• 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