Where does all of the energy come from?

© T.P. Thould

June 1999

ECOLOGY

From:-

Ecos - Homes ology - The study of…...

The study of Plants and Animals in the places where they live.

ECOLOGICAL TERMS

HABITAT where an animal or plant lives

COMMUNITY all the organisms in a habitat

ENVIRONMENT the surrounding which affects them

FLORA AND FAUNA Plants and animals

ECOSYSTEM the community and environment

ADAPTATION suited to a particular environment

One of the eight characteristics of living things is that every living thing needs to feed.

From the food they get the fuel to change into the sort of energy they need.

The energy can be then used by the plant or animal for movement, growth etc.

WHERE DOES THE ENERGY COME FROM?

This is a PRODUCER

So is this And this

But this isn’t

Neither is this Or this

SO WHAT ARE PRODUCERS?

All green plants are

PRODUCERS

This is because they PRODUCE (make) the food for themselves and for the animals

which eat them by PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Energy from the sun reaches the plant in the form of light and heat.

The plant uses the sun’s energy to make food by

Photosynthesis PRODUCER

All green plants are PRODUCERS

This is because they PRODUCE the food for the animals by PHOTOSYNTHESIS

The first animal to feed on the plant is called

the PRIMARY CONSUMER

All Primary Consumers are Herbivores i.e.

plant eaters

Some of the energy from the sun is now in the Primary Consumer

The Primary Consumer is eaten by the SECONDARY CONSUMER

Secondary Consumers are all CARNIVORES or OMNIVORES

The Ladybird is a

PRIMARY CONSUMER

……..Because it’s the first animal to feed on the plant

The PRIMARY CONSUMER

Is now eaten by the …...

SECONDARY CONSUMER

This is a SECONDARY

CONSUMER

It eats the Primary Consumer - in this case the Ladybird

SECONDARY CONSUMERS

Are all

CARNIVORES (meat eaters)

or

OMNIVORES (eat plants & animals)

Some of the energy from the sun is now in the

Secondary Consumer

The Hawk is the Third or Tertiary

Consumer which now has some of the

energy from the sun.

PREDATOR

PREY

BY NOW YOU SHOULD KNOW…..

•Examples of Food Chains and how to draw one

•Where the energy comes from to supply a food chain

•What sort of Organisms are Producers

•What is meant by Producers, Consumers, Predators, Prey, Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores

Some of the energy from

the sun is in the PRODUCER

Less of the energy from the sun is in

the PRIMARY

CONSUMER

Even less of the energy from the sun is in the SECONDARY CONSUMER

Some energy is lost from each link in the food chain by Respiration, Heat,

Waste Growth and Movement

ENERGY

A

PYRAMID OF NUMBERS

1,000 Plants

100 Butterflies

2 Swifts

Represents the numbers of each link in a Food Chain

A PYRAMID OF NUMBERS CAN BE DRAWN LIKE THIS

It represents the numbers of each link in a Food Chain

1,000 Plants

100 Butterflies

2 Swifts

BY NOW YOU SHOULD KNOW…..

•How Energy is lost from a Food Chain

•Examples of Food Webs and how to draw one

•Where the energy comes from to supply a food web

•What is meant by a Pyramid of Numbers

QUESTION TIME1 What sort of living thing is a producer?

3 From where do Producers get their energy?

4 Animals which eat Producers are known as Primary what?

5 Which animal is a Predator?

2 Why are they called Producers?

6 Which animal is a Secondary Consumer and what does it eat?

7 Where does all of the energy come from to start the food chain?

8 Make up your own Food Chain and label it.

ECOLOGICAL SAMPLING

To find out the type and numbers of plants to be found in a particular habitat there are different methods of sampling.

•Quadrats of different sizes

•Quadrat Grids

•Line Transects

•Profile Transects