Download Energy, Producers, and Consumers


At the core of every organism’s
interaction with the environment is its
need for energy to power life’s
processes.
Living systems operate by
_______________________________________.
 Organisms need energy for _________,
_____________ and ____________________.
 If there is no energy, there are no life
functions!
 Yet no organism can create energy –
organisms can only use energy from
other sources.

For most life on Earth, ______________ is
the ultimate energy source.
 For some organisms,
_________________________________stored
in inorganic compounds serves as the
ultimate energy source.

Only a few organisms such as algae,
some bacteria and plants can capture
energy from sunlight or chemicals and
convert it into forms that living cells can
use.
 These organisms are called ____________.
 Autotrophs

Autotrophs also store energy in forms
that make it available to other organisms
to eat them.
 That’s why autotrophs are also called
_____________________________________.
 Primary producers, are the first producers
of energy-rich compounds that are later
used by other organisms.

The best known and most common
primary producers harness solar energy
through the process of photosynthesis.
 Photosynthesis:

Without
photosynthetic
producers, the air would
not contain enough
________________ for you
to breathe.
Biologists discovered thriving ecosystems
around volcanic vents in total darkness
on the deep ocean floor.
 There was no light for photosynthesis, so
who or what were the primary
producers?
 These organisms were using
______________________, in which
chemical energy is used to produces
carbohydrates.

 Other
organisms that cannot
directly harness energy from the
environment are known as
____________________________.
 A heterotroph must:
Heterotrophs
are also
called _________________ –
organisms that rely on other
organisms for energy and
nutrients are called
consumers.

Consumers are classified by the ways in
which they acquire energy and nutrients.
 Carnivores:
 Herbivores:
 Omnivores:

Scavengers:

Decomposers:

Detritivores:
 Categories
will often overlap.
 Hyenas are described as
carnivores, but they will scavenge
if they get a chance.
 Many aquatic animals eat a
mixture of algae, bits of animals
carcasses, and detritus particles.