Web of Life: Mystery 3

When dead things that were once living get broken down we say they _________.

• regenerate

• die

• decompose

• vanish

What is a decomposer?

• a living thing that eats meat

• a living thing that eats plants

• a living thing that eats plants and meats

• a living thing that breaks down dead things

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

What do the arrows in your model represent? Which one word best describes what they all represent?

• plants

• decomposers

• animals

• matter

Mold and mushrooms are both types of _____.

• fungi

• bacteria

• herbivores

• producers

What do leaves become after they are broken down by decomposers?

• mushrooms

• air

• soil

• fungi

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

Which of the following is NOT a decomposer?

• mushroom

• fox

• bacteria

• worm

Many farmers and gardeners use decomposed material as a fertilizer for their plants. What do we call this decomposed material?

• mushrooms

• compost

• soil

• mold

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

7. Look back at the model. If there were suddenly no decomposers—no mushrooms, no mold, no fungus—what do you think would happen to the forest system? Support your thinking with reasoning using the model.

Tags

NGSS.MS-LS2-3

NGSS.MS-LS2-4