Types of organisms

1. Types of Organisms

2. “Organism” is the word for
a living thing.
There are thousands of different
species of organisms in the world.
But they all must have
energy to live.

3. There are thousands of
different organisms in the
world.
But all organisms
belong to one of three
groups, or types.

4. producers

5. producers
consumers

6. producers
consumers
decomposers

7. Notes:1
What is the word for
“a living thing”?

8. Notes:1
What is the word for
“a living thing”?
organism

10. Producers are plants.
Plants produce the energy
they need. They make
food from sunlight.

11. Produces
are plants.
Plants can
produce the
energy they
need.
They make
food from
sunlight.

12. An important producers
in aquatic (water)
ecosystems is algae.

13. Algae is a plant that
produces food so like
most plants it is green.

14. Billions of
tiny algae
floating in
water is
what
makes it
appear to
be green.

15. Notes:2
Which type of organisms can
make food?

16. Notes:2
Which type of organisms can
make food?
Producers (plants)

17. Notes:3
What is the tiny aquatic
plant that provides food for
the smallest water animals?

18. Notes:3
What is the tiny aquatic
plant that provides food for
the smallest water animals?
Algae

20. Consumers are animals.

21. Consumers must consume
other organisms to get the
energy they need.

22. Consumers must consume
other organisms to get the
energy they need.

23. Consumers must consume
other organisms to get the
energy they need.

24. Consumers must consume
other organisms to get the
energy they need.

25. Consumers must consume
other organisms to get the
energy they need.

26. The smallest consumers in
aquatic (water) ecosystems
are called zooplankton.
Zooplankton
are actually
tiny.
These
plankton are
magnified
many times.

27. Plankton can look like this.

28. …..or this

29. …..or sometimes like this.

30. Notes:3

31. Notes:4
Which type of organism
must eat other organisms
for food?

32. Notes:4
Which type of organism
must eat other organisms
for food?
Consumers (animals)

34. Decomposers can be
plants or animals.

35. Decomposers can be
plants or animals.
Decomposers get the
energy they need from
dead, rotting material.

36. Most decomposers are
microorganisms too small to
see without a microscope,
like these bacteria.

37. Decomposers are all
around us.

38. Decomposers are all
around us. They don’t
eat organisms that are
still alive.

39. Decomposers only start
eating when organisms die.

40. Notes:5
Which type of organism
eats rotten dead plants and
animals for food?

41. Notes:5
Which type of organism
eats rotten dead plants and
animals for food?
Decomposers

42. Notes:6
What is the word for a very
small living thing?

43. Notes:6
What is the word for a very
small living thing?
Microorganism

44. Notes:7
Most decomposers
are microorganisms.
What is the name of
the microorganisms
that are most
decomposers?

45. Notes:7
Most decomposers
are microorganisms.
What is the name of
the microorganisms
that are most
decomposers?
Bacteria

46. Not all
decomposers
are too small
to see, but
they are all
small.

47. Mushrooms are a type of
decomposer.

48. Fungi like these mushrooms
are plants that decompose
rotting material.

49. Some types of
insects are
decomposers.
These
termites eat
dead wood
and turn it
into soil.

50. Some types of
worms are
decomposers.
Worms eat
garbage
and turn it
into soil.

51. Adult flies aren’t decomposers.

52. But their larva (babies) are.

53. Flies are attracted to rotting
things that smell bad. That’s
where they like to lay their eggs.

54. Fly eggs hatch into larva are called
maggots.

55. Maggots are the squirmy white bugs
that you might see in a dead animal.
They may seem
disgusting but
maggots are an
important
component in
an ecosystem.

56. Notes:8

57. What are the
decomposing
insects that eat
dead trees?
Notes:8

58. What are the
decomposing
insects that eat
dead trees?
Notes:8
Termites

59. What insect lays
eggs on dead
animals that
hatch into
decomposing
larva called
maggots?
Notes:9

60. What insect lays
eggs on dead
animals that
hatch into
decomposing
larva called
maggots?
Notes:9
fly

61. All decomposers work to break down
dead organisms into the organic
material that makes soil rich and
fertile.

62. The organic material in soil is
called humus (hyoo muhs).

63. Rich soil with lots of organic
humus is more fertile and
grows better
plants.

64. Soil with no humus would just
be sand. Plants do not grow
well in sand.

65. Notes:a

66. What do decomposers add
to soil?
Notes:10

67. What do decomposers add
to soil?
Notes:10
Organic
material
called
humus
(hyoo muhs).

68. What is the word for
nutrient-rich soil that has
lots of humus?
Notes:11

69. What is the word for
nutrient-rich soil that has
lots of humus?
Notes:11
Fertile
(fur tul)

72. Producers, consumers, and
decomposers all work together
to keep life growing on Earth.

73. We draw pictures of the way
energy moves from one
organism to another with
food chains and food webs.

74. The arrows in a food web point in the
direction the energy is moving, or to
put it another way, from the food to
the eater.

76. The mouse
eats the plant

77. The snake eats
the mouse

78. The bird eats
the snake

79. But what about all the arrows
going to the decomposers?

80. Decomposers eat the energy
from dead plants and animals,
even the energy that is in
consumer’s poop.

81. Decomposers recycle the
nutrients into soil which
gives plants some of the
material they need.

82. Decomposers recycle the
nutrients into soil which
gives plants some of the
material they need.

83. Different ecosystems have different
organisms in their food webs.

87. Competition is what we call it
when two or more organisms
need the same resource.

88. Competition is shown in a
food web when arrows point
from one food source to more
than one consumer.

89. Competition is shown in a
food web when arrows point
from one food source to more
than one consumer.
Four kinds of
insects are
competing for
this plant.

90. Can you find
competition
in this food
web?

91. Notes:a

92. What is it called when two or
more organisms need the
same resource (like food).
Notes:12

93. What is it called when two or
more organisms need the
same resource (like food)?
Notes:12
Competition

94. How can you find competition
in a food web?
Notes:13

95. How can you find competition
in a food web?
Notes:13
Arrows point
to more than
one consumer.

96. How can you find competition
in a food web?
Notes:13
Arrows point
to more than
one consumer.
The arrows show that cats
and owls compete for mice.

97. A food web
shows what
animals eats.

98. If all the arrows
pointing to an
animal come
from plants,
that animal is
an herbivore.

99. If all the arrows
pointing to an
animal come
from other
animals, that
animal is an
carnivore.

100. If the arrows
pointing to
an animal
come from
plants and
animals,
that animal
is an
omnivore.

101. What type of
consumer
only eats
plants?
Notes:14

102. What type of
consumer
only eats
plants?
Notes:14
Herbivore

103. What type of
consumer
only eats
animals?
Notes:15

104. What type of
consumer
only eats
animals?
Notes:15
Carnivore

105. What type of
consumer
only both
plants and
animals?
Notes:16

106. What type of
consumer
only both
plants and
animals?
Notes:16
Omnivore

107. What type of
consumer
only eats
animals?
Notes:14
Herbivores

108. There is another fact
about food webs that we
need to understand.

109. Not all of the energy makes
it to the top of the web.

110. There are many more
trees than giraffes.

111. There are many more
giraffes than lions.

112. This model of
the food chain
is called an
energy
pyramid.

113. A
pyramid
is small at the top
and big at the
bottom.
Energy pyramid

114. Only about 1/10 of the energy
move up at each level.

115. Notes:17
How much of
the energy
moves up
each level in
a food
chain?

116. Notes:17
How much of
the energy
moves up
each level in
a food
chain?
10%

152. Plankton