Activating Strategy:

Watch the video clip:

https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bW7PlTaawfQ

Talk with an elbow partner

about what Mufasa means by
the circle of life.
 Essential Question:
How does energy flow
through an ecosystem?
Standards:
S7L4a. Demonstrate in a food web that matter is transferred
from one organism to another and can recycle between
organisms and their environment.

S7L4b. Explain in a food web that sunlight is the source of

energy and that this energy moves from organism to organism.
 What is matter?
Matter is anything that has
mass and takes up space.

What happens to matter in the

circle of life? Does it just
disappear?
 Matter in an ecosystem may change
form, but it never leaves the ecosystem.

The movement of matter through the

living and non-living parts of an
ecosystem is a continuous cycle.
What does the
diagram to the
right illustrate
about our
environment?

You learned about various cycles in the atmosphere,

hydrosphere, and lithosphere in sixth grade. Now, we
are going to examine cycles in the biosphere.
 What are some cycles you have learned
about before in science?
Three of the most important cycles in
ecosystems involve water, carbon, and nitrogen.
 Water Cycle

http://pmm.nasa.gov/education/videos/tour-water-cycle
 Carbon Cycle
What processes are involved in the Carbon Cycle?
[Hint: You learned them in the Cell Processes unit]

http://
studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosy
stems/carbon-cycle.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vJ_1ojjlxw
 Nitrogen Cycle

http://
studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/nitrogen-cycle.htm
https://
www.classzone.com/books/ml_science_share/vis_sim/em05_pg20_nitrogen/em0
5_pg20_nitrogen.swf
 Why are the water, carbon, and
nitrogen cycles important?

All three cycle elements necessary

for life through the atmosphere,
soil, and living organisms.
Energy also cycles continuously
through the environment.

Energy is the ability to do

work or to cause a change.
Energy Strip
Activity
 Energy is essential to all
living things. Where does
this energy come from?

Energy comes
directly or indirectly
from the Sun.
 Organisms obtain
the energy they need
in different ways.
 Producer
An organism that captures energy
from sunlight and changes it into
chemical energy
Producers are autotrophs
because they make their own food
Producers are a source of food
for other organisms
Producer: Examples
Photosynthetic Bacteria
Plants

Algae
 Consumer
An organism that gets its energy by
eating, or consuming, other
organisms
Consumers are heterotrophs
because they feed on other
organisms to get their energy
There are different types based on
what it consumes
Consumer: Herbivore
A consumer that feeds on
plants or algae

Squirrel

Zebra Elephant
Consumer: Omnivore
A consumer that feeds on both
plants and animals

Skunk Hedgehog

Bear
Consumer: Carnivore
A consumer that feeds on
other animals

Hawk Alligator

Cheetah
Consumer: Scavenger
A consumer that feeds on
dead animals

Earthworm Raccoon

Vulture
 Decomposer
An organism that breaks down
dead plant and animal matter
into simpler compounds

Decomposers return matter to

soil or water where it may be
used again and again
Decomposer: Examples

Bacteria Fungi

Mr. Parr Decomposers Song [3:20] https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLk-9ib0OVA
Watch the video clip and write down
your observations using the following
guidelines:

1. Whats occurring in the video?

2. Is the process shown harmful or
beneficial? Why?
3. What would happen if the process
shown did not occur?
4. The process shown can be described as
a cycle, why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6sFP_7Vezg
Study Jams: Ecos
ystem
Energy Roles Song
[3:47 introduces additional concepts]
Organism Card Activity
 Food Chains
Food chains are
used to describe the
feeding relationship
between a producer
and a single chain
of consumers in an
ecosystem.
 Food Chains
Why does the
grasshopper eat the
plant? What about the
owl and the snake?

Organisms eat or
make their own food
so the food can be
converted into energy.
 Food Chain

Energy is Energy is Energy is

going from the going from the going from the
corn to the locust to the lizard to the
locust lizard snake

The arrows show the direction in which

Notice the direction of the arrows.
the energy from the food is moving
Where does the energy for the
food chain always begin?
Based on the two
food chains,
what do you
think terrestrial
means?

Terrestrial means
land and marine
means sea
 The decomposers
Which get energy
type of organism is
from the
circled indead bird which
the food chainthen
and
gets transferred back to plants
why is it shown differently?
in the soil.
Study Jams:
Food Chain
https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iW
fEn8J5xKM
Constructing a
Food Chain
Activity
 Food Web
A food web is a model of feeding
relationships between many different
consumers and producers (several food
chains together).
Food Web
Food Web
Food Web Game

Constructing a
Food Web
Activity
Study Jams:
Food Web
 Food Chains/Web
Both food chains and food webs show
how different organisms receive their
energy. They also show how different
organisms depend on one another.

If one organism is removed from the

food web or food chain, it may affect
many other organisms in the ecosystem.
Use the Food Web Interdependence handout provided
by the teacher and with an elbow partner discuss and
describe what might happen if the fish population was
suddenly removed from this ecosystem?
 Within an ecological food chain/web,
consumers are categorized into three groups.
A Tertiary consumer feeds only on
secondary consumers

Secondary consumers, on the

other hand, are mainly carnivores,
and prey on other animals

Primary consumers are usually

herbivores, feeding on plants and
fungus
Within an ecological food chain, consumers
are categorized into three groups.

Each level is
referred to as a
Trophic Level
 As energy moves from
organism to organism, the
amount of energy available for
transfer decreases.
What does this mean
for the polar bear?

The polar bear has to

eat more than the
seal, cod, shrimp, etc.
to get the amount of
energy it needs.

Amount of Energy
Another way to picture
the flow of energy in
an ecosystem is to
use an energy
pyramid.
 Identify the different
levels of the energy
pyramid on your
notes and answer the
additional questions.
 Why is bacteria
shown at both the
top and the bottom
of the pyramid to the
right?
Pyramid Model
Activity
 Food Web
Formative
Assessment
Practice
 How is the flow of
energy in ecosystems
like our money? Turn
to a seat partner and
discuss.
With a different seat
partner, discuss our
lesson activating
question, what did
Mufasa mean by the
circle of life?