Ecosystems and Relationships between Organisms
Weekly OverviewThis week we will be learning all about food chains, ecosystems and relationships between organisms and their environment!
Remember our discussions last week on biotic and abiotic, producers, consumers and decomposers. Scroll Down to begin learning about food chains, our first section this week. |
I'm ready for the Quiz!We will have discussed all of these topics in class, if you think you are ready to try the Week 2 quiz, Click the button below. This Quiz will cover food chains, ecosystems, and relationships.
You can take the quiz a total of two times. Any more entries will not be counted for a grade, I will enter the better of the two scores into the grade book at the end of each week.
|
The Food Chain
"What's for Dinner?"Every organism needs to obtain energy in order to live. Producers do this through photosynthesis, and consumers must eat to obtain energy.
A Food Chain is the sequence of who eats whom in a biological community, or ecosystem. It is organized by trophic level, or positions in the food chain. So who does eat whom in the Food Chain? Lets take a closer look! |
Vocabulary Section 1
|
A food chain starts with a primary producer. This organism makes it own food, usually through photosynthesis, from a primary energy source like the sun. These organisms are also called autotrophs, meaning they make their own food. The next link to a food chain are the primary consumers. These organisms are mostly herbivores who eat the primary producers. All consumers are called heterotrophs because they cannot make their own food. The next link is secondary consumers. These heterotrophs eat the primary consumers and are generally carnivores and omnivores. Animals that consume other animals are called predators. Tertiary consumers are the fourth link in the food chain.
These heterotrophs are mainly carnivores and will eat both primary and secondary consumers. Often, tertiary consumers are top predators, meaning they are the top of the food chain and no other animal consumes them. The final link in any food chain are the detrivores. These are scavengers and decomposers that consume and break down dead organisms, returning nutrients back into the ecosystem. |
|
Food Webs
A food web shows how more than one food chain is related. Organisms in a food web can occupy more than one trophic level. A bear in a forest food web may eat berries and be considered a primary consumer. The same bear however, now eating a fish that has eaten a mosquito, is considered a tertiary consumer.
Let's take a look at the food webs below. Pay special attention to the roles each organism plays. Not all of the animals have arrows to show what they eat, Where do you think these animals get their food?
Scroll below the slideshow to continue to section 2!
Let's take a look at the food webs below. Pay special attention to the roles each organism plays. Not all of the animals have arrows to show what they eat, Where do you think these animals get their food?
Scroll below the slideshow to continue to section 2!
Ecosystems
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere). In an ecosystem, each organism has its' own niche, or role to play. Consider a small puddle at the back of your home. In it, you may find all sorts of living things, from microorganisms, to insects and plants. These may depend on non-living things like water, sunlight, turbulence in the puddle, temperature, atmospheric pressure and even nutrients in the water for life. Anytime a ‘stranger’ (living thing(s) or external factor such as rise in temperature) is introduced to an ecosystem, it can be disastrous to that ecosystem. This is because the new organism (or factor) can distort the natural balance of the interaction and potentially harm or destroy the ecosystem
Usually, biotic members of an ecosystem, together with their abiotics factors depend on each other. This means the absence of one member, or one abiotic factor can affect all parties of the ecosystem. Unfortunately ecosystems have been disrupted, and even destroyed by natural disasters such as fires, floods, storms and volcanic eruptions. Human activities have also contributed to the disturbance of many ecosystems and biomes. |
Vocabulary Section 2
|
Scales of an Ecosystem
Ecosystems come in indefinite sizes. It can exist in a small area such as underneath a rock, a decaying tree-trunk, or a pond in your village, or it can exist in large forms such as an entire rain forest. Technically, the Earth can be called a huge ecosystem!
To make things simple, let us classify ecosystems into three main scales:
|
Ecosystem boundaries are not separated by rigid lines. They are often separated by geographical barriers such as deserts, mountains, oceans, lakes and rivers. As these borders are never rigid, ecosystems tend to blend into each other. This is why a lake can have many small ecosystems with their own unique characteristics. Scientists call this blending “ecotone |
There are also levels of organization in an ecosystem (Click HERE to learn more)
Week 2 Assignments:
This week I want you to create your own ecosystem poster! Using the resources we will be discussing in class you will create a web showing abiotic, biotic, trophic levels, and the flow of energy through an entire ecosystem. Your rubric can be found HERE.
WooHoo!You are now finished with the week 2 content. Be sure to complete the Quiz and assignment for this week and review the vocabulary for our in-class tests.
I will be posting some fun at home activities on the experiments page for you to do at home, also some resources for further reading that you might want to use to study for the test! I hope you've enjoyed this week and you are now ready to move on to Week 3! |
Let's do some Experimenting!
I found some great activities for us to do! Games all about Food webs and ecosystems!
Click HERE and we can play. |