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Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Natures peace
will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will
blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy,
while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

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John Muir

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The Cycling of Matter


and the Flow of Energy
in Communities

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Think about your school as a community. Picture the organization and interaction

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of people, books, paper, furniture, and food. People move through the hallways in
repeated patterns throughout the day. Books and papers are moved from lockers, to
class, and back to lockers. Desks are rearranged to accommodate various activities and

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events. Food is moved from the kitchen, to lunch trays, to hungry students.

These things move through the organized community of your school. In much the

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same way, energy and matter move through organized communities of living organisms
of all sizes. In biology, we speak of a community as the group of living organisms that
inhabit and interact with each other in a specific area. An ecosystem is a community of
organisms interacting with its environment. Consider a bird living in the sandstone

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rocks in this photograph. Now think about the insects on which it feeds and the many
other organisms that inhabit this pion-juniper woodland. Together these organisms
make up a community. Matter and energy move through this community in different

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ways. In this chapter, you will use your experiences from a variety of activities and
related essays to develop an understanding of how matter and energy are organized
within communities.

ACTIVITIES
ACTIVITIES

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Engage
A Matter of Trash

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Explore

Explore Exploring the Cycling of Matter


in Communities

Explain Spinning the Web of Life

Elaborate Generating Some Heat

Evaluate What Have I Learned about Energy and


Matter in Communities?

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Engage A Matter of Trash


Explore What are your chores around your home? Do you wash dishes, mow the lawn,
feed pets, babysit for a younger brother or sister, or take out the trash? Think about
the last time you took out the trash. Did you look at what you were about to throw
away? Where did the trash go after you put it out on the curb or tossed it into a trash
container? What happened to the matter in the material you just discarded? Was any

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energy stored in that matter? Where did that energy go? Throughout this activity,
think about the various forms of matter that you may consider to be waste and what

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happens to this matter after you throw it out.

Figure 9.1 Trash.

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PROCESS AND PROCEDURES
Where will the matter
and energy in this 1. Examine the discarded items in the trash demonstration that your teacher
trash end up? presents. Create a table or other visual diagram that includes the following

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information:
A list of the trash in the demonstration

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A list of the trashs origin (for example, newspaper originated from
trees, wood, and pulp)
An indication of which trash items match your household trash

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(yes or no)
A list of at least 2 possible fates for each trash item (for example, in
a landfill, recycling plant, food for another animal, reused, etc.)

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2. In your journal, write a short description of what you think might happen to
the matter and energy in this trash after it is thrown out.

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Analysis
Working individually, answer these questions in your journal. Be prepared to

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share your responses in a class discussion. The essay Garbage among UsFrom Then
PAGE 374 until Now! (page 374) will provide you with information about how matter cycles in
other communities.
1. In what ways might the waste of one organism be useful to another organism?
Give examples to support your answer.
2. How does your answer to question 1 support the idea that organisms in
communities depend on one another for matter and energy?
3. As you compare how matter cycles in different communities, what do you
notice about the type of matter and the length of the cycle? What problems
have these differences caused for modern human societies?

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Further Challenges
On a separate piece of paper, write 1015 things you have thrown away in the
past week. Exchange lists with your partner. Write four or five things that you might
infer about your partner from his or her trash. Support your inferences.

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Figure 9.2

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When plastics and paper are recycled, what becomes of the matter they are made from?

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Exploring the Cycling of

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Explore

Matter in Communities
Have you ever watched ants in an ant farm? They always appear to be busy
modifying their environment in some way. In this activity, you will complete the
observations of the earthworm habitats that you set up some weeks ago. Think about
what your observations tell you about how these organisms interact with their
environment. You also will reflect on your experiments design. You will use this
understanding to design another experiment to explore how other organisms interact
with each other and with their environment.

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Materials (per team of 4)

Part A
6 slides stereomicroscope 2 paper towels earthworm habitat
hand lens 2 spoons small tray control habitat

Part B

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250-mL flask 4 25  200-mm test tubes
test tube rack aluminum foil

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light source 2 pH probes or pH strips sensitive to
2.5 mL of bromothymol blue (optional) pH 112 and pH strips sensitive to
1 thermistor or 1 thermometer narrow ranges

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straw 1-mL pipet
1- to 11/2 -cm freshwater snails jar of tap water for storing pH probes
distilled water (if used)

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15-cm sprigs of Anacharis (elodea)

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES

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Part A Reflections on the Earthworm Habitats
1. With your teammates, look at the earthworm habitats that you set up several

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weeks ago. Study the observations that you have recorded in your journal.
Remember that the purpose of these habitats was to provide evidence of interactions
between living systems and the physical environment, as well as evidence about the

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nature of these interactions.

