Lesson 2

1. Lesson 2

2. How Do Living Things Get Energy? • Photosynthesis is the process by which plants (including algae) use sunlight to make sugar from carbon dioxide and water. • Producers (which include some single-celled organisms) carry out this process • Photosynthesis releases oxygen that other animals (fish, snails, etc.) use to breathe. • Respiration – the process of taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide to get energy Sunlight + water + CO2 sugar + oxygen

3. Photosynthesis Photosynthesis/Respiration Cycle

4. How Do Living Things Get Energy? • Consumers - organisms that feed on other organisms for energy. • Animals, including fish and crickets • Scavengers– animals that feed on the bodies of dead organisms. • Including isopods and snails • Decomposers – an organism that helps to break down and decay dead organisms and the wastes of living organisms.

5. Plants & Animals in our Ecocolumn • Aquarium • Duckweed – multiplies rapidly, but can cut off light from other water plants • Elodea – easy to grow and can survive in poor conditions, but can clog waterways/crowd other plants • Algae – comes in all sizes (microscopic to gigantic) and many colors • Mosquito Fish – strong; survive in wide range of temps; don’t mind change; eat elodea and mosquito larvae (immature mosquitos); live-bearers (fry born alive and fully formed) • Snail – a gastropod, soft body protected by shell, “foot” that releases film of mucus to help it move; sees poorly, cannot hear; reproduce by laying eggs; a scavenger

6. Plants & Animals in our Ecocolumn • Terrarium • Isopod – name means “equal legs”; close relative of the lobster, crab, shrimp; has an exoskeleton which it molts (sheds) in order to grow; a scavenger • Cricket – long antennae help them feel, taste, smell, detect humidity and temperature; male’s wings are used for chirping; have two spines used to sense vibrations in the air and ground; females lay eggs