Ecosystems

Question to Reading 1.What is an ecosystem? 2.Why is it healthier for an ecosystem to have lots of species diversity (different types)? 3.What would happen in a Lake if the algae disappeared? 4.What are the three categories of living organisms and define each? 5.What are the three types of consumers and define each? 6.What are the major parts of an ecosystem and define why each is important?

Answers 1.What is an ecosystem?  “…is a community of living and non-living things that work together” (Ecosystems). 2.Why is it healthier for an ecosystem to have lots of species diversity (different types)?  “...less likely to be damaged by human interaction, natural disasters, or climate changes” (Ecosystems). 3.What would happen in a Lake if the algae disappeared?  Everything would be affected = death

Answers Continue  What are the three categories of living organisms and define each?  Producers: make their own food  plants  Consumers: get their energy from producers or organisms that eat producers  animals  Decomposers: “… plants and animals that break down dead plants and animals into organic materials that go back into the soil” (Ecosystems).

Answers Continue  What are the three categories of living organisms and define each?  Herbivores: eat planets  Carnivores: eat meat  Omnivores: eat planets and meat

Answers Continue  What are the major parts of an ecosystem and define why each is important?  Soil: nutrients, anchors, absorbs and holds water  Atmosphere: oxygen and carbon dioxide, part of the water cycle  Heat and light: energy – photosynthesis, warmth, helps keep the water cycle going  Water: large % of what cell are made up of, used to carry and distribute nutrients  Living organisms: help keep each other alive and thriving

Living vs. Non-living

 Explain the difference between a rock and a wooden plank. Include such things as physical make up and hot it was made.

Abiotic  Non-living  Never has been alive

Biotic  Living or has lived

Venn Diagram of Biotic vs. Abiotic WhaleClockCloudsCorpseFinger Nails WaterFishPaperGlassAluminum Wooden Ruler Cotton Fabric SandSteakPork Chops SaladBreadPlantHairPipe AirWoolGoldPlasticGrapes Snail

Continue: Venn Diagram of Biotic vs. Abiotic  What are things that could go into the intersection of these two circles?  Matter  Energy  Atoms

6 Characteristics that living this have in common  Growth  Reproduction  Respiration  Complex chemical reactions  Dissolving and transportation of material throughout a system  Digestion, metabolism, or the chemical reaction that causes a muscle to contract  Cells  Movement