| Questions | 5 |
| Topics | Decomposers, Kelvin Scale, Precipitation, Prefixes, Primary Consumers |
Decomposers (saprotrophs) are organisms such as bacteria and fungi that break down the organic matter in the dead bodies of plants and animals into simple nutrients.
In contrast to the Celsius scale (measured in degrees centigrade) that fixes 0° at the freezing point of water and the Fahrenheit scale that uses 32°, the Kelvin scale fixes 0° at absolute zero (-273°C) which is the lowest temperature possible in the universe.
Rising into the atmosphere, the water condenses into clouds. When the clouds become too saturated with water, the water is released as snow or ice precipitation which may warm as it falls to reach Earth as rain.
A prefix is added to the base units of the metric system to indicate variations in size. Each prefix specifies a value relative to the base unit in a multiple of 10. Common prefixes are:
| Prefix | Symbol | Relative Value | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| mega | M | 106 (1,000,000) | Mm |
| kilo | k | 103 (1,000) | km |
| base unit | N/A | 1 | m |
| centi | c | 10-2 (1/100) | cm |
| milli | m | 10-3 (1/1,000) | mm |
Primary consumers (herbivores) subsist on producers like plants and fungus. Examples are grasshoppers, cows, and plankton.