Ecosystems Unit Activity 5.1 Pools in Other Ecosystems Carbon: Transformations in Matter and Energy Environmental Literacy Project Michigan State University Ecosystems Unit Activity 5.1 Pools in Other Ecosystems

Let’s look at organic carbon pools in real ecosystems Cornfield Prairie Have students predict which ecosystems have the largest organic carbon pools. Use slide 6 to introduce four different types of ecosystems. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Desert Forest

Which ecosystem do you think has the most organic carbon? Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Prairie Desert

Notice the pattern of organic carbon pool sizes Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil organic carbon 30 190 2 0.1 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Prairie

Notice the pattern of organic carbon pool sizes Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 3 56 0.4 0.02 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Desert

Desert Prairie Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 3 56 0.4 0.02 Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 30 190 2 0.1 0.1 2 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. 190 30

Which ecosystem do you think has the most organic carbon? Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Cornfield Forest

Notice the pattern of organic carbon pool sizes Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 14 127 1 0.1 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Cornfield

Notice the pattern of organic carbon pool sizes Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 80 118 9 0.7 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. Image Credit: Hannah Miller Forest

Forest Cornfield Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 80 118 9 0.7 Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 14 127 1 0.1 0.1 1 Have students consider two ecosystems at a time—prairie vs. desert and cornfield vs. forest—during Slides 7-14. Students should write down a prediction on a piece of paper. Ask: Which ecosystem will have the most organic carbon? They could also predict which pool they think will be the largest. 127 14

Desert Prairie Forest Cornfield Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon Atmosphere CO2 Carnivores organic carbon Herbivores organic carbon Producers organic carbon Soil Organic Carbon 0.7 0.1 0.02 0.1 9 1 2 0.4 Compare four different ecosystems. Use Slide 15 of the presentation to prompt students to write down as many observations as they can about the differences between the four ecosystems. The main thing they should notice is that the relative sizes of ecosystem pools is the same across ecosystems: the largest pool is the soil organic carbon, followed by producers, then herbivores, then carnivores. They may also notice that soil organic carbon is the largest pool in the prairie, but the forest has the most organic carbon in producers. You may use this opportunity to talk about how pool sizes are different because of the history of the site (lots of grasses growing and dying increase the soil organic carbon pool) and the size of the organisms that live there (trees versus corn). Image Credit: Hannah Miller 118 80 127 14 30 56 3 190

What pattern did you notice in all of the ecosystems? Soil contains the largest pool of organic carbon The producers pools is bigger than the herbivores pool The herbivores pool is bigger than the carnivores pool Carnivores are the smallest pool of organic carbon Total mass of carnivores = 100 kg herbivores = 1000 kg plants = 10,000 kg Use Slide 16 to discuss patterns that they noticed across the different ecosystems and how that results in the shape of the organic matter pyramid.

Why does this pattern exist in ecosystems? So far we have identified an important pattern in the relative sizes of the carbon pools in different ecosystems that results in the shape of the organic matter pyramid but an important question remains: What are the processes that cause this pattern? Discuss unanswered questions. Use Slide 17 to remind students that they have not yet explained what processes cause the patterns that they have observed that result in the organic matter pyramid. They will develop an explanation in Lesson 3.