Teach about Decomposers: Any sort of “left-overs” are waste, like flowers dying at the end of the season or trees dropping their leaves. There are messy carnivores who don’t clean their plates and other animals that drop… other stuff…so what happens to all of it?

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ECOLOGY: Decomposers
In This Episode:
-Decomposition in the Ecosystem
-Where do Decomposers Fit in the Food Chain?
-Who are the Decomposers?

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DECOMPOSITION JOURNAL:
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STANDARDS
NGSS
5-LS2-1 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem.
MS-LS2-3 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.

TEKS
SCI.4.9.B
Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to: describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the food web
SCI.5.9.B
Organisms and environments. The student knows that there are relationships, systems, and cycles within environments. The student is expected to: describe the flow of energy within a food web, including the roles of the Sun, producers, consumers, and decomposers
SCI.9-11.B.12.C
Science concepts. The student knows that interdependence and interactions occur within an environmental system. The student is expected to: analyze the flow of matter and energy through trophic levels using various models, including food chains, food webs, and ecological pyramids

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