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• An ecosystem is made up of all the living and nonliving things in a particular area.
• The organisms in an ecosystem interact with one another as well as with their nonliving environment (surroundings).
• Because they are in the same area, the living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem affect each other in many different ways.
• Many organisms depend or rely on other organisms to survive.
http://www.brainpop.com/science/ecologyandbehavior/ecosystems/
What is an Ecosystem?
Nonliving
Parts:Air
Water
Sunlight
Soil
Rocks/Minerals
Bees take pollen from the flower of plants to their beehives to make
honey
Bears eat the honey from the
beehives
Produce (make) their own food through
___________________photosynthesis
Ecosystem Example: A Forest
Deer & Rabbits eat the grass &
bushes
Wolves eat rabbits and
deer.
(Living) Producers
Trees
Grasses Bushes
Energy first arrives
from the sun. Plants (Producers) use the energy from sunlight to create a form of sugar.
Consumers, like rabbits, eat plants
to consume energy.
Bears eat this honey
to get energy.
Wolves get energy from
other animals they eat.
The Flow of Energy in an Ecosystem
Other
consumers, such
as bees, use the
sugar in pollen to
make honey. This
honey is filled
with stored
energy from the
sun.
How does the Energy flow?
From the sun to producers (plants) and then to consumers (animals).
What is a Food Chain?The “chain” of energy:
As a plant produces energy (food)
It is then eaten by an animal
Then that animal is eaten by another animal
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm
Example:
Grass
Grasshopper Toad
Snake Hawk
Who consumed the most Energy? THE HAWK
The Grasshopper or the Hawk
When the Hawk dies,
decomposers decompose the
organism &it goes back into
the ground.
“Energy Never Dies”
What is a Food Web?• A diagram that shows the flow of energy in an
ecosystem. Similar to a food chain. Arrows are used to show which animals eat which
plants and other animals.• A food web shows all the different plants and
animals in an ecosystem. There are several food chain which are linked
together to form 1 food web.• When an animal eats a plant or another animal,
it absorbs energy from the organism it has eaten.
Food WebConsumer
Producer
Consumer
Consumer
Consumer
Consumer
Trace the flow of energy• The suns gives energy to the plant which makes food• Deer & Rabbit eat grass• Bees use the pollen from the plants’ flower to make honey.• Bears get their energy by eating plants, honey, and insects.• A wolf gets its energy by eating rabbits and deer in the
forest.
Food Web & Decomposers
• After plants and animals die they decay. • Organisms such as fungi, worms, and bacteria, break
down the bodies of dead organisms.• These organisms are known as decomposers.• Decomposers return to the soil, where they are used
by plants. (The cycle starts over again)
Decomposers bacteria, fungi,
worms
Plants
Plant-eating Animals(Herbivores)
Meat-Eating Animals
(Carnivores)
Consu
mer
sProducers
Change in Ecosystems…Can affect ALL organisms in
the ecosystems
Change to an ecosystem can sometimes be helpful.
Very often changes are harmful to the plants and animals in the ecosystem.
These changes can even stop the flow of energy in a
food web.
Adapting to Change
Changes to an
ecosystem may make it
more difficult for an
organism to find food or
to meet any of its other
basic needs.
An organism may often adapt to the new
conditions by changing its behavior. For ex: it may start to eat something new.
If it cannot either adapt to the new conditions or move to a new area, the organism will often die.
Organisms may leave the ecosystem and
move to another area.
When changes to
an ecosystem
take place
slowly, plants
and animals
have time to
adjust to these
changes.
When changes happen rapidly, many plants and animals are not able to adapt.
Example: If it starts raining less frequently
in an area, animals may not have enough water to drink. These animals can no longer
meet their basic needs. As a result, many of these
animals may die.
Failing To Adapt
To ChangeWhen some plants and animals in an ecosystem die, this often affects other organisms in the
ecosystem.
Example: If the plants in an ecosystem
die from a lack of water, the animals that depend on
those plants for food will also die.
Failing To Adapt To Change Can Cause Extinction
Extinction occurs when there is no more of a type of plant or animal left of Earth.
Scientist use the term extinct when all members of an organism has died out.
