NOTES - How to Make a Living

• Energy in the form of food is key to staying alive

• Every living thing has a certain way to get energy (‘make a living’)

Key Vocabulary

• Producer is an organism that makes its own food

• Consumer is an organism that gets its food from another organism

Key Vocabulary

• Primary consumer is an organism that eats a producer

• Secondary consumer is an organism that eats another organism that ate a producer

Format for Following Notes:

1. The xxxxx Way -- ____________ • Is it a producer or consumer?• Describe the method:• Organism examples:• Extra notes if applicable

Photosynthesis • PRODUCER• Method: Absorb sun’s

energy and transform it into chemical energy in the form of food (carbohydrate – glucose)

• Examples: plants, algae, some bacteria

The Green Way

The Gentle Way

HERBIVORE• Primary consumers• Method: graze on plants• Examples: snails, deer,

grasshoppers, rabbits, monkeys

The Carnivorous Way

CARNIVOUR • Secondary consumer• Method: kill and eat other

animals • Examples: frogs, snakes,

owls, lions, some plants• Predator: carnivore that

hunts down and kills another animal (prey)

The Either/Or Way

OMNIVORE• Primary or secondary

consumer• Method: grazes on

producers or feeds on other animals

• Examples: bears, foxes

The Lazy Way

PARASITISM • Consumer• Method: take food from

other organisms, usually without killing them

• Examples: mistletoe, leeches, tapeworms

The Win-Win Way

SYMBIOSIS • Consumer• Method: two organisms

live together mutually to help each other survive

• Examples: plant roots & fungi plant roots provide food to fungi, and fungi help plants absorb soil nutrients

The Necessary Way

SCAVENGING• Secondary (or tertiary)

consumer• Method: feed on dead

animals (w/o killing)• Examples: vultures,

jackals

The Recycling Way

DECOMPOSING• Neither – decomposer!• Method: chemically break

down dead organisms and returns nutrients to the soil

• Examples: bacteria, fungi, worms

• Makes the soil healthy!

Check Yourself!