Science Notes

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Science Notes

• Producers, Consumers and Decomposers

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All energy on earth starts from the sun.
The Sun
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energy from the sunplants (producers)

• allows plants to make their own food
• use energy from sun, nutrients from soil, and
  carbon dioxide from water and air to make food
• store energy (in the form of carbon) in leaves,
  stems and roots
• all other living things on earth get energy from
  plants.

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consumers

• any form of life on earth that must eat other
  things to survive
• cannot make their own food
• many different kinds of consumers
• labeled by the number of steps they are away
  from plants, in the food chain

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primary consumer

• eat plants to survive
• get energy directly from plants
• one step away from plants
• Ex caterpillar eats a leaf (from plant)
  elephant eats bark of a tree cow eats grass
  squirrel eats
• nuts (from Plant)

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• organisms that eat primary consumers (plant
  eaters) to survive
• get their energy from plants second-hand, by
  eating the animal or insect that ate the plant
• two steps away from the plant

secondary consumer
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• Ex owl eats mouse that eats berry (from plant)
  spider eats insect that eats leaf (from plant)
  lion eats deer that eats leaves (from plant)

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tertiary consumer

• organisms that eat secondary consumers to
  survive
• get their energy from plants third-hand, by
  eating the animal or insect, that ate the animal
  or insect, that ate the plant
• three steps away from the plant

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• Ex owl eats the snake, that ate the mouse,
  that ate the berry(from plant)
• spider eats a dragonfly, that ate the insect,
  that ate the plant
• hawk eats the fish, that ate the smaller fish,
  that ate the seaweed (plant)

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• not eaten by any other consumer

top consumer

• on top of the food chain

• can be primary, secondary or tertiary consumer

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• break down remains of dead organisms
• play very important role in ecosystem
• help release trapped energy (in the form of
  carbon) in dead organism back to the earth.
• Ex tree dies,

decomposers
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• energy is trapped in tree stump from when tree
  was alive
• mushrooms grow on dead stump and help break down
  (disintegrate) what is left of tree
• as tree stump disintegrates, trapped energy is
  released back into soil and air.