Let’s Discuss Think about your dinner last night. Write a list of the things you had for dinner. Where did it come from?

ENERGY ROLES Every organism has a role to play in its environment. A blue bird’s role is different from the worms that it eats. But all parts of the ecosystem are necessary for it to work. There are 3 main roles in an ecosystem: Producers Consumers Decomposers

Producers Producer is an organism that Makes its own food. The sun is the primary source of all energy on the planet. Producers can capture the sun’s energy and use it to make food.

Photosynthesis Photosynthesis is the process producers use to turn the sun’s energy into food that organisms can use.

Consumers Some organisms cannot make their own food. An organism that obtains energy by eating other organisms is called a consumer. Herbivores – Eat only plants Carnivores – Eat only animals Omnivores – Eat both plants and animals Scavenger – Eats the body of dead organisms

Let’s check Can You think of two examples of each type of consumer? What is the result of photosynthesis?

Decomposers Decomposers break down waste and dead organisms in an ecosystem. Why is this important? Decomposers return the raw materials of life back to the environment. These materials can be used again by other organisms. **Decomposers are nature’s recyclers!**

Food Chains and Food Webs A food chain is a series of events in which one organism eats another. ** A food chain only shows one possible path of energy through an ecosystem

A food Web shows the many different paths that energy can take through an ecosystem. You don’t eat the same thing everyday, neither do animals! A food web consists of many overlapping food chains.

Producer – The beginning of a food chain/web First level consumers – Eat producers Second level consumers – Eat the first level Third level consumers – Eat the second level What are some examples of first level Consumers?

Go back to your let’s discuss Go back to your let’s discuss. Label the items you ate last night as coming from a producer, consumer or decomposer.