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Course: Middle school biology - NGSS > Unit 5
Lesson 2: Matter and energy in foodwebsMatter and energy in food webs
Review your understanding of matter and energy in food webs in this free article aligned to NGSS standards.
Key points:
- Matter describes the atoms that make up an ecosystem’s parts. Matter cycles between the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
- Energy changes form as it moves through an ecosystem. Energy that enters an ecosystem eventually leaves as heat.
- Producers are organisms that make their own food inside their cells. Photosynthetic organisms are producers. Producers allow energy to enter an ecosystem.
- Consumers are organisms that eat other organisms. When this occurs, the matter and energy stored in the other organism’s biomass moves to the consumer.
- Primary consumers eat producers.
- Secondary consumers eat primary consumers.
- Decomposers are organisms that consume dead plant and animal matter. When they do this, they return matter back to the environment.
- Food webs are models that show how energy and matter move in an ecosystem. The arrows in a food web show what organisms eat. The arrows point away from the organism being eaten, and toward the organism doing the eating.
Want to join the conversation?
technically, aren't decomposers the top of the food web, considering they can eat litterally any animal after they die(20 votes)
They don’t eat animals they break down the matter and restore it to the environment.(7 votes)
Lol what do you call an organism that eats decomposers?
I mean the question(13 votes)
They are called scavengers.(12 votes)
why dose the otter go back to the bacteria(4 votes)- Because when the otter dies, the bacteria (a.k.a. the decomposers) decompose that body for energy.
Hope this helps!(14 votes)
are there some poison clams(9 votes)
Yes, there are two(3 votes)
What do you call organisms that eat nearly anything (they eat primary consumers, producers, secondary consumers, decomposers, tertiary consumers, scavengers, and other types of consumers)?(3 votes)- Humans.
Let's be real here:
We have eaten literally almost every species on this planet!!
Not only that, but we live across the globe in all the biomes (except for the ocean)!
Hope this helps!(11 votes)
In the article it states that consumers are organisms who eat other organisms would that make humans who eat meat consumers? Or do the other organisms have to be living?(0 votes)
Humans count as consumers because they (even those who don’t eat animal products) get their energy from other organisms. These might be bean plants that made their energy from the sun, or they might be cows that ate grass that made energy from the sun. Either way, humans have to get their food from other organisms, so we’re consumers.
Does that help?(14 votes)
In the first video, Sal described a bunny as a consumer, because it consumes a plant. But a bunny poops and poop is fertilizer for plants, this is a mutualistic environment, but wouldn't the bunny be a producer? Because the bunny produced the poop that acts like fertilizer for plants?(3 votes)
No producers are the ones that starts the food cycle because it can make its own food without consuming other organisms. Bunnies need to eat producers( plants ) in order to survive. Furthrmore, Plants dont need fertilizer to grow, they only need light and water to survive. Fertilizer(bunny poop) just encourages the plants to grow.(7 votes)
- What can we call those organisms that can make their food and eat other organisms?(2 votes)
Those organisms don't really exist but a organism that makes there own food are Producers/Autotrophs and organisms that eat other organisms are Carnivores!
EDIT: I was thinking and i came to the conclusion that a venus flytrap can technically account for your question, since it gets nutrients from photosynthesis and from insects.
Happy Learning!(7 votes)
- why do the vids have to be so long(3 votes)
- Good question, no clue why(4 votes)
What is a "biomass"? lol I remember seeing it somewhere, just don't know where... :)(2 votes)
Biomass is the total mass of some population. You can also use biomass to compare the mass of other organisms. For example, 3,366 mice have about the same biomass as one human. Since it would take a really long time (and would be hard and boring) to count every living thing, we use biomass. Hope this helps 😋.
Sincerely, Straw Hat Pirates(5 votes)
