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Lesson 1: Producers and Consumers

Lesson 2: Energy in Ecosystems

Lesson 3: Matter in Ecosystems

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ecology

producer

photosynthesis

consumer

protozoan

13.1 Producers and Consumers

herbivore

carnivore

omnivore

decomposer

scavenger

Ecosystems

• An ecosystem includes biotic and abiotic factors.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

• Ecology is the study of the interactions between living things and their environment.

Producers

• Producers are organisms that use light energy from the Sun or energy from chemical reactions to make their own food.

• Only a few types of producers on Earth make food without energy.

• Producers use carbon dioxide and water to make sugars, which they use as food.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Types of Producers

The Sun• Photosynthesis is a process that some producers

use to make their own food using light energy.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Plants

• Most green plants are producers.

• Plants use light energy, water, and carbon dioxide and make simple sugars.

• These sugars are a source of energy and carbon.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Protists and Bacteria• Some protists are producers, such as algae,

dinoflagellates, and euglenas.

• Some bacteria, called cyanobacteria, carry out photosynthesis.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Chemosynthesis• Some bacteria make food using energy from chemical

reactions in a process called chemosynthesis.

• Some chemosynthetic bacteria live deep in the ocean where sunlight never reaches.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Consumers• Consumers are organisms that cannot make their

own food.

– All animals are consumers because they eat other organisms or their wastes.

– Some consumers eat producers, and some eat other consumers.

– Some consumers, such as protozoans, are single-celled.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Types of Consumers

• Herbivores are animals that eat only plants.

• Carnivores are animals that only eat other animals.

• Omnivores are animals that eat other animals and plants.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Types of Consumers (cont.)

• Scavengers are organisms that eat dead animals.

• Decomposers break down dead organisms, and animal droppings, and other wastes produced by living things.

13.1 Producers and Consumers

Lesson 1 Review

_____ is the science of the interactions of living things and their environments.

A Chemistry

B Biology

C Ecology

D Environmentalism

13.1 Producers and Consumers

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

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Lesson 1 Review

What process do some bacteria that are deep in the ocean use and make food?

A photosynthesis

B chemosynthesis

C decomposition

D consumption

13.1 Producers and Consumers

1. A

2. B

3. C

4. D

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Lesson 1 Review

Which consumer breaks down dead organisms and wastes produced by living things?

A decomposers

B herbivores

C omnivores

D scavengers

13.1 Producers and Consumers

A B C D

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End of Lesson 1

food chain

food web

primary consumer

secondary consumer

tertiary consumer

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Energy Through the Ecosystems

• Organisms do not create or destroy energy; they change it from one form to another.

• Energy moves one way through an ecosystem—from producers to consumers and decomposers.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Food as Energy

• Energy passes through ecosystems as food.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Food Chains• A food chain is an illustration of how energy moves

though an ecosystem.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Food Webs• An ecosystem contains more than one type of producer,

and most organisms eat more than one type of food.

• A food web is a more complicated model of the flow of energy in an ecosystem.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Food Webs (cont.)

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Energy Pyramids• An energy pyramid is a diagram that shows how much

energy is available to each type of consumer.

– The bottom layer has the most available energy and contains the producers.

– The middle layers contain primary consumers and secondary consumers.

– The small top layer has the least available energy and contains tertiary consumers.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Energy Pyramids (cont.)

Temperate Deciduous Forest

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Energy Pyramids (cont.)

Desert

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Energy Pyramids (cont.)

Tropical Rainforest

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

Releasing Thermal Energy• All organisms release some energy in food as thermal

energy.

• This is why less energy is available with each step up an energy pyramid.

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

How is energy transferred through a community of organisms?

Lesson 2 Review

Which accurately represents the flow of energy in an ecosystem?

A food chain

B food pyramid

C food web

D energy pyramid

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

Lesson 2 Review

What does the bottom layer of an energy pyramid represent?

A primary consumers

B producers

C tertiary consumers

D herbivores

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

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2. B

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Lesson 2 Review

The energy in an energy pyramid is dependent on the number of _____ in an ecosystem.

A producers

B tertiary consumers

C primary consumers

D secondary consumers

13.2 Energy in Ecosystems

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End of Lesson 2

nitrifying bacteria

nitrogen cycle

phosphorus cycle

carbon cycle

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

Cycles of Matter• The amount of matter—anything that has mass and takes

up space—on Earth never changes.

• Elements that make up matter cycle among living things and between abiotic and biotic environments.

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

Nitrogen Cycle• Nitrifying bacteria change atmospheric nitrogen into forms

of nitrogen that plants can take up through their roots.

• The nitrogen cycle describes how nitrogen moves from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and then back to the atmosphere.

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

Nitrogen Cycle (cont.)13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

Phosphorus Cycle• The phosphorus cycle describes how

phosphorus moves from soil to producers and consumers, and back to soil.

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

The Carbon Cycle• The carbon cycle describes how carbon moves

between the living and nonliving environments.

• Carbon is the key element in sugars, proteins, starches, and many other compounds that make up living things.

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

The Carbon Cycle (cont.)13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

Lesson 3 Review

_____ is anything that has mass and takes up space.

A Matter

B Carbon

C Nitrogen

D Phosphorus

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

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Lesson 3 Review

What process changes nitrogen into a form that plants can take up through their roots?

A photosynthesis

B chemosynthesis

C nitrogen cycling

D carbon cycling

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

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2. B

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Lesson 3 Review

Which element is the key element in sugars, proteins, and starches?

A nitrogen

B phosphorus

C oxygen

D carbon

13.3 Matter in Ecosystems

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End of Lesson 3

Chapter Resources Menu

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Chapter Assessment

California Standards Practice

Image Bank

Science Online

Interactive Table

Virtual Lab

Green plants are ____.

A consumers

B producers

C scavengers

D decomposers

Chapter Assessment 1

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

What are organisms that cannot make their own food called?

A producers

B algae

C consumers

D chemosynthetic

Chapter Assessment 2

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2. B

3. C

4. D

What does a food chain show?

A how carbon moves through an ecosystem

B how consumers move through an ecosystem

C how producers move through an ecosystem

D how energy moves through an ecosystem

Chapter Assessment 3

A B C D

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1. A

2. B

3. C

4. D

What does an energy pyramid represent?

A how much matter is inan ecosystem

B how much energy is available in an ecosystem

C which consumers eat which producers

D the number of species in an ecosystem

Chapter Assessment 4

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Most humans are _____.

A producers

B scavengers

C herbivores

D omnivores

Chapter Assessment 5

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2. B

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What to herbivores eat?

A animals

B plants

C plants and animals

D dead matter

CA Standards Practice 1

SCI 5.c

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2. B

3. C

4. D

Why is the carbon cycle essential to life on Earth?A Carbon is the key

element in sugars, proteins, and starches.

B Carbon allows sunlight to penetrate Earth’s atmosphere.

C Carbon keeps harmful UV rays from entering Earth’s atmosphere.

D Carbon is broken down during decomposition of plants and animals.

CA Standards Practice 2

SCI 5.c

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

Which level in an energy pyramid has the least amount of available energy?

A bottom layer

B first middle layer

C second middle layer

D top layer

CA Standards Practice 3

SCI 5.a

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

What do secondary consumers eat?

A primary consumers

B producers

C primary consumers and producers

D secondary producers

CA Standards Practice 4

SCI 5.a

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

What is the main source of energy for most producers?

A light

B nitrification

C chemosynthesis

D scavenging

CA Standards Practice 5

SCI 5.a

A B C D

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2. B

3. C

4. D

Image Bank

Interactive Lab

Types of Producers

End of Resources