F LOW
OF
E NERGY
S OURCE OF E NERGY
Sun = Sol

Raise your hand if you
included this on your
schoolyard diagram.

The Sun provides the light and
heat energy for most forms of
life on Earth.
P RODUCERS

Producers chemically
change solar (light )
energy in the
chlorophyll (the green
color in the plant)
into their food.
Plants are producers.
F OOD

Plants make this food for their own
use. They need the energy to survive
and thrive.

Plants store the food in many places:
roots, stems, leaves, and fruits.

Plants make food during the process
called photosynthesis.
P HOTOSYNTHESIS

To undergo photosynthesis, plants
need:

Sunlight

Water

Carbon dioxide
P LANTS U SE THEIR FOOD

Plants use food to grow.

Plants use stored energy (food) when
the resources they need to grow and
thrive are unavailable.

Plants use food to survive harsh
environmental conditions, such as
drought or cold winters.
C ONSUMERS

Consumers are organisms that get their
energy by eating either producers
(plants) or other consumers (animals).

They use this energy to survive, grow,
and reproduce .
F LOW OF ENERGY

Let’s look at some of the diagrams
you completed in your science
notebook on the first day of this
lesson.

What do they have in common?
F OOD C HAINS

When energy is transferred through
organisms it is called a food chain.

Arrows are used to show the direction the
energy is flowing.

In the schoolyard, you might see:

Remember, nearly every food chain starts
with energy from the Sun.
E XAMPLE

Use the strips of paper to
create a food chain for
organisms that live in one of
the Earth’s ecosystems. It
might be the Arctic or the
ocean, forest or desert,
grassland or jungle.

Cut six strips of paper of
different sizes, as shown
here.

Color the widest strip yellow.
This will represent the Sun.
E XAMPLE
Plant
Carnivore

Write the name of a plant on the second
widest strip of paper.

On the third widest paper, write the name
of an organism that eats the plant.

On the fourth widest, write the name of an
animal that eats the organism on the
second strip.

On the fifth and sixth strips, continue the
sequence.

If you are unable to think of any organisms,
name another plant, or a second animal,
that may eat one of the organisms listed.
F OOD C HAIN

Sun
Link your food chain together beginning with the Sun.
Add the producer and then the consumers (herbivores
and carnivores). Use tape to secure the link.
Producer
Consumer:
Herbivore
Consumer:
Carnivore
Consumer:
Carnivore
C OMPARING FOOD
Plankton
CHAINS
Shrimp

Work in groups of four to compare the food
chains that were created.

What do the food chains have in common
with each other?

Could any food chains overlap with each
other?
Small Mullet
Flounder
Porpoise
F OOD W EBS
Plankton
Shrimp

When food chains overlap, a
food web is formed.

Use the chains in your group to
form a food web.

Draw the food web in your
science notebook.
Small Mullet
Crab
Flounder
Trout
Porpoise
Sea Gull
D ECOMPOSERS

Decomposers are organisms such as fungi,
bacteria, and animals that play a major role in
breaking down dead matter and returning
nutrients to the soil. They also play a role in the
nitrogen cycle.
DECOMPOSERS
Plankton

Shrimp
Add some decomposers to
your food web.
Small Mullet
Crab
Bacteria
Flounder
Trout
Porpoise
Sea Gull
Mold
T HE MOST IMPORTANT
ROLE

The most important role an organism
(producer, consumer, or decomposer)
plays in the ecosystem is ______ because
______.
C OMPARE R OLES IN THE
E COSYSTEM
Producer
Decomposer
Consumer