February 27, 2008 Food Chains

The BIG Idea!!!! Living things capture and release energy We use chemical energy that comes from the food we eat Our food, at some point, originally received energy from the SUN Because energy is continuously used by the activities of living things, it must be continuously replaced in the ecosystem

What is a food chain? A model used to show the feeding relationship between a single producer and a chain of consumers in an ecosystem.

So…What is a “producer”? An organism that captures energy and stores it in food as chemical energy Producers take water and carbon dioxide from their environment and use energy from the sun to produce sugars (PHOTOSYNTHESIS) Producers make energy available to all other living parts of the ecosystem Examples?

What is a “consumer”? An organism that gets energy by eating, or consuming, other organisms They cannot produce their own food Primary, secondary and tertiary describe the number of links between the producer and consumer Examples?

What is a “decomposer”? An organism that breaks down dead plant and animal matter into simpler compounds The “clean up crew” of an ecosystem Decomposers return matter to soil or water where it can be reused Examples?