and the fox is the secondary consumer (eats the primary consumer).

Multiple Choice

In a food chain, what do the arrows represent?

• The arrows indicate the size of the organisms.
• The arrows represent the flow of energy and nutrients between organisms.
• The arrows show the direction of movement.
• The arrows represent the types of organisms in the chain.

Multiple Choice

In the food chain Sun -> Flower -> Bee -> Bird, the bird is the

• primary consumer
• secondary consumer
• producer
• tertiary consumer

Multiple Choice

Which of the following shows a correct food chain?

• Fox -> Rabbit -> Grass

• Grass -> Rabbit -> Fox

•  Grass -> Fox -> Rabbit

• Rabbit, Fox, Grass

Food Webs

Food Web: A more realistic model showing many interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem. It shows that most animals eat more than one thing.

Multiple Choice

A model that shows all the overlapping and interconnected food chains in an ecosystem is called a

• ecosystem model
• food chain
• trophic level
• food web

Multiple Choice

Why is a food web a more realistic model than a food chain?

• Because it is a straight line.

• Because it includes abiotic factors like water and sunlight.

•  Because it shows that most organisms eat more than one thing and are eaten by more than one thing.

• Because most organisms only eat one thing