Flashcards Table on Science 7th Grade Chapter 2 (2.1 & 2.2) Energy Flow In Ecosystems & Cycles Of Ma

Producer

An organism that can make its own food. (like plants, algae, and some bacteria)(example: tree)

Consumer

An organism (as a member of an ecosystem) that obtains energy by feeding on other organisms.

What are the 3 classifications of "consumers?"

herbivores
carnivores
omnivores

Herbivore

Consumers that eat only plants

Carnivore

Consumers that eat only animals.

Omnivore

consumers that eat both plants and animals.

Scavenger

a carnivore (eats only animals) that feeds on the bodies of dead organisms.

What are 2 examples of scavengers?

(examples are catfish and vultures)

Decomposer

These organisms break down wastes and dead oranisms and return the raw materials to the ecosystems. If we didn't have themn, the raw materials of life would stay locked up in wastes and the bodies of dead organisms.

Who are nature's recyclers?

Decomposers

What does evergy enter most ecosystems as?

sunlight (and then it is converted into food molecules by producers.)

The movement of energy through an ecosystem can be shown in diagrams called ____ ______ and ____ ____.

food chains and food webs

food chain

A series of events in which one organism eats another and obtains energy.

How does. a food chain work?

You can follow a food chain in a diagram like the one on page 45. The 1st organism in a food chain is always a producer, like a tree. The 2nd organism feeds on the producer and is called a first-level consumer. The carpenter ant on An example of a second-level consumer is the woodpecker.

What is a food web?

A food chain only shows 1 path of energy moving through an ecosystem, but organisms eat different things, so a food web of many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem is more realistic.

Lavel the Water Cycle diagram

p 49 has an example

Label the Carbon & Oxygen Cycle diagram

p 51 has an example

Label the Nitrogen Cycle

page 52 has an example

Evaporation

The process by which molecules of liquid water absorb energy and hcange to a gas. Liquid water evaporates from ocdeans, lakes, and other surfaces (like plants)

Condensation

As water vapor rises higher in the atmosphere, it cools down. The cooled vaport then turns back into tiny drops of liquid waster. THE PROCESS BY WHICH A GAS CHANGES TO LIQUID IS CALLED __________. The water droplets collect around particles of dust, eventually forming clouds.

Precipitation

Drops falling back to Earth -- rain, snow, sleet, or hail. Most falls back into oceans or lakes. Some falls on land an soaks into soil or becomes ground-water. Or it may run off the land and eventualy flow back into a river or ocean.

Surface Runoff

Precipitation that falls onto land that does not soak into the soil, but instead runs of the land and flows eventually back into a river or ocean.

Carbon Cycle and Oxygen Cycle

These are the processes by which carbon and oxygen are recycled and they are linked.

The CARBON CYCLE : Producers like trees take in carbon dioxide gas fromteh air during photosythesis. Thgey use the carbon from the carbon dioxide to make food molecules like sugars and starches. The consumers eat them, and use it as energy. When the producers and consumers die, the decomposers break down their remain and return the carbon compounds to the soil.

Oxygen Cycle

Like the Carbon Cycle; oxygen cycles through ecosystem. Producers (like trees) release oxygen as a result of photosynthesis. Then most organisms use the oxygen to live.

Photosynthesis

The process of producers using the sun's energy to turn water and carbon dioxide into food molecules.

Root Nodule

the bumps on roots have bacteria that fix the free nitrogen into simple compounds

Root Nodule

the bumps on roots have bacteria that fix the free nitrogen into simple compounds

Root Nodule

the bumps on roots have bacteria that fix the free nitrogen into simple compounds

Root nodule

the bumps on roots that bacteria on fix free nitrogen into simple compounds

Nitrogen fixation

The process of changing free nitrogen into a usable form of nitrogen. (Bacteria on root nodules fix free nitrogen into simple compounds)

Fixed nitrogen

Most organisms can only use nitrogen once it has been "fixed" or combined with other elements to form nitrogen-containing compounds. (Bacteria fix it)

Free nitrogen

Nitrogen that is by itself. Once it is combined with other elements to make a compound organisms can use, it becomes fixed.

What are the 3 main energy roles organisms can have in a food web? Give an example of each.

Producers (trees)
Consumers (caterpillars)
Decomposers (bacteria or mushrooms)

What are the 4 types of consumers? Give an example of each?

herbivores - caterpillars and deer
carnivores - Lions and spiders
omnivores - crows, bears, and most humans
scavengers - a carnivore that feeds on dead organisms - catfish and vultures.

What is the major difference between a 1st level consumer and a 2nd level consumer?

The first-level consumers are herbavores and second-level consumers are omnivores or carnivores?

In which direction do arrows point in a food web? (from what to what?)

The arrows point from a producer or lower level consumer to a higher level consumer?

Do food webs show interactions between member of a population OR a community? Why?

A community I think because it takes many different populations to link in a food web.

In general, how many energy-flow pathways are shown in a food chain? In a food web?

In general, ____ ??

Does MATTER (H2O, C & O, N) get re-used as it moves through an ecosystem, or does it run out?

I think matter gets reused by one of the cycles.

How does CARBON move through the Carbon & Oxygen Cycle? How does OXYGEN move through?

They are linked cycles where producers, consumers and decomposers all play a role in recycling both carbon and oxygen. (see and know the cycle)

What is the role of PLANTS (producers) in the ...

a. Nitrogen Cycle?
b. Carbon and Oxygen Cycle

a. plants in the Nitrogen Cycle have roots that fix free nitrogen into simple compounds, and the plants use them to make proteins that animals eat... see the Nitrogen Cycle

Plants in the Carbon and Oxygen Cycle take in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and use the carbon to make sugar and plants also make oxygen, which the animals breathe. Animals release the carbon dioxide in breath and fires also release it to the atmosphere.

Why is it important that nitrogen is "fixed?" What organisms require "fixed" nitrogen?