Energy from Nonliving to Living Components of an Ecosystem
As you saw in the previous video, animals are actively engaged in their survival. They eat other living things to get the energy and matter they need. What about plants? Your students are sure to point out that plants don’t usually eat other organisms. So how do they meet their needs?
As producers, plants harness energy from the Sun. They use this energy to power life activities, including production of the food they rely on through photosynthesis. Using carbon dioxide in the air and the Sun’s energy to split water molecules into their component parts, plants produce sugars and later use that stored energy—just like animals do.
Because food doesn’t always contain all that organisms need to support their growth and other life functions, they also have to obtain some things from the environment—like nutrients. Watch this video, which examines how plants engage with their environment in remarkably similar ways to animals as they search for food and nutrients. Then answer the questions below.
| Keyboard Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Pause/Play video playback |
| Enter | Pause/Play video playback |
| m | Mute/Unmute video volume |
| Up and Down arrows | Increase and decrease volume by 10% |
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| 0-9 | Fast seek to x% of the video. |
| f | Enter or exit fullscreen. (Note: To exit fullscreen in flash press the Esc key. |
| c | Press c to toggle captions on or off |
Video: Do Plants Behave Like Animals?
Plants don’t get food from soil.
They do, however, rely on soil to make their food. Hydrogen and oxygen are key components of sugars. Plants source these elements from water, which they absorb from the soil.
Take Notes
- Citing evidence from the video, compare the ways in which animals and plants “hunt” to get the food they need to survive.
- How does the media support the finding that plants and animals behave much the same way when it comes to getting what they need to live?
