Tomato Plant With sufficient water and sunlight, my plant was able to go through the process of photosynthesis to grow the stem and leaves. It used the sun's energy and converted it into chemical energy (usable energy). - C02 +water = light energy/chlorophyll = glucose +oxygen Glucose is a sugar formed in this process which contains stored chemical energy, most plants convert this sugar into starch for storage and some will use it as energy. - Energy enters an ecosystem when producers carry out photosynthesis, capturing energy from the sun and storing it as chemical potential energy. During this process, matter from the environment (in the form of carbon dioxide and water) is taken in and rearranged into organic molecules (sugars). These organic molecules can power the producers’ life processes via cellular respiration (which release more carbon dioxide as well as heat), or they can be stored as biomass. - Next, energy and matter move up the trophic levels of an ecosystem as producers are eaten by primary consumers, which are then eaten by secondary consumers, and so on. Some of the organic material eaten by consumers is used for cellular respiration (again, releasing carbon dioxide and heat), some is stored as biomass, and the rest is excreted as waste. Dead producers and consumers and their waste products provide matter and energy to decomposers. Decomposers transform matter back into inorganic forms that can be recycled within the ecosystem. (information used from my notes, ppt (D2L) and worksheets)
