Flow of Energy

1. Flow of Energy

2. Source of Energy Sun = Sol • Raise your hand if you included this on your schoolyard diagram. • The Sun provides the light and heat energy for most forms of life on Earth.

3. Producers • Producers chemically change solar (light ) energy in the chlorophyll (the green color in the plant) into their food. Plants are producers.

4. Food • Plants make this food for their own use. They need the energy to survive and thrive. • Plants store the food in many places: roots, stems, leaves, and fruits. • Plants make food during the process called photosynthesis.

5. Photosynthesis • To undergo photosynthesis, plants need: • Sunlight • Water • Carbon dioxide Carbon Dioxide

6. Plants Use their food • Plants use food to grow. • Plants use stored energy (food) when the resources they need to grow and thrive are unavailable. • Plants use food to survive harsh environmental conditions, such as drought or cold winters.

7. Consumers • Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating either producers (plants) or other consumers (animals). • They use this energy to survive, grow, and reproduce .

8. Flow of energy • Let’s look at some of the diagrams you completed in your science notebook on the first day of this lesson. • What do they have in common?

9. Food Chains • When energy is transferred through organisms it is called a food chain. • Arrows are used to show the direction the energy is flowing. • In the schoolyard, you might see: • Remember, nearly every food chain starts with energy from the Sun.

10. Example • Use the strips of paper to create a food chain for organisms that live in one of the Earth’s ecosystems. It might be the Arctic or the ocean, forest or desert, grassland or jungle. • Cut six strips of paper of different sizes, as shown here. • Color the widest strip yellow. This will represent the Sun.

11. Example Plant Herbivore • Write the name of a plant on the second widest strip of paper. • On the third widest paper, write the name of an organism that eats the plant. • On the fourth widest, write the name of an animal that eats the organism on the second strip. • On the fifth and sixth strips, continue the sequence. • If you are unable to think of any organisms, name another plant, or a second animal, that may eat one of the organisms listed. Carnivore Carnivore Carnivore

12. Food Chain • Link your food chain together beginning with the Sun. Add the producer and then the consumers (herbivores and carnivores). Use tape to secure the link. Consumer:Carnivore Consumer:Carnivore Sun Consumer:Herbivore Producer

13. Plankton Comparing food chains Shrimp • Work in groups of four to compare the food chains that were created. • What do the food chains have in common with each other? • Could any food chains overlap with each other? Small Mullet Flounder Porpoise

14. Plankton Food Webs Shrimp • When food chains overlap, a food web is formed. • Use the chains in your group to form a food web. • Draw the food web in your science notebook. Small Mullet Crab Flounder Trout Sea Gull Porpoise

15. Decomposers • Decomposers are organisms such as fungi, bacteria, and animals that play a major role in breaking down dead matter and returning nutrients to the soil. They also play a role in the nitrogen cycle.

16. Plankton decomposers Shrimp • Add some decomposers to your food web. Small Mullet Crab Bacteria Flounder Trout Mold Sea Gull Porpoise

17. The most important role • The most important role an organism (producer, consumer, or decomposer) plays in the ecosystem is ______ because ______.

18. Compare Roles in the Ecosystem