2. The Law of Conservation of Energy
●Energy is not
created or
destroyed, but can
change form!
3. Energy comes in different forms
●Kinetic energy: The energy
of motion/action
●Potential energy: is stored
energy and the energy of
position
●Thermal energy: Heat, the
internal energy concerning
the motion of molecules-
temperature is the measure
of thermal energy, the
faster the molecules, the
4. Forms of energy cont…
●Chemical Energy is energy
stored in the bonds of
atoms and molecules. This
includes energy stored in
glucose (your food!)
●Electrical energy: created
when electrons (a
subatomic particle) move
amongst different atoms to
form an electrical charge-
this includes lightening!
●Electrochemical Energy:
Energy stored in batteries
5. Forms of energy cont…
●Electromagnetic energy/
Radiation: Light energy
(i.e. from the sun!)
Travels in waves
●Sound energy: Produced
by sound waves
●Nuclear energy:
Produced when the nuclei
of atoms fuse (fusion
occurring in the sun) or
when the nuclei of atoms
split (fission occurring in
nuclear reactors)
6. Solar Energy
●Solar Energy is
considered Radiation, in
order to be useable, it
must be captured by
plants using
photosynthesis.
●Radiation in not matter,
but energy containing
waves. Whereas matter is
anything that contains
mass, is made of atoms
and takes up space.
7. Solar Energy
●Matter is recycled and
energy is transferred!
●The original source of
all energy in an
ecosystem is the sun.
8. Energy Transfer
●Energy can be
transferred from one
organism to the next,
however, not all energy
is retained.
●Much energy is lost as
heat. Only 10% of
energy gets transferred
from one trophic level
to the next! (Rule of
10%)
9. Food Webs
●A food web shows the
energy transfer from one
trophic level to the next as
it flows through an
ecosystem from producers
to consumers to
decomposers.
●The highest level
consumers in the food web
contain the least energy and
the fewest individuals.
●Whereas the producers
contain the most energy
and the largest number of
individual organisms.
10. Nature’s Balance
●Due to the balance of
an ecosystem, if
producers or
decomposers are
removed, the ecosystem
will collapse. If any
organism is removed it
will affect the other
populations.
