Energy Transfer And Decay Flashcards
What is a source of energy to nearly all life on earth?
The sun
How do green plants and algae make food during photosynthesis?
They use light energy from the sun. This energy’s stored in the substance which make up the cells of plants and algae, and then works its way through the food chain as animals eat them and each other.
What supplies energy for all life’s processes, including movement?
Respiration
How is energy lost through respiration?
It is lost to the surrounding areas as heat. Especially for mammals and birds who has to keep their body at constant temperature
Why is some material called that makes up plants and animals( i.e. Bone) inedible ?
So it doesn’t pass to the next stage of the food chain. Material and energy are also lost from the food chain in organisms waste materials (faeces)
How are elements cycled back to the start of the food chain?
Through decay.
What are living things made of? (How do plants do this)?
Materials that they take from the world around them.
Plants take elements like Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen from the soil or the air. They turn these elements into complex compounds that make up living organisms, these then pass through the food chain.
What is a complex compound
Carbohydrates, proteins and fats
How are the elements taken by plants returned to the environment?
In waste products produced by the organisms, or when organisms die. These materials decay because they’ve been broken down(digested) by microorganisms that’s how the elements are put back into the soil
What is the best conditions for microorganisms to work best in? What is a good example of a ideal condition?
Moist, warm conditions. Many microorganisms break down faster when there’s plenty oxygen available. Compost bins recreate these ideal conditions.
Once decayed what happens to all the important elements?
They are put back in the soil ready to be used by a new plant again.
What Happens in a stable community?
The materials take out of the soil and used are balanced by those that are put back in. There is a constant cycle happening
