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Week 07 · Who Eats Whom

Wednesday

Decomposers clean up
// Producers, consumers, decomposers and the webs that link them
⏱ about 15 min

Wednesday: Decomposers Clean Up

Rocket lifts a soggy pile of last year's leaves by the fence. "Ew. Mushy!"

Raven kneels close with her magnifier. "Look. Thin white threads. And tiny tunnels."

Rocket wrinkles his nose. "Who makes a mess like this?"

Nova blinks. "Not a mess," she says. "A kitchen. Who do you think eats dead leaves?"

Rocket looks closer. A worm wiggles back into the dark.

The recyclers

Leaves fall. Plants die. Animals die too. What happens to all of it?

Decomposers break down dead plants and animals.

Fungi are decomposers. A mushroom is the part of a fungus you can see.

The white threads Raven saw are fungus too. They spread through dead leaves.

Bacteria are decomposers too small to see. They are everywhere in soil.

Earthworms help as well. They eat dead leaves and mix the soil.

As decomposers work, dead matter turns back into soil nutrients.

Plants take up those nutrients through their roots. The cycle starts again.

DecomposerCan you see it?What it does
fungusthe mushroom part, yesspreads threads through dead leaves and wood
bacteriano, far too smallbreak down dead matter everywhere in soil
earthwormyeseats dead leaves and mixes soil
DECOMPOSER CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
What do decomposers eat?
A mushroom is part of which decomposer?
Which decomposer is too small to see?

Why decomposers matter

Imagine a yard with no decomposers. Dead leaves would pile up forever.

Nothing would rot. The soil would run out of nutrients.

Decomposers release the nutrients inside dead things.

Those nutrients go back into the soil. New plants use them to grow.

So decomposers link the end of one food chain to the start of the next.

Fungi and bacteria that break down dead things are called ____.
The part of a fungus you can see above ground is a ____.
Decomposers return ____ to the soil for plants to use.
StatementTrue or false?
A mushroom is the visible part of a fungus.?
Without decomposers, dead leaves would pile up.?
Bacteria are easy to see with just your eyes.?
Decomposers eat living, healthy plants.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEDecomposers eat dead matter, and most of them are hidden from our eyes.
A LEAF'S JOURNEY
  • ?Nutrients return to the soil.
  • ?Fungi and worms break the leaf down.
  • ?A new plant uses the nutrients to grow.
  • ?The leaf dies and falls in autumn.
  • ?A leaf grows on a tree in spring.
WHY THIS EXERCISEDecomposers turn the end of one life into the start of another.
Try it
Find a spot with dead leaves, with a grown-up.
Have the grown-up turn over a few leaves with a stick.
Look for white threads, mushrooms, worms or tiny tunnels. Then put the leaves back.
Safety first
Never touch or taste a mushroom. Some are poisonous. Look only.
A grown-up moves leaves or lifts anything. Keep your hands out of the pile.
Wash your hands well when you are done.
Draw the leaf pile kitchen: a mushroom, white threads and a worm at work.

Nice detective work! Tomorrow we link producers, consumers and decomposers into a chain.

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