ECOSYSTEMS

1. ECOSYSTEMS EQ: What is an ecosystem?

2. Environment • An environment is all the living and nonliving things that surround you. The living things in your environment are people, other animals, and plants The nonliving things around you include water, air, soil, and weather.

3. Environment • The parts of an environment affect one another • For Example: • Animals eat plants. • The type of soil in an area determines what type of plants can grow there. • When water and air are both clean, they help keep animals and plants healthy

4. Ecosystem • All living and nonliving things in an area form an ecosystem. • Example: Rock • Living :There are insects and tiny plants. • Nonliving: There may be air pockets, soil, and there might be water.

6. Individuals and Populations Individuals Populations • One plant or animal is an individual • For Example: • One blueberry bush • One honey bee • One blue jay • You are an individual • A group made up of the same kind of individuals • For Example: • A group of blueberry bushes • A hive of bees • All the blue jays in a forest • All the living people in one city

7. Populations Different Populations How They Live • Robins might live in the same forest as blue jays, but because they are different kinds of birds, they make different populations. • Some populations may live together, and some may not. • For Example: • Frogs don’t live in families, but the same population of frogs may live near the same pond • Populations of people live in families. • Populations of wolves live in packs

8. Communities • All the populations that live in the same place • Humans live in communities. • Other animals and plants do too. • The most important thing to remember about communities is: • No matter where they are located, they all have one thing in common. The plants and animals in them depend on one another.

9. Producers, Consumers, & Decomposers EQ: What are the roles of producers, consumers, and decomposers? Hook

10. For example: • Algae and other plants use energy in sunlight, plus water , and carbon dioxide, to make their own food.

11. Consumers • An animal that eats plants or other animals is called a consumer. • They can't make their own food, so they eat other living things. • For example: • Lions • Hawks • Horses • They get the energy they need by eating other living things.

12. EXAMPLES Zebras =Consumers Lion=Consumers Grass = Producers

13. Kinds of Consumers • There are three kinds of consumers: • Herbivore, which is an animal that eats only plants or producers • Carnivore, which is an animal that eats only animals. • Omnivore, which is an animal that eats both plants and other animals. What are most humans?

14. Decomposers • A living thing that feeds on wastes and on the remains of dead plants and animals • They break down waste and turn them into nutrients, which help them grow.

15. Decomposers • Two of the biggest are: • Earthworms • Mushrooms • They are Fungi that absorb nutrients form plants and dead plant material. Fungi are the main decomposers of wood. They dig into wood and release chemicals that break down the wood.

16. EcosystemsandEnergy How does energy flow through an ecosystem?

17. Habitats • An environment that meets the needs of a living thing. • For example: • An insects habitat can be under a rock.

18. Habitats • Habitats can overlap. • For example: • Sidewinder • Tarantula • Sagebrush Desert Habitat, which meets all their needs.;

19. Habitat • Each living thing in a habitat has a role, or a niche, which describes how living things interact with their habitat. • Parts of a living thing’s niche is how it: • gets food and shelter • reproduces • cares for it’s young • avoids danger • For Example: • A cat’s pointed claws and sharp eyes help it catch food • A part of a snake’s niche is to eat small animals in its habitat • If all the snakes died, the desert would have to many rodents and birds.

20. Food Chains • The movement of food energy in a sequence of living things. • Food chains start with Consumer Consumer

21. Food Chains • Consumers that are eaten are called prey. • A consumer that eats prey is a predator. Predators are hunters. • Predators help limit the number of prey in a habitat. • This helps keep populations down, so that it doesn’t increase too much. • Predators compete for the same prey, which limits the number of predators. Consumer/ Prey Consumer/ Predator

22. Food Webs • Several food chains that overlap are called food webs. • Pg. 324 FOOD WEB

23. Bean Bag Toss Review

24. Ecosystem Influences EQ: What factors influence ecosystems? Biodiversity

25. Living Things Affect Ecosystems • Bio • Bioticdescribes a living part of an ecosystem • Plants • Animals = Life

26. Biotic Factors Affect the Ecosystem

27. Nonliving Things Affect the Ecosystem • Abioticfactors describe the nonliving parts of an ecosystem. • Air • Water • Sunlight • Soil

28. Abiotic Factors Affect Ecosystems • Example 1: • Water • A change in water supply can affect ALL the living things in an ecosystem. Without water, things can wilt and die • Example 2: • Soil • Where there is rich soil many plants can grow, but with poor soil, few plants can grow.

29. Climate Affects Ecosystems • Is climate biotic or abiotic? • Abiotic • Climate includes rainfall, sunlight, and patterns of temperature • Example: • Warm, wet climates support tropical rain forests. • As an affect plants can flourish providing food for consumers.

30. Climate Affects Ecosystems • Taiga • Anna B. • Grace • Anna T. • Deciduous Forests • Andrew • Alexandre • Dylan • Jack • Savanna • Charlie • Dalen • Banks • Rain Forest • Claire • Amelia W. • Ella • Anelie • Desert • Natalie • Caroline • Madelyn • Amelia S. • Tundra • Alec • Mitch • Devin • JJ Using your textbook, picture books, or online resources, research the various ecosystems and their climates to determine what affects the climate will have on the ecosystems.