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Figure 9.3
In what ways do you
think earthworms
interact with their
environment?

2. Discuss the following with your teammates. Record your ideas in your journal.
a. What evidence did you collect that supports the idea that earthworms
modify (interact with) their environment?
b. Describe this interaction. What do you think happened in the earthworm
containers?
c. What was the specific purpose of each container in helping you identify
and describe the interaction of earthworms and their environment?

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Compare the containers that had earthworms with each other. (One contained
soil and organic matter, and one only soil.) Why was it important to observe both
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types of containers? What did your comparisons tell you about the interactions of
earthworms with their environment? Topic: carbon cycle
Go to: www.scilinks.org
3. Read the essays Matter in Nature Is Going Around in Cycles . . . What Next? Code: human3E313
(page 377) and Worms, Insects, Bacteria, and FungiWho Needs Them?
(page 381). The information in these essays will help generate a context for

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your observations. It will also prepare you to design your own experiment that
explores the transformation of matter.

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PAGE 377 PAGE 381
Check to see that your teammates understand the concepts in the readings and how
they relate to your findings.

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Part B Snails and Anacharis: What Can I Learn from Them?
1. Devise an experiment to provide evidence of the cyclical movement of matter
in a community. See the Materials section for the materials and equipment

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that are available.
a. What have you learned about photosynthesis and respiration? Think Figure 9.4 Snails
back to previous chapters. In addition, read this need to know box for and Anacharis. How

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do these organisms
important background information. interact to cycle matter
in their environment?

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Observing the Carbon
Cycle in a Closed System a tmosph eri c
n d i oxi de
c ar b o
photosynthesis
Plants and animals interact in a variety of ways.

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To limit the interactions that are possible in an
experiment, you can conduct a study in a closed respiration
system. A closed system exchanges energy
with its environment, but not matter. By setting respiration

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up closed systems with an aquatic plant and an
aquatic animal, you can study an interaction burning
that is related to the carbon cycle. The carbon respiration
cycle is one of the chemical cycles in which
matter (in this case, carbon) moves from the
environment to organisms and back to the
environment in different chemical forms.
Recall from Chapter 8 that carbon dioxide
consumers producers
dissolves in water and forms a weak acid, which
dea fossil fuel
lowers the waters pH. A decrease in pH th
indicates an increase in the concentration of death
carbon dioxide. Conversely, an increase in pH decomposers
feeding
indicates a decrease in the concentration of carb on compoun ds
carbon dioxide.

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b. Develop a hypothesis about the cyclical movement of matter in an aquatic


community. Record your hypothesis in your journal.
You must be able to test the hypothesis using the materials and information
listed above.
c. Design an experiment to test your hypothesis. Outline your experiment in
your journal.

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Look at the design of the earthworm habitats. Apply your understanding of that
design to the one you develop here.

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Also, consider the experiment that you designed to investigate factors that
influenced the rate of photosynthesis in Chapter 8. You may use a similar
experimental procedure.
d. Have your teacher approve your design.

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2. Use the Protocol for Monitoring Change in pH to conduct your experiment
during the next 2 hours.

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Protocol for Monitoring Change in pH
1. Put 125 mL of distilled water in the flask.

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You may wish to add 2.5 mL of bromothymol blue to the water as an
additional pH indicator. If you use bromothymol blue, add it to the water
at this point. Swirl the flask to mix. Record color observations.

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2. Use a pH probe or pH test strips to test the initial pH of the water. Record
this starting pH.
3. Set up your experiment.
4. Coordinate your data collection method with your teacher and classmates.

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Allow your experimental setups to run for at least 2 hours.

5. Perform the following steps:


a. If you are using pH probes, calibrate them to a pH 411 range. Choose

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appropriate settings to monitor 2 pH probes. Save your data, and graph
your results.
b. If you are using pH paper (sensitive to pH in the 411 range), create a
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data table to record pH readings at 5-min intervals.
Topic: pH c. If you are using pH probes, carefully position them in each test tube so
Go to: www.scilinks.org
Code: human3E314
that they do not interfere with your closed system.
d. Adjust the pH probe (if used) and thermistor or thermometer (if used).
Secure in place by crimping a small piece of aluminum foil around the
top of the test tubes.
This foil also can serve to stop the exchange of matter between your
closed system and its environment.

