Producers,
Consumers,
Decomposers
Its all about what you eat!
An organism is …..



Any independent
living thing
Can be as small as a
single celled bacteria
Or as large as a
whale!
The three categories of the food
chain are…..
1)
2)
3)
Producers
Consumers
Decomposers
They are all depend on each other.
Producers Are
Producers get their
food and energy
from the sun.
(PLANTS)

They make their food
through a process called
photosynthesis.
Consumers

Consumers need to
eat their food to get
energy. (ANIMALS)
Types of consumers are

There are THREE
types of Consumers
 Carnivores
 Herbivores
 Omnivores.

Its still all about what
you eat!
Carnivores only eat meat (other
animals)
Herbivores eat only plants.
Omnivores eat both meat (animals)
and plants.
Stop…Review…Check…
Turn to your partner and tell them the meaning of each
word. Also give two examples of each.

Carnivore:

Herbivore:

Omnivore:
Decomposers
Decomposers eat
dead things and turn
them back into dirt,
or soil.
 Examples:

 Mushrooms
 Worms
 Bugs
What would the world look like
without decomposers (bacteria and
fungi?
How they relate
.
Stop…Review…Check…
Turn to your partner and tell them the meaning of each
word. Also give two example of each.

Producers:

Consumers:

Decomposers:
On a sheet of note book paper describe the following animals as either
a producer, consumer or decomposer. For the consumers, make sure
to include if they are a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore. Please use
complete sentences! (Ex: A _____ is a ______.)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Bear
Shark
Rabbit
Cherry tree
Mushroom
Human
Tulip (flower)
8. Panther
9. Giraffe
10. Worm
FOOD CHAIN ORDER
TERTIARY CONSUMERS
SECONDARY CONSUMERS
PRIMARY CONSUMERS
PRODUCERS
CARNIVORES
LIONS, EAGLES
CARNIVORES
WOLVES, SNAKES
HERBIVORE
DEER, BUNNY
PLANTS
Categories in food chain
What do decomposers eat?

Typically, food webs go like this:
CONSUMER
(CARNIVORE)
CONSUMER
(OMNIVORE)
CONSUMER
(HERBIVORE)
PRODUCER
remember:
decomposers
receive energy
from all other
organisms in
an ecosystem
DECOMPOSER
ENERGY IN AN ECOSYSTEM
•
What is an energy pyramid?
•
What is a trophic level?
ENERGY PYRAMIDS

Energy pyramids show the transfer of energy
through a food chain
 the
pyramid is made of levels
FISH
SNAIL
GRASS
1. The further along the food chain you go, the less food (and hence
energy) remains available.
TROPHIC LEVEL =
PYRAMID OF ENERGY
Where do producers get their energy from?
Which of the above categories has the highest food energy?
Why is there less food energy
available at the top of the pyramid?
Because most of the energy gets lost into
the environment at each link.
 90 % of the energy is lost to the
environment as HEAT
 10% of the energy is transferred

Energy pyramid
A producer receives all the energy in an
ecosystem

1%
Secondary
consumers
10%
Primary consumers
100%
Producers
TROPHIC LEVELS

A trophic level is:
 a step in the transfer of
energy through an
ecosystem
 a level in an energy
pyramid
• Different trophic levels:
– producer
– consumer
• primary, secondary,
tertiary, quaternary
Secondary
Consumers
1%
10 %
Primary
Consumers
100 %
Producers
ENERGY PYRAMIDS

Energy is lost with each transfer in a food chain
 90%
of the energy available at a level is released to
the environment as heat
 10% of the energy is incorporated or used
Only about
10% of the
energy from
a previous
level is
passed on
to the
consumer
FOOD WEBS
• A food web shows all feeding relationships in an
ecosystem (made of many food chains)
Which one will be impacted most
by removing coyote
lion
hawk
coyote
rabbit
grass
Check for understanding







what is the source of energy for producers?
what is the source of energy for primary
consumers?
what is the source of energy for decomposers?
omnivores eat both _______ and _______
herbivores eat ________
carnivores eat _______________
bacteria, fungi are examples of __________



percent of energy for primary consumers is
_______ %
percent of energy for secondary consumers is
________ %
from one link to the other link in a food chain
only 10% of the energy is transferred the rest
of the energy (the other 90%) is lost as
_________. This results in _________
organism at the lower levels and __________
organisms at the higher level