Energy Pathways
McKenzie Smith
Science 8-5
February 10, 2011
RSV Final Draft
Energy Pathways This reading is about food chains, food webs, and food pyramids. The sun is the source of energy in a food chain. The energy from the sun can only be used by producers. The producers get eaten by consumers. A consumer is a herbivore, a carnivore, or an omnivore. Fungi and decay bacteria are decomposers. Decomposers break down and recycle dead things and make the soil better for producers. Food webs are the overlapping and the interconnections of several food chains in an ecosystem. The base of a food pyramid are the producers. As the pyramid goes up levels, there are fewer consumers. Numbers, mass, and energy are measured by food pyramids.
Vocabulary: 1. Food Chain: The passing of energy in the form from one organism to another.
2. Producer: A green plant able to make its own food by photosynthesis.
3. Consumer: An organism that depends on other organisms for food needs.
4. Herbivore: A consumer that eats only plant tissue.
5. Carnivore: A consumer that eats only plant tissue.
6. Omnivore: A consumer that eats plant and animal tissue.
7. Pyramid of Numbers: A model that shows the decreasing numbers of organisms as you move through a food chain from producers to consumers, up the pyramid.
8. Pyramid of Mass: A model that’s shows the decreasing mass of living things as you move through a food chain from the producers to the consumers, up the pyramid.
9. Pyramid of Energy: A model that shows how the energy stored in a large number of producers gets transferred to a small number of consumers, up the pyramid.
10. Ecosystem: A group of organisms and their environment.
Science 8-5
February 10, 2011
RSV Final Draft
Energy Pathways This reading is about food chains, food webs, and food pyramids. The sun is the source of energy in a food chain. The energy from the sun can only be used by producers. The producers get eaten by consumers. A consumer is a herbivore, a carnivore, or an omnivore. Fungi and decay bacteria are decomposers. Decomposers break down and recycle dead things and make the soil better for producers. Food webs are the overlapping and the interconnections of several food chains in an ecosystem. The base of a food pyramid are the producers. As the pyramid goes up levels, there are fewer consumers. Numbers, mass, and energy are measured by food pyramids.
Vocabulary: 1. Food Chain: The passing of energy in the form from one organism to another.
2. Producer: A green plant able to make its own food by photosynthesis.
3. Consumer: An organism that depends on other organisms for food needs.
4. Herbivore: A consumer that eats only plant tissue.
5. Carnivore: A consumer that eats only plant tissue.
6. Omnivore: A consumer that eats plant and animal tissue.
7. Pyramid of Numbers: A model that shows the decreasing numbers of organisms as you move through a food chain from producers to consumers, up the pyramid.
8. Pyramid of Mass: A model that’s shows the decreasing mass of living things as you move through a food chain from the producers to the consumers, up the pyramid.
9. Pyramid of Energy: A model that shows how the energy stored in a large number of producers gets transferred to a small number of consumers, up the pyramid.
10. Ecosystem: A group of organisms and their environment.