If you will be using pH paper, you will need to be able to slide a pipet
into the test tube easily to withdraw a water sample.

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6. Arrange your setup to test your experimental question.


7. Take pH readings for at least 2 hours. (Check with your teacher for specific
timing.) In your journal, record the current readings every 5 min.
8. In your journal, monitor and record any changes in appearance. Note the times
when they occur.
9. When all data have been collected, do the following:

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a. Generate a line graph showing how pH changed over the time tested.
Color-code your graph. Create a legend so that anyone reading the graph

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can interpret your results.

b. Remove the pH probes, if used, and rinse them with tap water. Replace
the probes in the storage jar of tap water.

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c. Clean up and return the other equipment to storage.
10. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before leaving the
laboratory.

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3. Prepare a lab report of your findings.
You may want to refer to the guidelines in Part A, step 9, of the activity You Are

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What You Eat, in Chapter 7. Be sure to answer the following questions as part of
your report:
a. What was the specific purpose of each test tube that you set up? That is,

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what evidence did each test tube provide? What did you learn from each
test tube?
b. How was each test tube important in helping you develop your

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conclusion?
c. Do your data support your hypothesis? Explain.
d. Based on what you have learned from this experiment, what question

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would you like to ask and answer next?

Analysis
1. Take turns presenting your teams experimental design and results to the rest
of the class. Also, share ideas from your lab report.
2. Participate in a class discussion of the various experiments conducted and the
results that emerged.
3. With your teammates, create a visual diagram, such as a concept map, that
represents your current understanding of the cycling of matter through a
community. Base your diagram on the two populations that you studied in
this activity.

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Explain Spinning the Web of Life


The next time you eat a hamburger, think about what it takes to make a pound
of beef.

Recipe for One Pound of Beef


Begin with 1 calf. Add the following ingredients over a period of about 2 years:

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43 square yards of grazing land 0.8 ounces of phosphorous
8 square yards of farmland 1.6 ounces of potassium

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13 pounds of forage antibiotics
3 pounds of grain hormones
6.4 ounces of soybeans pesticides

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18 ounces of petroleum products herbicides
3 ounces of nitrogen 1,300 gallons of water, added regularly

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You have already explored how matter cycles through various communities, and
you should be aware that energy is stored in matter. When you eat various forms

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of matter, some of that energy is transformed. This transformed energy becomes
available to you. It allows you to carry out the daily activities of life and the distinctive
activities that make you who you are. Not all foods contain the same amount of

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energy. Not all organisms require the same amount of energy to live. So why does it
take so much energy to make one pound of beef? In terms of energy and matter, what
is the difference between eating plants and eating animals?
Lets examine the larger picture of matter and energy in your world. By relating
one days food intake to the plants and animals it came from, you can explore how the
energy that is stored in matter flows through your community and fuels the activities
of its organisms.

Materials (per person)

set of colored pens or pencils, 3 colors

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PROCESS AND PROCEDURES


1. Following the steps outlined below, generate a food web. A food web is a
visual diagram of the interactions of matter and the consequent flow of energy.
a. In your journal, create your ideal menu for 1 day. Include snacks as well as
meals.
Choose your favorite foods and snacks.

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b. Make a 3-column chart in your journal. List the foods from your ideal menu
in the 1st column and the ingredients in each menu item in the 2nd column.

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Remember, many foods are combinations of different plants, animals, fungi, or
bacteria. Record the ingredients of each food separately. For example, if you have
a piece of cake for dessert, you should list oil, flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and milk.

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c. In the 3rd column of your chart, list the sources for the ingredients of each
menu item.

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For example, write wheat next to flour, sugar cane or sugar beet next to sugar, and
chicken next to egg.

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Figure 9.5 Think of the many steps involved in putting bread or tortillas on your plate.

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d. Create another 3-column chart in your
journal. In the 2nd (center) column, list
all of the animals that appeared in your

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1st chart.
e. For every animal that you have listed, do
the following:
In the 3rd column, list several foods that
it eats.
For example, next to cow you would list the grass
and corn that cattle eat.

Figure 9.6 Consider the sources of matter and energy


that go into raising the eggs and chicken that may be
part of your diet.

