1. Input Chart: Ecosystems
Table of Contents
Input Chart
Talking Points
Pictures to support student understanding

3. Talking Points: Ecosystems
*Start from the top left
Say: Today we are going to talk about Ecosystems. Say that with me “Ecosystems”. Ecosystems support all living organisms . Say that with me, “living organisms”. Ecosystems provide food, fresh water, sunlight and air.
Say: For example, apple trees can be found in orchard ecosystems. Apple trees help the ecosystem by taking in carbon dioxide “say it with me carbon dioxide” and producing oxygen “say it with me oxygen” What is oxygen? (air) . Oxygen allows other organisms to breathe. Apple trees also provide food for humans and insects. Humans rely heavily on the apple tree because it supplies a profitable “say the word profitable with me” crop. Profitable means to make money. Rub your fingers together as in making money. (place photos of apple trees) Trees of all kinds need air, water, soil and living organisms to survive—they are integral parts of our system.
Say: Butterflies are also an important part of our ecosystem. Butterflies live around flowers and help pollinate the flowers, plants, and trees in the ecosystem allowing them to grow. Some butterflies eat mallow or insects and provide the function of controlling the insect population “say the word population with me” What is population? (a group of a specific type of organism living in a given area.) When butterflies help control the insect population it prevents the insects from getting out of control and destroying plant life. (place photos of butterflies and mallow plant) Without plants, soil, water, sun, and air, the butterfly could not sustain life.
Say: Rivers are a source of fresh water in an ecosystem and provide food. Humans have affected the river ecosystem by building dams which destroy the habitat for its living organisms, and through commercial fishing. (place photos of dams and fishing) One of the organisms we are studying lives in this ecosystem. “put your heads together and think which of the organisms this may be.” (sturgeon) (place photos of fish and sturgeon) Without soil, water, air and loving organisms, fish like the sturgeon could not sustain life in an ecosystem.
Say: The sunflower grows in the sunflower field and is a type of plant (place photo of sunflower field) The sunflower produces nectar “say nectar with me” (place photo of nectar) Nectar is saccharine secretion (show picture of nectar filled lily ). In our classroom butterflies eat sugar and water, but in their habitat they eat nectar from flowers and in the process they help pollinate. The sunflower also produces sunflower oil and seeds for humans. (place photos) If one organism in a system is not completing its function, the surrounding ecosystem could not maintain life. For example, plants in unhealthy soil without nutrients, could not survive. A botanist studies plants like the Sun Flower. The Sunflower is an annual plant, with a 1-year life-cycle depending on the temperature in its habitat.
10/2 “When I give you the signal word you are going to turn and talk to your neighbor, think about the different organisms which make up an ecosystem, think about each one individually and which kingdom would they belong to? For example (pointing at the Six- Kingdoms chart which you would have already presented and processes with your students) I know there is grass in this ecosystem so the grass belongs to Kingdom Plantae.
10/2 “In an ecosystem there are many relationships which develop on which one organism depends on another in order to survive. Look at our chart up here and when I give you the signal word talk to your neighbor and think about one relationship.” For example, all of the living organisms depend on the light of the sun in order to survive and produce food. (Look for answers from your students like “the bee needs flowers” the “sunflower needs the soil or dirt” “all of them need water, maybe rain”)
Give scouts a chance to say who has earned an award

4. monarch butterfly sip nectar from a daisy flower
a nectar lunch
apple blossom
apple tree

5. bee
bumble bee sunflower
Bummble Bee
common mallow

6. fish farming
coulee2
fishing river
GrandCouleeDam

7. GrandCouleeDam-Spill mallow
nectar filled water lily
Nectar

8. sturgeon fish
Sturgeon
sun flower seeds
sunflower oil

9. sunflower
tropical river fish
sunflower field