ECOSYSTEMS

1. ECOSYSTEMS

2. What is an Ecosystem? • 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/

3. Ecosystem Example: A Forest (Living) Producers Trees Grasses Bushes Produce (make) their own food through ___________________ Nonliving Parts: Air Water Sunlight Soil Rocks/Minerals photosynthesis Deer & Rabbits eat the grass & bushes Bees take pollen from the flower of plants to their beehives to make honey Wolves eat rabbits and deer. Bears eat the honey from the beehives

4. The Flow of Energyin an Ecosystem Plants (Producers) use the energy from sunlight to create a form of sugar. Energyfirst arrives from the sun. Other consumers, such as bees, use the sugar in pollen to make honey. This honey is filled with stored energy from the sun. Wolves get energy from other animals they eat. • Bears eat this honey to get energy. Consumers, like rabbits, eat plants to consume energy. How does the Energy flow? From the sun to producers(plants) and then to consumers (animals).

5. What is a Food Chain? The “chain” of energy: As a plantproduces energy (food) It is then eaten by an animal Then that animal is eaten by another animal When the Hawk dies, decomposers decompose the organism & it goes back into the ground. “Energy Never Dies” Example: Grasshopper  Toad  Snake  Grass  Hawk     http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm

6. 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.

7. Food Web Consumer 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. Producer

8. 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) Meat-Eating Animals (Carnivores) Decomposers bacteria, fungi, worms Consumers Plant-eating Animals (Herbivores) Producers Plants

9. Change in Ecosystems… Can affect ALL organisms in the ecosystems 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. Change to an ecosystem can sometimes be helpful.

10. 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. Adapting to Change Organisms may leave the ecosystem and move to another area. If it cannot either adapt to the new conditions or move to a new area, the organism will often die.

11. When changes happen rapidly, many plants and animals are not able to adapt. When changes to an ecosystem take place slowly, plants and animals have time to adjust to these changes. Failing To Adapt To Change 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. When 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.

12. 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. Can you name an organism that is extinct? Mammoths Dinosaurs Saber-Tooth Tiger When living organisms are in danger of becoming extinct, they are called Endangered species

13. The Destruction of Ecosystems Sometimes can actually destroy an entire ecosystems natural events or humans activities 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. •  A fire started from lightening can burn down a forest. • Clearing land for new homes  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. Although most of the plants and animals in a destroyed ecosystem may quickly die off, new organisms soon spring up in their places.

14. Discussion Pond Ecosystem Imagine a severe 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.

15. 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. Manufacturers need water, raw materials, and energy to make the things we use. Farmers need fertile soil, water and sunlight to grow the crops we eat.

16. The Impact of Human Activities… • 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.

17. Global Warming • Humans 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?

18. What You Should Know • Energy flows through an ecosystem. • The source of energy in all ecosystems is the sun. • 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

19. EcosystemNotes • Ecosystem. All the living and non living things interacting in an area. • Organisms in an ecosystem depend on both the ecosystem’s living and nonliving parts. • All energy in an ecosystem originally comes from the energy of the sun.

20. FlowofEnergyinanEcosystemNotes • 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.

21. ChangesinEcosystemsNotes • 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.

22. ImpactofHumanActivitiesNotes • 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.

23. 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