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In the 1st column, next to the animals that you listed in step d, record 2
animals that might eat each animal.
For example, next to cow you might list wolf, bear, mountain lion, or human.
Next to fish, you might list raccoon, otter, or sea gull, depending on the type
of fish it is.
a f. Create a food web from the information that you generated in your journal
as follows. Use 1 different-colored pen or pencil for each step.

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Obtain a large sheet of paper from your teacher. Fold it like an accordion
to create 5 equal-sized sections.

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List all the names of the plants in the bottom section.

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b

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of paper. Fold it to create five

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equal-sized sections. You will start
c your food web diagram by listing
all the names of the plants in the
bottom section.

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Write the names of all the herbivores (plant eaters) in the next section,

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above the plants.
Write all the names of the omnivores (animals that eat plants and
animals) in the next section, above the herbivores. Write your name at the

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d end of this row.
Write all the names of the carnivores (animals that eat only meat) in the
Figure 9.7 Classify section above the omnivore row.
the organisms in your

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lists by their diets. For g. After you have all the names of the plants and animals organized, draw
example: (a) Herbivores arrows from the organisms that provide energy to the organisms that
primarily eat plants. receive energy.
(b) Carnivores
primarily eat animals. Pay particular attention to the direction that you draw your arrows. They should
(c) Omnivores eat both show the direction of energy flow, not who will be eaten. Say, for example, your
plants and animals. plant row includes grass and your herbivore row includes cattle. You would draw
(d) Detritivores an arrow from grass to cattle with the point of the arrow aimed at the cattle.
primarily feed off of
dead organisms and
2. Expand your food web in the following manner:
the wastes or cast-off a. Think of other organisms that might compete with you for your food. In
fragments of living your journal, make a list of organisms that eat some of the same foods that
organisms.
you eat.

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b. Using a pen or pencil of a different color, add the organisms that you listed in
step 2a to the appropriate level of your food web. Add the appropriate arrows.
3. Work with a classmate to discuss briefly the following questions:
This strategy provides you with an opportunity to develop the skill of using your
classmates as a resource. N S TA

a. What is the key difference between the way that producers and consumers Topic: food chain/

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accomplish biosynthesis? food web
Go to: www.scilinks.org
b. What sorts of matter do you think archaeologists might uncover years Code: human3E319

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from now from the suburban family in Maineville, Ohio? How would
this compare to what archaeologists have uncovered from the Ancestral
Puebloans?

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You read about how matter cycles in other communities in the essay Garbage
among UsFrom Then until Now!
c. Why is there no predator in Africa that lives by eating only lions and

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leopards?
d. What effect are cattle and other domesticated livestock having on certain
ecosystems?

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To help you with this task, read the letters in Lets Ask Drs. Ricardo and Rita
(page 383) and the essay Losing Heat (page 388). PAGE 383 PAGE 388

4. To demonstrate your more complete understanding of food webs, use a pen or

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pencil of a 3rd color to add detritivores to the top section of your food web.
Detritivores feed off dead organisms and the wastes or cast-off fragments of
living organisms. If you had mushrooms in your list of foods, they belong in

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this section. Use arrows to indicate the relationship of these decomposers to
the other organisms present.

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Analysis
Participate in a class discussion of the following. Record your ideas in your journal.

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1. Describe how energy flows through the community, as shown in your food
web.
2. Where is the most energy available in your food web? Explain your answer.
3. Compare the food web of a vegetarian in your class with the food web of
someone who is not a vegetarian.
What differences are evident?

What do you think is significant about those differences?

How does this relate to the recipe for one pound of beef?

4. How have we made our task of acquiring food easier than it was for the
Ancestral Puebloans?

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Elaborate Generating Some Heat


Lets first read about a surprising source of heat in the story Saturday Chores.
From your experiences in this chapter, you might guess that microorganisms were
beginning to break down the grass clippings, especially those next to the soil. The
microorganisms life processes generated heat. This is an example of detritivores at
work. This type of detritivore is called a decomposer because it makes organic

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nutrients available again to producers.
In this activity, you will elaborate on your knowledge of the cycling of matter

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and the flow of energy in communities. You will look, primarily, at the role of
decomposers. You and your teammates are about to participate in a compost design
competition. Your goal is to design a compost system that generates the most change

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in temperature.

