What is an Ecosystem?

1
What is an Ecosystem?

• Work with your group and use prior knowledge to
  come up with a definition.

2
An Ecosystem is

• All of the relationships among the living things
  in a community and their interactions with the
  abiotic factors in their environment.
• You will be learning how plants, animals, and
  insects depend on each other for survival. What
  happens when the insect is removed from this food
  chain?

3
Spaceship Earth

• The Earth is a closed system, just like a space
  ship. What does this mean?
• On a spaceship, nothing can be added to it. The
  water and air must be recycled or the astronauts
  will die. The same is true for the Earth.

4
Planet Earth Continued

• Life depends on this recycling, but how is it
  done?

5
Recycling of Matter

• How do we depend on the recycling of matter?
• What is the role of living things in the
  recycling of matter?
• Why is it important for humans to recycle?

6
Questions (copy questions and answers onto lined
paper)

• Knowing that the Earth is like a spaceship and
  nothing can be added, why is it important for
  humans for reduce, reuse and recycle?
• Give examples of ways that you reduce, reuse and
  recycle.
• What else can you do to reduce, reuse and
  recycle?
• How has the world changed in the last 100 years?
• What will happen if we continue to use resources
  faster than they are replaced?
• On the computer, go to science-digital field to
  wetlands, and explore

7
Abiotic Factors

• Abiotic factors are non-living things that affect
  an ecosystem
• Sunlight
• Wind
• Temperature
• Rainfall
• Salt or fresh water
• Oxygen

8
Biotic Factors

• Biotic factors are living things that affect an
  ecosystem
• Plants
• Animals
• Insects
• Microorganisms
• Bacteria

9
Organization of Life

• Read pg 6-8 in your text.
• Record the definition of organism, individual,
  biological population, biological community,
  species, habitat, adaptation
• Complete questions 1-4 on page 10 in your text

10
Producers, Consumers, Decomposers

• Producers make their own food from the sun. These
  includePlants
• Plants get their food from the sun in a process
  called photosynthesis. (the suns rays are
  captured by the green part of the plant and
  turned in sugar)

11
Consumers

• Consumers eat others for survival.
• Consumers that eat plants are called herbivores.
• Consumers that eat other animals are called
  carnivores.
• Consumers eat both plants and animals are called
  omnivores.

12
Decomposers

• Decomposers break down and recycle matter.
• Living things are eventually broken down to
  nutrients or food for other organisms.
• Answer questions 1-3 on pg 15 of your text.
• http//www.naturefootage.com/stockfootage/Time_Lap
  se_Decompose

13
Landfill Facts

• The nations overall recycling rate has grown
  from 11 to 27 in the past 10 years.
• Every minute an average of 113,204 aluminum
  beverage cans are recycled.
• Recycling 1 ton of paper saves 17 trees and 7,000
  gallons of water.
• America's daily use of computer paper could go
  around the world 40 times.
• It takes more than 500,000 trees to make the
  newspapers Americans use in one Sunday.

14

• Packaging makes up about 1/3 (by weight) of
  household trash and about 10 of the price of
  food.
• Each year Americans throw away 25 trillion
  Styrofoam cups.
• For each bag of garbage we take to the curb,
  industry creates the equivalent of 71 bags of
  waste.
• 27 of all food produced in North America is
  wasted.

15
Food Chains

• A food chain is a simple pathway of food.
• The arrows indicate the direction in which the
  matter and energy are being transferred.
• Draw simple food chain containing grass, deer and
  wolf.
• Label each of these as either a producer or a
  consumer.
• Question Do wolves only eat deer?
• How can we show these connections?

16
Food Webs

• A food web connects an organism with all of the
  organisms it eat and all of the animals that eat
  it.
• http//www.ecokids.ca/pub/eco_info/topics/frogs/ch
  ain_reaction/index.cfm

17
Energy in a Food Chain

• Ecological pyramids show the loss of energy
  moving up a food chain.
• Each time an organism is consumed energy is lost.
• There can not be many top consumers in an
  ecosystem
• Create a food chain that is at least 5 organisms
  long that includes humans.
• Make a food web out of this food chain and add
  other organisms.
• Create a food web for a landfill site.

18
Succession

• Page 48-51
• Define succession, primary succession, secondary
  succession.
• Give an example of primary and secondary
  succession.
• What is a climax community?
• Answer pg 51 (2-4)