WHAT ARE ECOSYSTEMS?

Where Things Live

Living things need a place to live and grow.

Fish live in water.

Birds live in trees and fly through the air.

Plants grow where there is soil, water and sun.

Main Idea and Details

ENVIRONMENTThe living and nonliving things that surround a living thing make up its environment.

What do living things get from their environments?Many living things share their environments and its resources.FoodWaterOxygenSpace

Parts of an EcosystemAn ecosystem is made up of all the living and nonliving things in an environment.

Different types of organisms live in an ecosystem.

A group of organisms of the same kind living in the same place is a population.

All the population that live in an ecosystem at the same time form a community.

All members of a community live in the same ecosystem but they do not all live in the same part of the ecosystem.

Where Plants and Animals Live

Habitat is a place where plants and animals lives.

It is a place where they can meet their needs.Animals get food, water, and shelter from their habitat,

Organisms and their HabitatsSome organisms can survive only in certain habitats.For example, a polar could not find the water it needs in a desert.

Classify Living and Nonliving thingsLiving ThingsNon Living ThingsAirRocksCaveSoilwater

FishWater lilyPlantsAnimalsPeople

Use the following tree map to write a lesson summary.

Lesson 2 What are some types of ecosystems?

Types of EcosystemsDeserts are very dry ecosystems.

Desert plants and animals can survive with very little water.

Desert PlantsDesert plants, such as cactus, have thick stems that store water.The roots of a cactus lie just below the soil and spread far from the plant.

Grassland EcosystemsGrasslands are dry, often flat areas of land that are hot in the summer and cold in the winter.They get more rain and snow than deserts but less that most other ecosystems.

Plants The main plant in a grassland ecosystem is grass. There are not many bushes in the grassland. Trees are found only by rivers and streams.

Saltwater EcosystemsSaltwater ecosystems are oceans.Oceans cover about three fourths of Earths surface, so there are more saltwater ecosystems than any other.

Sharks, sea turtles, corals and octopus are all ocean animals.So are whales and seals.

Freshwater EcosystemsRivers, ponds, lakes and streams have fresh water.Lakes and rivers are closely tied. Some lakes are the source for some rivers. Important rivers, most often, originate from lakes. Some rivers end in lakes. Since both rivers and lakes are freshwater and flow in and out of each other, they share similar characteristics and many species reside in both habitats.

Forest EcosystemsForest are ecosystems in which many trees grow.

Tropical Rain ForestA tropical rain forest grows where it is hot and wet all year long.Animals such as jaguars and monkeys live there.

Deciduous Forest What's A Temperate Deciduous Forest Like? One of the most interesting features of the temperate deciduous forest is its changing seasons. The word "deciduous" means exactly what the leaves on these trees do: change color in autumn, fall off in the winter, and grow back again in the spring. This adaptation helps trees in the forest survive winter.

Drawing ConclusionsSuppose all the plants in one ecosystem died.What do you think would happen to that ecosystem? Why?

Ecosystem What I look likeDesertRain ForestRains every day and has many trees and plantsHot and dryDeciduous ForestEnough rain for trees to grow. They lose their leaves in the fall.Made up of rivers, ponds, lakes and streams and my water does not have much saltFreshwater Ecosystems

Try this!Choose an ecosystem.Make a drawing of it.Write a descriptive paragraph about it.Include the following details:Name of the ecosystemType of ecosystem: CharacteristicsAnimals and plants found their.