Saturday Chores
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Its Saturday. You have a soccer game at
noon. You promised your friends that youll

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be there a half hour early to practice. But
you know you have to finish your Saturday
chores before you leave. This is your week

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to cut the grass, so you get up early to begin
the task. Because the morning is cool, you
find yourself making quick progress. But time
is passing, and practice is about to begin. In
an effort to shave some time off the job, you

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pile all of the clippings on some newly
turned soil in a corner of the yard. You think,
Ill bag the clippings later. Saturday and

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Sunday come and go.
School begins again on Monday. The
clippings still are sitting there on the soil in
the yard. Another Saturday rolls around and
Figure 9.9 Fresh-cut grass that is piled shortly after mowing
you have another game. Its your sisters turn quickly gets hot.
to cut the grass. Good! No grass today! Your
game is early in the morning. On the way out
of the house, your dad reminds you that last weeks cool. As you dig into the pile, you notice something
clippings are still sitting in the yard and that its your interesting. Steam is rising from the clippings. In fact,
responsibility to bag them before you head out. You the center of the clippings pile is hot, especially down
run to the yard with some lawn bags and begin near the soil. You wonder why the inside of the pile is
scooping up grass clippings. Again, the morning is very so warm on such a cool morning.

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Materials (per team of 4)

4 pairs of plastic gloves thermistor or nonmercury thermometer


pan balance 1-gal plastic milk container with 4 cm
230250 mL measuring cup of top cut off
masking tape 4-gal plastic trash bag
sheet of plain newsprint trowel or spatula for mixing compost

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foam insulation material packet of compost starter inoculum
bag of potting soil bag of grass clippings

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bag of shredded leaf mulch or bark mulch water

PROCESS AND PROCEDURES

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1. As a class, make the following decisions about your compost designs:
How much compost starter inoculum all teams will use

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How much water all teams will use

How much total organic matter (the mass) all teams will use

Why is it important that all teams keep certain features constant?

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2. With your team, consider some recipes that you might use for your
composting system. Discuss the following questions with your team to help
you decide on a recipe. Record your answers and your recipe in your journal.

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Be sure to justify your decisions.
a. What organic matter should you use?

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b. Should you use 1 source of organic matter or a combination of sources?
c. If you use a combination, what proportions should you use?
Composting is not an exact science. Gardeners frequently have their own

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personal compost recipes. Now its your turn to create a compost recipe. You
have all of the materials necessary for decomposers to work effectively. The
grass clippings, shredded leaf mulch, and shredded bark mulch provide excellent
carbon sources (organic matter to be consumed as food) for the microorganisms Figure 9.10

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Organic materials can
(starter inoculum). Check with your teacher if you wish to bring in and use
be composted. This
any other matter in your recipe. Be prepared to explain why. Because these
causes the matter to
microorganisms thrive in soil, the potting soil should provide a suitable be cycled more quickly
environment for initial growth. Remember, your entire compost needs to fit in than if it were left to
the plastic milk container. decompose on its own.
As you develop your recipe, practice the working relationship skill of reaching Where does the energy
consensus. from the composted
matter go?
3. Carefully, create your composting system.
SAFETY: Put on your plastic gloves.
a. Use the recipe that your team agreed on. Measure your soil and your food
sources 1 at a time from materials you have available. Pour them into the
plastic bag.

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b. Mix the ingredients thoroughly with a trowel.


c. Add the amount of compost starter inoculum that your class decided to
include.
d. Add the amount of water that your class decided to include.
e. Again, use the trowel to mix the compost ingredients thoroughly. Then
place your mixed compost into the plastic milk container.

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f. Insulate your container of compost.
Cut enough insulation material to surround the container. Tape the insulation in

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place. Cut a small piece of insulation for the top. For the composting inoculum to
work most efficiently, the system must retain the heat that the microorganisms
generate. If they are not insulated, the compost systems will lose this heat to the
environment.

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4. Keep your system going for 2 more days. Record the temperature in the center
of the compost twice a day. If you are using a thermistor, you may be able to

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set your data-collection device to save and record temperatures at regular
intervals over the time of the experiment.
Create a data table in your journal in which to record the temperature of your

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compost.
5. Graph the temperature changes that you observed in your composting system.

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Analysis
Complete the following tasks as a team:

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1. Present your teams compost recipe and results to the class. Be sure to share
the graph of your results.
2. Based on all of the teams reports, determine which compost recipes generated

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the most change in temperature.
Topic: compost
Go to: www.scilinks.org
You and your classmates will judge the effectiveness of each composting recipe by
Code: human3E322 examining each teams data.

