Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
Florida Benchmarks
• SC.8.N.1.1 Define a problem from the eighth
grade curriculum using appropriate reference
materials to support scientific understanding, plan
and carry out scientific investigations of various
types, such as systematic observations or
experiments, identify variables, collect and
organize data, interpret data in charts, tables, and
graphics, analyze information, make predictions,
and defend conclusions.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
Florida Benchmarks
• SC.8.N.3.1 Select models useful in relating the
results of their own investigations.
• SC.8.L.18.3 Construct a scientific model of the
carbon cycle to show how matter and energy are
continuously transferred within and between
organisms and their physical environment.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
Florida Benchmarks
• SC.8.L.18.4 Cite evidence that living systems
follow the Laws of Conservation of Mass and
Energy.
• LA.6.4.2.2 The student will record information
(e.g., observations, notes, lists, charts, legends)
related to a topic, including visual aids to organize
and record information and include a list of
sources used.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
Soak Up the Sun
How do organisms get energy and
matter?
• Energy is the ability to do work.
• Matter is anything that has mass and takes up
space.
• All organisms need energy and matter to survive,
grow, and reproduce.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How do organisms get energy and
matter?
• The sun is the original source of energy for most
ecosystems.
• Organisms called producers make their own food.
• Consumers are organisms that cannot make their
own food and eat producers or other consumers to
get energy.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How do organisms get energy and
matter?
• Producers get energy from the sun.
• Some producers use chemical energy instead of
light energy to make food.
• Producers get matter from soil and air.
• Consumers get both energy and matter from the
foods they eat.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
What happens to energy and matter in
ecosystems?
• The law of conservation of energy states that
energy cannot be created or destroyed; it only
changes form.
• The law of conservation of mass states that
mass cannot be created or destroyed.
• Mass moves in different forms through the
environment.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
What happens to energy and matter in
ecosystems?
• Matter and energy can leave an ecosystem when
organisms move.
• Matter and energy can leave an ecosystem by the
actions of Earth processes, such as water and air
movement.
• The matter and energy are never destroyed.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
Cycle and Flow
How does energy move through an
ecosystem?
• Some energy is lost to the environment as heat.
• Energy is also stored within organisms.
• An energy pyramid is a tool that can be used to
trace the flow of energy through an ecosystem.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does energy move through an
ecosystem?
• How does the size of a population change at each
step in an energy pyramid?
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• Producers use matter from the physical
environment.
• Primary consumers use the matter in producers.
• Secondary consumers use the matter in primary
consumers.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• Matter such as water, carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorus, and oxygen flows from producers to
consumers.
• Decomposers break down waste products and
dead organisms and return them to the physical
environment.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• Carbon is an important building block of
organisms.
• Carbon is found in food, the atmosphere, water,
rocks, soils, organisms, and fossil fuels.
• Energy and matter move through organisms and
between organisms and the physical environment
in the carbon cycle.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• During photosynthesis, producers make sugars
that contain carbon.
• During cellular respiration, sugars are broken
down to release energy.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• Combustion, or the burning of once-living
materials, releases carbon.
• The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon into the
air.
• Decomposition breaks down dead organisms and
waste, releasing carbon back to the environment.
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Unit 9 Lesson 2 Energy and Matter in Ecosystems
How does matter move through an
ecosystem?
• How does the carbon cycle move matter through
ecosystems?
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