Producers, photosynthesis and consumers | Combined science

Starter quiz

Which word describes an organism that makes its own food?

herbivore

omnivore

prey

producer ✓
Which organism in the food chain makes its own food?

dandelion plant ✓

caterpillar

frog

owl
Which organisms in the food chain are carnivores?

dandelion

caterpillar

frog ✓

owl ✓
Which organism in the food chain is a primary consumer?

dandelion

caterpillar ✓

frog

owl
Starting with the organism that makes its own food, put these organisms into the order they would appear in a food chain diagram.

1

⇔

rosebush (a producer)

2

⇔

aphid (a herbivore)

3

⇔

wren (a secondary consumer)

4

⇔

sparrowhawk (a top predator that eats wrens)
What is the name of the chemical process that makes food in the cells of a producer?

'photosynthesis' ✓

Match each term to its correct meaning.

photosynthesis

⇔

process used by producers to make their own food ✓

biomass

⇔

all the biological material that makes up an organism ✓

cellular respiration

⇔

process that transfers energy for life processes using glucose as fuel ✓
Photosynthesis in producers makes a sugar called glucose, which is a type of …

carbohydrate ✓

fat

lipid

mineral ion
How do producers use the glucose they make?

They use it in cellular respiration. ✓

They use is it in photosynthesis.

They use it to make biomass. ✓

They store it as starch. ✓

It is excreted.
Oxygen is added to the atmosphere by the process of ______ in producers.

'photosynthesis' ✓
Humans are consumers. Where do consumers get the carbon they need to build biomass?

They get it by eating other organisms. ✓

They get it from the air.

They get it from water.

They get it from photosynthesis in their cells.
Plants are producers. Where do producers get the carbon they need to build biomass?

They get it by eating other organisms.

They get it from the air. ✓

They get it from food in the soil.

They get it from mineral ions.

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Producers use photosynthesis to make their own food in the form of glucose (a simple carbohydrate).
Consumers can only get food by eating producers or other consumers; producers are the source of food for food chains.
Consumers cannot use carbon and nitrogen from the environment to make biomass; they get them by eating producers.
Producers and consumers use the carbohydrate from photosynthesis to make biomass for growth and as fuel for respiration.
Consumers also depend upon producers to add oxygen to the atmosphere, which they use for aerobic cellular respiration.

It is a common misconception that consumers (including humans) could survive without producers.

The dependence of consumers on photosynthesis in producers in explored in depth.

Producer - an organism that makes its own food
Photosynthesis - the process used by producers to make their own food via a series of chemical reactions
Biomass - the mass of biological material in one or more organisms
Cellular respiration - a chemical process that transfers energy for life processes, using glucose as a fuel
Consumer - an organism that eats other organisms for food