Unit 1

• Producers


  Plants that use light energy from the Sun to produce food
• Consumers


  Organisms that are not able to make their own food; they eat other organisms
• Decomposers


  Organisms that feed on dead matter, breaking it down and returning it to the environment
• Biotic factors are the living things in an ecosystem
• Groups of biotic factors

  • Producers
  • Consumers
  • Decomposers
• Each group of biotic factors has a role to play in ecosystems
• Herbivores


  Organisms that eat plants
• Herbivores


  • Buck
  • Sheep
  • Cattle
• Carnivores


  Organisms that eat other animals
• Carnivores


  • Snakes
  • Vultures
  • Lions
• Omnivores


  Organisms that eat plants and animals
• Omnivores


  • Baboons
  • Warthogs
  • Humans
• Decomposers


  Organisms that break down dead matter and return the components to the environment
• Decomposers


  • Fungi
  • Bacteria
  • Maggots
• The tsamma melon or makataan is a creeper found in the Kalahari
• The tsamma melon is an important source of water for people during the dry months
• Preparing tsamma melon


  1. Cut open

  2. Pound contents to pulp with a stick
• Tsamma melons have been cultivated for hundreds of years