Systems: Recycling

What is a
producer?
 What is a
producer?
A producer is an organism that uses energy from the sun to make its
own food.
What is a
consumer?
 What is a
consumer?
A consumer is an organism that must eat to get energy.
 What is a
decomposer?
 What is a
decomposer?
A decomposer is an organism that breaks down dead plants and
animals.
Food Web Review
P

D
 What happens to the system when the top
consumers and individual members of other
food levels are not eaten?
 Decomposers
The grinders: reduce organic matter to very small
particles.
Ex: Beetles, ants, worms, & snails

The finishers: use organic matter for food, leaving

behind only nutrient chemicals, what is then used by
producers to produce new food!
 Compost
Compost: is decaying organic material.
*Compost worms live in an ecosystem right in the
space between the soil’s surface and the top of the
layer of leaf litter (dead leaves, twigs, and other
discarded materials)
Organic Matter: matter that has come from a recently
living organism
Compost Video Link
 Focus Question: What
happens when compost
worms interact with organic
matter?