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LIVING THINGS NEED ENERGY

DECOMPOSERS

CONSUMERS

The last kind of group are called decomposers. They are organisms that get energy by breaking down the remains of dead organisms. Two examples include bacteria and fungi. These interesting organisms get their energy by extracting the last bit of energy from dead animals like water and carbon dioxide. Plants and other living things can later reuse these materials. Decomposers are an important part of all and any ecosystem because they are nature's recyclers.

PRODUCERS

FOOD WEBS AND FOOD CHAINS

THE ROLES IN A FOOD CHAIN

A food chain

Each role in a food chain are very important. The sunlight is very important because it is the source of energy for most living things. If there wasn't sunlight then the plant couldn't make it's food and live. So without the plants, the herbivores would have nothing to eat. Which would lead up to the herbivores dying and the carnivores would have nothing to eat and would later die too. Only leaving the scavengers hungry and the recyclers with nothing either. So without one factor, there would be a huge complication in the cycle.

There are lots of differences between food webs and food chains. One being that a food chain occurs less than a food web. That being because lots of organisms don't eat one kind of organism or have one main food source. As opposed to a food web that shows multiple pathways possible. For example a food chain will show a plant eaten by a prairie dog which is eaten by a coyote which can later have prairie dog leftovers left for a turkey vulture and bacteria. Or there is also a food web. In that system an example shown is that a rabbit can be food for a fox or an owl. Which are two different pathways. That is another reason of how they are different. But they are both very interesting!

Another group is called Consumers. Organisms that eat producers or other organisms for energy are called consumers. To obtain energy consumers eat producers or other animals as opposed to using the sun's energy directly. Different kinds of consumers include herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and scavengers. A herbivore is a consumer that eats plants. A carnivore is a consumer that eats other animals. Omnivores are known as the consumers that eat both plants and animals. Last but not least there are the scavengers. Scavengers are the consumers that feed on the dead bodies of dead animals. Consumers in a prairie ecosystem include:

Herbivores- grasshoppers, gophers, prairie dogs, and bison.

Carnivores- coyotes, hawks, badgers, and owls.

Omnivores- a grasshopper mouse eats lizards and grass seeds.

Scavengers- a turkey vulture ( scavengers in an aquatic ecosystem include crayfish, snails, clams, and crabs.)

A FOOD CHAIN

A food chain shows how energy in food molecules flows from one organism to the next. But because only a few organisms eat one kind of organism, simple food chains hardly occur. But when one occurs the pathway of energy is simple. The energy starts with the sunlight which is the source of energy for most living things. Then comes the producers , which are plants that use the sunlight's energy to make food. After that come the herbivores that will eat the plants. The herbivores will later be eaten by a carnivore, who will get the energy from the plant. sun, and herbivore. After the carnivore is finished with it's meal, a scavenger will later eat the leftovers. When that cycle is finished, any remains will be broken down by bacteria and fungi that live in the soil. The energy from the sunlight has basically just gone through a full cycle.

Producers are organisms that use sunlight directly to make food. To do this they use a process called photosynthesis. Prairie ecosystems have grasses as their main producers. Algae are the main producers in the ocean. Other ecosystems include cordgrass and algae in a salt marsh and trees in a forest for some of their producers.

INTRODUCTION

All different kinds of organisms fit in a food system in all different kinds of ways. Two different systems are food webs and food chains. A food chain represents how the energy in food molecules flows from one organism to the next. A food chain is the many pathways possible. Organisms in any community can be divided into three groups based on how they obtain energy. These three groups are better known as Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers.

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