Energy flow

ENERGY FLOW

CH. 2.1

I. ENERGY ROLES • A. An organism’s energy role is determined

by how it obtains energy and how it interacts with other organisms.

B. PRODUCERS• 1. Energy enters most ecosystems as Sunlight.• 2. What is the process plants use to make food?

Photosynthesis is how plants make food and oxygen.

• 3. An organism that can make it’s own Food is a Producer.

• 4. Producers are the source of all food in an ecosystem.

ENERGY FLOW

C. CONSUMERS• 1. An organism that can’t make it’s own food

is a Consumer.• 2. Consumers that eat only plants are

Herbivores.• 3. Consumers that eat only meat are

Carnivores.

C. CONSUMERS• 4. Consumers that eat both plants/animals

are Omnivores.• 5. A Scavenger is a carnivore that feeds on

the bodies of dead organisms.• 6. Examples of scavengers = Catfish Vultures

D. DECOMPOSERS• 1. Decomposers break down wastes and

dead organisms and return raw materials to the ecosystem.

• 2. Decomposer are nature’s recyclers.• 3. Examples of Decomposers =• Mushrooms• Bacteria

DECOMPOSERS

II. FOOD CHAINS AND FOOD WEBS

• A. The movement of energy through an ecosystem can be shown in diagrams called Food Webs and Food Chains.

• B. A Food Web is a series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy.

• 1. List a Food Chain from Figure 2

III. ENERGY PYRAMIDS• A. What does an organism do with the

energy it obtains from food?• The organism uses the Energy to move, grow,

reproduce and carry out other life activities.

ENERGY PYRAMIDS• 1. A diagram called an Energy Pyramid shows

the amount of Energy that moves from 1 Feeding level to another in a Food Web.

• 2. Where is the most energy available?• The most energy is available at the Producer

level.• 3. What happens as you move up the pyramid?

Each level has LESS energy available than the Energy Level below.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE AVAILABLE ENERGY AT EACH LEVEL?

The amount of Energy available at each level decreases as you move UP the Energy Pyramid.

ENERGY PYRAMIDS• 4. Only about 10% of the energy at one level

of a food web is transferred to the next higher level.

• 5. The other 90% of the energy is used for the organism’s life processes or given off as heat.

• 6. The amount of energy available at the Producer level limits the number of consumers that the Ecosystem can support.