When living organisms are in danger of becoming extinct, they are called Endangered species
Dinosaurs Saber-Tooth TigerMammoths
Can you name an organism
that is extinct?
The Destruction of Ecosystems
Later, taller trees will take root.
As these grow, they will block the sunlight.
The shorter shrubs will die out.
After several hundreds years, the area becomes a dense forest again.
Sometimes
can actually destroy an entire ecosystemsnatural events humans activitiesor
A fire started from lightening can burn down a forest.
Clearing land for new homes
Although most of the plants and animals in a destroyed
ecosystem may quickly die off,
new organisms soon spring up in
their places.
Weeds, grasses and wildflowers will grow
in ashes left by a forest fire. Soon shrubs and short tress will began to grow. Animals will
return.
Discussion
Pond Ecosystem
Imagine a serve lack of rainfall for several months in a pond ecosystem. Eventually, the pond grass on the edge
of the pond dies. Explain what will happen to the different organisms that
live in this pond ecosystem.
The Impact of Human Activities
Humans form a part of the ecosystem in which they live.
Like other organisms, humans depend on both the
nonliving and living environment.
Example:We (humans) need
water from lakes and reservoirs in order to
wash, drink, and cook.
Farmers need fertile soil, water and sunlight to
grow the crops we eat.
Manufacturers need water, raw materials, and energy to make the things we use.
Pesticides used by farmers to kill insects and other pest in order to grow their crops. This can impact the environment.
Solid wastes-garbage, plastic bags, old cardboard boxes, newspapers, and sewage (produced by the community) can be
buried in the ground as landfill, dumped in the ocean, or burned.
http://www.brainpop.com/technology/scienceandindustry/wastemanagement/
Human communities also produce liquid wastes, such as sewage.
This sewage is often dumped in rivers, lakes, and oceans. This can threaten plants and animals in these ecosystems.
Sewage can be safely treated in a sewage disposal facility- a place where pollutants are removed.
Humans can also change an ecosystem by introducing new organisms to it.
EX: Bringing in animals from another country and placing it in a new ecosystem.
The Impact of Human Activities…
Global Warming
• Human create further pollution by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.
• These add carbon dioxide gas to the atmosphere.
• This gas traps heat from escaping into space and causes global warming, a heating of Earth’s average temperatures.
• These changes in temperature threaten the survival of organisms in many ecosystems.
Discussion Question:
How do human activities threaten some ecosystems?
What You Should Know• Energy flows through an ecosystem.• The source of energy in all ecosystems in the
sun. Producers (plants) and other animals to obtain energy.
• Scientists illustrate the flow of energy in an ecosystem with a food web.
• Ecosystems sometimes change. Plants and animals often adapt to slow changes in an ecosystem. Rapid change or the destruction of an ecosystem can lead to the death of its organisms
Ecosystem Notes
• Ecosystem. All the living and non living things interacting in an area.– Organisms in an ecosystem depend on both the
ecosystem’s and nonliving parts.– All energy in an ecosystem originally comes from
the energy of the sun.
Flow of Energy in an
Ecosystem Notes• Producers- Plants provide the food in every
ecosystem.• Consumers- animals eat plants or other
animals in an ecosystem.• Food Web- These diagrams show how energy
flows through an ecosystem. Arrows indicate what different organisms eat. Energy flows from the sun to producers to consumers.
Changes in Ecosystems Notes
• Ecosystems can change. Changes can block the flow of energy in the ecosystem.
• Plants and animals can often adapt to slow changes in an ecosystem.
• Many organisms cannot adapt to rapid changes and become extinct (die out).
• Floods, fires, or human activities can destroy ecosystems; plants and animals return in a series of changes.
Impact of Human ActivitiesNotes
• Human activities can threaten an ecosystem:– By causing water and air pollution.– By the dumping of solid waste.
• Humans can also threaten an ecosystem by bringing in new organisms.
Additional Resources
http://www.brainpop.com/science/ourfragileenvironment/extinction/
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/kidscorner3.htm
http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/chain_reaction/play_chainreaction.cfm
http://www.brainpop.com/search/search.weml?keyword=Pollution
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