1. Chapter 7: Ecology
the study of the ecosystem

2. Big Idea ?
What is an Ecosystem?

3. Focus Identify the roles: Consumers Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore
Producers
Decomposers
Illustrate:
Food Chains
Food Webs

4. Georgia Performance Standards
S4L1abcd: Students will describe the roles of organisms and the flow of energy within an ecosystem.
S4CS1abcd: Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will
exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works.
S4CS3.1abcd: Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating objects in scientific
activities utilizing safe laboratory procedures.
S4CS4a: Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.
S4CS5abc: Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.
S4CS6ab: Students will question scientific claims and arguments effectively.

5. What Is an Ecosystem?
Vocabulary: Lesson 1

6. Environment Population Ecosystem Community
all of the living and nonliving things surrounding an organism.
Population
all the individuals of the same kind living in the same ecosystem.
Ecosystem
Eco –from the Greek word that means “house”
a community and its physical environment together.
Community
all the populations of organisms living together in an environment

7. What are the Roles of Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers?
Vocabulary: Lesson 2

8. Producer Consumer Decomposer
a living thing, such as a plant, that can make its own food.
Examples: Moss & Oak tree
Consumer
a living thing that can’t make its own food and must eat other living things.
Examples: Lion & Bear
Decomposer
a living thing that feeds on the wastes of plants and animals.
Examples: Bacteria & Fungi

9. Herbivore Carnivore Omnivore
An animal that eats only plants, or producers
Examples: Rabbits & Horses
Carnivore
An animal that eats only other animals
Examples: Lions & Jaguars
Omnivore
A living thing that eats both plants and other animals
Examples: Bears & Hyenas

10. How Does Energy Flow Through an Ecosystem?
Vocabulary: Lesson 3

11. Habitat Predator Niche Prey
an environment that meets the needs of an organism
Predator
a consumer that eats prey
Niche
the role of an organism in its habitat
Prey
consumers that are eaten by predators

12. Food Chain
a series of organisms that depend on one another for food
Food Web
a group of food chains that overlap

13. **************** Energy Pyramid
a diagram showing how much energy is passed from one organism to the next in a food chain
****************
the further along the food chain you go, the less food (and hence energy) remains available.

14. What Factors Influence Ecosystems?
Vocabulary: Lesson 4

15. Biotic Abiotic describes a living part of an ecosystem
describes a nonliving part of an ecosystem

16. Chapter 8: Adaptations for Survival

17. Focus Identify ways Adaptation can help organisms survive
Predict how changes in an
environment will effect a
community
Predict the effects on a
population if there are too
many or a scarcity of
some animals or plants
Identify factors leading to
Extinction

18. Standards
S4L2ab: Students will identify factors that affect the survival or extinction of organisms such as
adaptation, variation of behaviors (hibernation) and external features (camouflage and protection).
S4CS1abcd: Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism
in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how the world works.
S4CS3.1abcd: Students will use tools and instruments for observing, measuring, and manipulating objects in scientific
activities utilizing safe laboratory procedures.
S4CS4a: Students will use ideas of system, model, change, and scale in exploring scientific and technological matters.
S4CS5abc: Students will communicate scientific ideas and activities clearly.
S4CS6ab: Students will question scientific claims and arguments effectively.

19. What are physical adaptations?
Vocabulary: Lesson 1

20. Basic needs Will they survive? Are their basic needs being met?
food, water, air, and shelter that an organism needs to survive
Will they survive? Are their basic needs being met?

21. Adaptation Camouflage a color or shape that helps an animal hide
a body part or behavior that helps an organism survive

22. What are Behavioral Adaptations?
Vocabulary: Lesson 2

23. Instinct Extinction Migration Hibernation
a behavior that an animal begins life with and that helps it meet its needs
Extinction
the death of all the members of a certain group of organisms
Megalodon – prehistoric shark
Migration
the movement of animals from one region to another and back
Hibernation
a dormant, inactive state in which normal body activities slow