Untitled Song

I’ve got a big pond in my backyard

It’s my own little ecosystem working hard

All the organisms are part of the food web

They play specific roles to make sure that they all get fed

 

The grasses growing on the edge and the algae in the water

The producers photosynthesize with light, CO2 and water

CO2 is in the air, the light comes from the sun

They produce the oxygen and the food needed by everyone

 

Some snails eat the algae and some snails eat the grass

They’re the primary consumers ‘cause they eat only plants

And even when the grass has died there’s still some energy left

For the decomposers, dead things are what they like best

 

The fish eat the snails and the turtles eat the fish

And every time that one of them eats it only gets 10%

So every gram of turtle needs 10 grams of fish

A gram of fish needs 10 grams of snails to fulfill its energy requirements

 

An ecosystem relies upon this energy pyramid

It takes an awful lot of plants to let 1 turtle live

1000 plants, 100 snails, 10 fish would be just right

To keep 1 turtle well fed and it all starts out with light