1. Energy Roles Producers:  Take in carbon from the air and through photosynthesis make sugar for its food and release oxygen into the air.  Use the sun’s energy to make their own food through photosynthesis  Are the source of all food in an ecosystem Consumers: Consumers are organisms that obtain energy by eating another organism. There are 3 main types - 1. Herbivore: eats only plants 2. Carnivore: eats only animals Scavenger: eats the bodies of dead animals 3. Omnivore: eats both plants and animals Decomposers: breaks down living and dead organisms ex: mushroom, bacteria, and mold Energy enters the ecosystem from the sunlight where organisms known as producers convert it into food. Chapter 2 Study Guide

2. Energy Pyramid Producer Always starts the food web Ex: plants 1 st level consumer Herbivores Ex: mouse 2 nd level consumer Carnivores or omnivores Ex: snake 3 rd level consumer carnivores ex: hawk 10% of the energy transfers to the 1 st level consumer 10% of the energy transfers to the 2 nd level consumer 10% of the energy transfers to the 3 rd level consumer The amount of energy available decreases as you move up the pyramid. This means there are fewer animals at the top of the pyramid.

3. A FOOD CHAIN is a series of events in which one organism eats another to obtain energy. A FOOD WEB consists of many overlapping food chains.

4. . Water Cycle Evaporation: water molecules absorb heat from the sun and change to a gas. Precipitation: droplets get heavy and drop to the earth as rain, snow, sleet or hail. lake Condensation: Gas cools and turns back into liquid. rain snow hail sleet

5. Producers take in carbon from the air and make C 6 H 12 O 6 (sugar) for their own food through photosynthesis Producers release oxygen into the air through photosynthesis. Biome Matter in an ecosystem is recycled because the supply is limited while need for it is not. Sun 6CO 2 Carbon dioxide 6CO 2 Carbon dioxide 6H 2 O water 6H 2 O water photosynthesis 6O 2 oxygen 6O 2 oxygen C 6 H 12 o 6

6. Nitrogen Cycle:  Free nitrogen is in the air  Plants fix the nitrogen through root nodules which are bumps on the roots that store the fixed nitrogen.  Consumers eat the plants  Consumers dies  Decomposers release the nitrogen back into the air as free nitrogen. Biomes A biome is a group of ecosystems with similar climates and organisms. A Biome is determined by climate (temperature and amount of precipitation) because it limits the distribution of plant life. Climate: the typical weather pattern There are 6 major types of land biomes 1.Desert 2.Rainforest -Temperate -Tropical 3. Grassland 4. Deciduous 5. Boreal forest 6. Tundra/mountain and ice