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White Oak ElementaryFifth Grade2010-2011
EcosystemsScience Goal One
Objectives:1.01 Describe and compare several common ecosystems (communities of organisms and their interaction
with the environment).
1.02 Identify and analyze the functions of organisms within the population of the ecosystem:Producers. Consumers. Decomposers.
1.03 Explain why an ecosystem can support a variety of organisms.
1.04 Discuss and determine the role of light, temperature, and soil composition in an ecosystem’s capacity to support life.
1.05 Determine the interaction of organisms within an ecosystem.
1.06 Explain and evaluate some ways that humans affect ecosystems.Habitat reduction due to development. Pollutants. Increased nutrients.
1.07 Determine how materials are recycled in nature.
Learning Outcomes:The learner will be able to:•list common ecosystems•compare and contrast several ecosystems•examine how organism function as producers, consumers, and decomposers within a ecosystem•consider how environmental factors affect an ecosystem’s ability to support life•evaluate how organisms interact within an ecosystem•explain and debate how humans affect ecosystems•establish how items are recycled in nature
Vocabulary and DefinitionsAbiotic: Non-living – examples of abiotic factors include
soil, water, temperature, bedrock, etc. Adaptations: Characteristics that help an organism survive
in a particular ecosystem – ex. thorns, camouflage Animal: consumer, must eat other organisms to survive Bacteria: simplest one of the five kingdoms of life, single
celled organisms, decomposers, do not have membrane-bound nuclei, ex: streptococcus, E. coli
Biome: where several habitats intersect Biotic: living – ex. producers, consumers, decomposers Carbon Dioxide: CO2, a basic nutrient, required by plants
for photosynthesis, also a product of decompositionCarnivores: animals that eat only other animals
Community: where several populations interactCompetition: the struggle among organisms,
both of the same and of different species, for food, space, and other vital requirements
Conifers: one of the five major plant groups, male cones produce pollen that is spread by air, female cones produce seeds (plant embryo, food supply, protective covering) – ex. firs, pines, sequoia
Conservation: the careful utilization of a natural resource in order to prevent depletion
Consumers: animals, must eat other organisms to survive
Cooperation: mutually beneficial interaction among organisms living in a limited area
EcosystemsEcosystems come in a variety of sizes. They can be as small as a puddle of rain or as
large as a continent. When any group of living and nonliving
things interact, it can be considered an ecosystem.
Any type of ecosystem is an open system in the sense that energy and matter are transferred in and out of the system.
Natural ecosystems are made of both abiotic factors (air, water, rocks, energy) and biotic factors (plants, animals, and microorganisms).
Within all ecosystems there are habitats that also vary in size.
The habitat is where the population lives. A population is considered any group of living
organisms of the same kind living in the same place at the same time.
When all of the populations interact, they form a community.
Non-living things interact with the community of living things to form the ecosystem.
Within the habitat, the needs of the organisms must be met.
These needs are food, water, temperature, shelter, oxygen, and minerals.
If the needs of the population are not met, that population will move to an area more suited to its needs.
The processes of competition, predation, cooperation, and symbiosis occur because two differing populations cannot occupy the same niche at the same time.
This means habitats are specific to a population. Each population has it own habitat though
several populations may share a habitat.
Biomes are where several habitats intersect. Biomes are natural occurring environments,
although people can create controlled biomes.
Within all biomes, habitats, and ecosystems is an energy cycle.
This energy cycle determines which populations survive or die.
Every living thing on Earth needs energy and ultimately the sun is the source of all energy within an ecosystem.
A food chain is how energy is passed, in the form
of food, from one organism to another.The organisms in the food chain are producers,
consumers, or decomposers. Some organisms make their own food (producers),
while others need to eat other organisms for food (decomposers and consumers).
A food chain is the path of food given from the final consumer back to a producer.
A food chain is one single path, but in the real world there is not a straight path, but rather a web of paths.
This is because many animals do not consume only one type of plant or animal.
Primary Consumer
The mouse will then be eaten by the
snake.
SecondaryConsumerThe snake
will be eaten by
the hawk.
Primary Producer
The mouse will eat the
plant.
Third ConsumerThe hawk will die and
become fertilizer to
the producers.
DecomposerThe
mushroom breaks down the hawk to nourish the
primary producer.
A food web is made up of interlocking food chains.Water and energy are vital to the survival of an
ecosystem, conservation is needed. Most ecosystems conserve the resources naturally.
An example would be the exchange of carbon dioxide (given off from animals) and oxygen (given off by plants).
Another example is the waste of some species becomes the food of another.
When there are limited resources, the conservation process is urgent and more visible.
If the conservation efforts do not succeed, then species can become endangered or even extinct.
Species become endangered with the available habitat can no longer support the members of a population.
When a habitat disappears and all of the members of a population die, the species is considered extinct.
For a more detailed and specific explanation of food chains, webs, and energy flow, go to: http://www.marietta.edu/~biol/102/ecosystem.html#Energyflowthroughtheecosystem3.
Types of Biomes
Polar region (Arctic and Antarctica)
Coniferous forests
Rain forests
Deserts
Everglades
Tundra
Mountain Taiga
Grasslands
Chaparral