1. Energy Transfer Notes

2. Energy
All living things are made up of matter, and all living things need energy.
Energy is converted (changed) from one organism to another.
The conversion of energy is important to all life on Earth.

3. Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers
Energy is never lost, it is simply transferred and reused in various forms.
The source of all energy for living things is the sun.

4. Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers
Producers are organisms that can use the sun to make energy rich food molecules.
Producers include: flowers, trees, algae
Producers use two primary methods for converting energy to food
Photosynthesis- light energy (from the sun) is changed to chemical energy (sugar molecules)
Chemosynthesis- energy from chemicals is changed to food molecules (this takes place on the ocean floor where no light is available)

5. Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers
Consumers are organisms that can not make their own food.
Consumers get their energy indirectly from the sun:
Herbivores eat plants
Carnivores eat other animals
Omnivores eat both!

6. Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers
Decomposers are organisms that feed on dead matter.
This allows nutrients/matter to be made available to the ecosystem.
Examples are: bacteria, worms, slugs, and fungi
Scavengers consume the remains of dead animals.

7. Energy Transfer
Energy stored in the molecules of one organism is transferred to another when it is eaten by its predator.

8. Food Chains
A food web is a simple way of showing how matter and energy pass from one organism to another.
Producers are always the first step in a food chain.
Animals that consume producers, primary consumers, are the second step in the food chain.
Carnivores are the third and higher step of the food chains. They are called secondary consumers.
The position an organism holds within the food chain is called its trophic level.

9. Quaternary Consumer
Quaternary Consumer
Tertiary Consumer
Tertiary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Secondary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Primary Consumer
Producer
Producer

10. Food Chain
A food web shows all the possible food chains among the organisms in the community.
A food web is a more complete model of feeding relationships than a food chain.

11. Producers:
Oak Acorns
Pine
Primary Consumers:
Mouse
Pine Borer
Secondary Consumers:
Salamander
Snake
Golden-Crowned Kinglet
Red-Tailed Hawk
Tertiary Consumers:
Decomposers :
Bacteria
Fungi

12. Energy Pyramid An energy pyramid shows the energy flow in a community.
The producers are always at the bottom. They have the most energy.
As you move up the pyramid, each level becomes smaller.
Only about 10% of the energy available at each feeding level is transferred to the next level.
As you move up the food pyramid, organisms require more food to meet their energy needs because less is available to them.

14. Food Pyramid