EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -Autotrophs sustain themselves by using basic energy sources like sunlight. Plants, which use photosynthesis to convert sunlight to grow and maintain themselves, are an example of autotrophs. All other organisms feed on other organisms. They are called heterotrophs.

Detailed explanation-2: -Energy flows through an ecosystem in one direction, from the sun or inorganic compounds to autotrophs (producers) and then to various heterotrophs. Energy stored by producers can be passed through an ecosystem along a food chain, a series of steps in which organisms transfer energy by eating and being eaten.

Detailed explanation-3: -Organisms get their food in one of two ways. Autotrophs (or producers) make their own food using light or chemical energy. Examples of autotrophs include plants, algae, and some bacteria. Heterotrophs (or consumers) get organic molecules by eating other organisms or their by-products.

Detailed explanation-4: -Energy flows through all life on Earth Plants use energy from the Sun to create organic matter. Plants are then eaten by primary consumers who are in turn eaten by secondary consumers, and so on. In each step, the energy that was originally emitted by the Sun is consumed, but that energy also dissipates with each step.

Detailed explanation-5: -The energy flow takes place via the food chain and food web. During the process of energy flow in the ecosystem, plants being the producers absorb sunlight with the help of the chloroplasts and a part of it is transformed into chemical energy in the process of photosynthesis.