An ecosystem is made up of living things and their physical environment that interact and depend on each other. Sunlight provides the initial energy that plants capture through photosynthesis and convert into food, while consumers obtain energy by eating plants or other animals. Decomposers break down waste and dead organisms to recycle nutrients and energy back into the ecosystem. Multiple food chains interconnect to form complex food webs as most organisms have more than one source of food. Energy and nutrients are transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.

1. Ecosystems
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2. What is an ecosystem?
• An ecosystem is made up of a
group of living things and their
physical surroundings.
• The living and nonliving parts
of an ecosystem work together
like a team.

3. Photosynthesis and energy
• Sunlight is almost
always the first type of
energy to enter an
ecosystem.
• When another living
thing in an ecosystem
eats a plant, it is gaining
energy that came first
from the Sun.

4. Photosynthesis and energy
• A plant uses the Sun’s energy to turn water and carbon
dioxide into useful molecules such as sugars and
starches.

6. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
• A producer is a living thing, like a plant, that can take
the Sun’s energy and store it as food.

7. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
• A consumer must feed on other
living things to get food and energy.
– A herbivore is a consumer that eats
only plants.
– A carnivore is a consumer that eats
only animals.
– A consumer that eats both plants and
animals is called an omnivore.

8. Producers, consumers, and decomposers
• A decomposer is a living
thing that consumes waste
and dead organisms to get
energy.
• Decompose means “to
break down”.

10. The water and carbon-oxygen cycles
• Living things need
water and sunlight.
• Nature allows water to
recycle so it can be
used in many
ecosystems.
• Water supply depends
on the water cycle.

11. • The carbon-oxygen
cycle describes how
the ecosystem uses
these important
elements.
The water and carbon-oxygen cycles

12. What is a food chain?
• A food chain shows how
each member of an
ecosystem gets its food.
• A simple food chain links a
producer, an herbivore,
and one or more
carnivores.
Which is the carnivore?

14. Energy and food chains
• A diagram in the shape of a pyramid is a good way to
show how energy moves from one feeding level to the
next in a food chain.

15. Food webs
• Most animals are part
of more than one food
chain.
• We can connect many
food chains to form a
food web.

17. The End
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