7th Grade Unit 2: Ecosystems Lesson 1: Energy Flow Vocabulary of Instruction:

7th Grade7th Grade

Unit 2: Unit 2: EcosystemsEcosystems

Lesson 1: Lesson 1: Energy FlowEnergy Flow

Vocabulary of Instruction:Vocabulary of Instruction:

Energy•Ability to do work.

Producers•Plants are

called producers because they are able to use light energy from the Sun to produce food (sugar) from carbon dioxide and water.

Consumers• Animals cannot

make their own food so they must eat plants and/or other animals.

• There are three groups of consumers.– Primary Consumers– Secondary

Consumers– Tertiary Consumers

Decomposers• Bacteria and fungi

which feed on decaying matter.

• Decomposers speed up the decaying process that releases mineral salts back into the food chain for absorption by plants as nutrients.

Omnivores•Animals and

people who eat BOTH animals and plants are called omnivores.

Carnivore•Are animals that

eat other animals.– carnivores that eat

herbivores are called secondary consumers.

– carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers

Herbivore•An animal that

feeds on plants.Also known as (or primary consumers).

Food Chain, Food Web, and/or Food Networks

•Describes the feeding relationships between species in an ecological community. They graphically represent the transfer of material and energy from one species to another within an ecosystem.

Food Chain

Food Web

Abiotic• Inanimate,

inorganic, not living.

• Examples:– Water– Soil– Sunlight– Rocks– Wind/Air

Biotic• Relating to,

produced by, or caused by living  organisms.

• Examples:– Rabbit– Wolf– Bacteria– Plants/Grass– Mushroom/

Fungi