In this Grade 3 lesson from Science: A Closer Look, students learn how energy flows through ecosystems by exploring the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers in food chains and food webs. Students investigate the concepts of ecosystems and habitats, discovering how living and nonliving things interact and depend on each other for survival. A hands-on owl pellet activity gives students real evidence of feeding relationships, reinforcing how organisms are connected within an ecosystem.
Section 1
Ecosystems Connect Living and Nonliving Things
Ecosystems contain both living organisms and nonliving elements that interact with each other. Plants, animals, and decomposers depend on sunlight, water, and soil within their specific habitats to survive.
Section 2
Energy Flows Through Food Chains
Food chains show how energy passes from one organism to another. The energy begins with producers who make their own food, travels to consumers who eat other organisms, and ends with decomposers.
Section 3
Food Webs Link Multiple Food Chains
Most animals eat several kinds of food, connecting them to multiple food chains. These interconnected chains form food webs, showing how organisms compete for resources and adapt if one food source disappears.
Section 4
Decomposers Recycle Nutrients in Ecosystems
Decomposers like worms, mold, and bacteria break down dead plants and animals. This process releases essential nutrients back into the soil or water, helping new plants grow and maintaining ecosystem balance.
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Section 1
Ecosystems Connect Living and Nonliving Things
Ecosystems contain both living organisms and nonliving elements that interact with each other. Plants, animals, and decomposers depend on sunlight, water, and soil within their specific habitats to survive.
Section 2
Energy Flows Through Food Chains
Food chains show how energy passes from one organism to another. The energy begins with producers who make their own food, travels to consumers who eat other organisms, and ends with decomposers.
Section 3
Food Webs Link Multiple Food Chains
Most animals eat several kinds of food, connecting them to multiple food chains. These interconnected chains form food webs, showing how organisms compete for resources and adapt if one food source disappears.
Section 4
Decomposers Recycle Nutrients in Ecosystems
Decomposers like worms, mold, and bacteria break down dead plants and animals. This process releases essential nutrients back into the soil or water, helping new plants grow and maintaining ecosystem balance.
Book overview
Jump across lessons in the current chapter without opening the full course modal.
Continue this chapter