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a. Why do you think the most effective recipes worked better than others did?
b. What do your results tell you about the cycling of matter and the flow of
energy?
c. What role did the microorganisms play?
3. The heat that you noticed is a form of energy. What form did this energy take
before it was released as heat? What happens to this energy after it is released
as heat?
4. What does your answer to question 3 reveal about the flow of energy in a
community?

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What Have I Learned Evaluate

about Energy and Matter


in Communities?
By now you should be aware of how closely connected the flow of energy is to the

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cycling of matter in communities. In this activity, you and your teacher will evaluate
what you have learned about these concepts. You will work individually to think

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about the impact that a natural disaster would have on various communities on earth.
Then you will respond to some questions about survival in different communities.

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PROCESS AND PROCEDURES
Part A A Natural Disaster

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1. Read about the following catastrophe:
The earth is entering a phase of instability that no one had predicted. Throughout
both hemispheres, hundreds of volcanoes are erupting with great force. The earths

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atmosphere is thick with minute volcanic debris and dust. As much as 75 percent
of the sunlight is now blocked from reaching the earths surface. This period of
eruptions is expected to continue indefinitely. It is likely that soon virtually all

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sunlight will be blocked from reaching the earths surface.

Figure 9.11 The

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community around
this volcano was
drastically changed
after the eruption.

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2. Obtain a scoring rubric from your teacher. Read the following questions, and
record your answers in your journal. Be sure to answer each part of each
question. Your teacher will collect your journal and use the criteria listed in the
scoring rubric to assess your understanding.
a. What might be the effect if, instead, 8085 percent of the sunlight were
blocked from the earth? What might be the effect on the following
organisms: an earthworm, a shark, a maple tree, a saguaro cactus, and a

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teenager?
b. Imagine that all sunlight is blocked from reaching the earths surface.

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What might be the effect on the following organisms: the producers, the
consumers, and the decomposers?

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Describe how the cycling of matter through a community would be
affected.

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Part B Strategies for Survival
Work with a partner to discuss the following questions. Then record your
responses in your journal.

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1. From the thousands that sprout, why will only 1 or 2 healthy trees grow into
the available space between other existing trees?
2. Are the fish that live 2 km (1.2 mi) deep in the ocean likely to be herbivores or

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predators? Explain.
3. There were many years when DDT (a pesticide) was widely used in the

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United States. During this period, the populations of birds of prey, such as
bald eagles, peregrine falcons, and ospreys, declined more than the populations
of small songbirds. Why do you think that was so?
4. Human societies that live by hunting and gathering usually have much smaller

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populations than groups in a similar setting that live primarily by growing
crops. Why do you think that is so?
5. Suppose you found yourself snowed in for the winter in a remote mountain

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cabin with no way of contacting the outside world. You must survive for
several months with only what is on hand to eat. Aside from a small supply of
canned peaches, your only resources are 2 100-lb sacks of wheat and a flock of
8 hens. Discuss the relative merits of the following strategies:
a. Feed the grain to the hens and eat their eggs until the wheat is gone. Then
eat the hens.
b. Kill the hens at once, and freeze their carcasses in the snow. Live on a diet
of wheat porridge and chicken.
c. Eat a mixture of wheat porridge, eggs, and 1 hen a week. Feed the hens
well to keep the eggs coming until all of the hens are killed.

324 Unit 3: Chapter 9 EVALUATE: What Have I Learned about Energy and Matter in Communities?
KH4119_Chapter 09_308-325 03/16/05 11:48 AM Page 325

6. Every breeding pair of bullfrogs produces hundreds of eggs each spring.


During the time they are growing up in the pond, the small tadpoles feed
entirely on microscopic water plants. Predators living in the pond eat a large
fraction of the tadpoles before they transform into frogs. As adults, however,
bullfrogs themselves are predators. Discuss why this strategy is more
advantageous than one in which the tadpoles would be predators and the
adults would be herbivores.

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Figure 9.12
Further Challenges Bullfrog. Although

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adult bullfrogs are
predators, the
1. There are several hypotheses about how dinosaurs became extinct. One of tadpoles are prey.
these hypotheses involves a climatic catastrophe that has some similarities to

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Many are eaten
the one presented in Part A. See what you can find out about this hypothesis. before they reach
Report your findings to the class. adulthood.

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2. Write and perform a skit that depicts organisms defending their role in a
community. In it, describe the advantages, the disadvantages, and the
importance to the community of a producer, a predator, and a decomposer.

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EVALUATE: What Have I Learned about Energy and Matter in Communities? Unit 3: Chapter 9 325

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