Ecosystems and Energy
Flow Task Cards
Includes the following:
-Producers, Consumers, Decomposers
-Herbivores, Omnivores, Carnivores
-Food Chains, Webs, and Energy Pyramids
-Primary and Secondary Succession
-Abiotic and Biotic Factors
-Ecosystems Vocabulary
-And More!!!
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Scott and Natalie Platteter, © 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
1
The picture below shows an
example of a producer. What
is a PRODUCER?
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
3
The picture below shows an
example of a decomposer.
What is a DECOMPOSER?
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
2
The picture below shows an
example of a consumer.
What is a CONSUMER?
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
4
The picture below shows an
example of a scavenger.
What is a SCAVENGER?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
5
What term is used to describe
a consumer that feeds on
plants only?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
7
What term is used to describe
a consumer that feeds on
plants AND animals?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
6
What term is used to describe
a consumer that feeds on
animals only?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
8
What term is used to describe
a series of events in which one
organism eats another in
order to obtain energy?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
9
Where does all of the energy
within an ecosystem originate?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
11
In the food chain below,
which organism would be a
secondary consumer?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
10
In the food chain below, which
organism would be a primary
consumer?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
12
What term is used to describe
many overlapping food chains?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
13
In the food web below, which
organism feeds on the largest
variety organisms?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
15
What is the term used to describe
a diagram that shows the
amount of energy that moves
from one feeding level to
another in a food web?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
14
List one food chain from the food
web below?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
16
Where is the most energy found in
an energy pyramid?
Hawks
Mice
Grass
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
17
If birds eat insects that feed on corn,
which pyramid level would birds
occupy?
D
C
Which level in the energy pyramid
below would represent a third
level (tertiary) consumer?
B
A
A
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
19
What is the process shown in the
diagram below?
Energy (sunlight)
+
Water
Taken in
+
Carbon Dioxide
18
D
C
B
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
20
What is the term used to describe
all of the members of one species
in a particular area?
Food
+
Given off Oxygen
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© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
21
What is the term used to describe
all of the different populations that
live together in an area?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
23
What type of factor is a living
part of an ecosystem?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
22
What is the term used to describe
all of the living and nonliving
things that interact in an area?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
24
What type of factor is a nonliving
part of an ecosystem?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
25
What is the place an organism
lives that provides the things that it
needs to survive?
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
27
Explain primary succession in your
own words.
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
26
A series of predictable changes
that occur in a community over
time is known as _______________.
1
2
3
4© Scott and
5 Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
28
Explain secondary succession in
your own words.
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Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
29
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
30
Is the following an example of
primary or secondary succession?
Is the following an example of
primary or secondary succession?
An undersea volcano forming a
new island ecosystem over many
years.
A large flood destroying a portion
of an ecosystem and the
ecosystem regrows after many
years.
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
31
Which type of succession occurs
more rapidly?
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Ecosystems and
Energy Flow
32
What do the arrows in a food
web/chain represent?
Primary
or
Secondary
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
© Scott and Natalie Platteter 2014
Credits
Cover Page Chevron Template created by: Mr. Mosley’s Creations
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Task Card Template created by: Shelly Rees
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Shelly-Rees
Name: _________________
Date: _________
Ecosystems and Energy Flow:
Task Card Answer Sheet
1.
9.
17.
25.
2.
10.
18.
26.
3.
11.
19.
27.
4.
12.
20.
28.
5.
13.
21.
29.
6.
14.
22.
30.
7.
15.
23.
31.
8.
16.
24.
32.
SCOTT AND NATALIE PLATTETER, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENERGY FLOW TASK CARDS © 2014
Ecosystems and Energy Flow Task Cards:
Answer Key
1. An organism that
can make its own
food by carrying out
photosynthesis.
9. The Sun
17. C
25. Habitat
2. An organism that
obtains energy by
feeding on other
organisms.
10. Grasshopper
18. D
26. Succession
3. An organism that
breaks down waste
and dead organisms
and returns the raw
materials back to
the environment.
11. Whale
19. Photosynthesis
27. A series of
predictable changes
that occur over time
in an area where no
ecosystem previously
existed.
4. A carnivore that
feeds on the bodies
of dead animals.
12. Food Web
20. Population
28. A series of events
that occur after a
disturbance in an
existing ecosystem.
5. Herbivore
13. Hawks
21. Community
29. Primary
succession
6. Carnivore
14. Answers may
vary (ex. grass,
grasshopper, frog,
fox)
22. Ecosystem
30. Secondary
succession
7. Omnivore
15. Energy Pyramid
23. Biotic factor
31. Secondary
succession
8. Food Chain
16. Producer level,
bottom, grass
24. Abiotic factor
32. The direction of
the flow of energy
from one organism
to another.
SCOTT AND NATALIE PLATTETER, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENERGY FLOW TASK CARDS © 2014