Content Objective: Nutrients flow through an ecosystem involves the conversion of nutrients into different forms from inorganic sources to organic and back to inorganic through interactions of living organisms.
Language Objective: Create a diagram showing the flow of energy and nutrients through an ecosystem.
Syllabus Details:
Autotrophs obtain inorganic nutrients from the abiotic environment
The supply of inorganic nutrients is maintained by nutrient recycling
Classifying species as autotrophs, consumers, detrivores or saprotrophs from a knowledge of their mode of nutrition
Consumers are heterotrophs that feed on living organisms by ingestion
Detrivores are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from detritus by internal digestion
Saprotrophs are heterotrophs that obtain organic nutrients from dead organisms by external digestion
Species are groups of organisms that can potentially interbreed to produce fertile offspring
Species have either an autotrophic or heterotrophic method of nutrition ( a few species have both methods)
A community is formed by populations of different species living together and interacting with each other
A community forms an ecosystem by its interactions with the abiotic environment
Ecosystems have the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time
Activity 1 - Food Webs
1. Using the worksheet below. Make a list of all the animals and add three terms, one from each row below:
heterotrophs or autotrophs.
consumer, detritivores or saprotrophs.
producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer or decomposer.
2. Using the animals in the list create a food web of the animals. You can just use the names. You DO NOT need to print and cut out anything
3. Please bring to class next lesson.
Click Here for the food web worksheet
Activity 2 - Food Webs and Energy Webs
1. Using the worksheet from last lesson (Mr. C's awesome drawing!). Draw how the nutrients cycle in the ecosystem.
Activity 3 - Sustainability of Ecosystems
1. Watch this TED talk about Biosphere 2
2. Ecosystem have the potential to be sustainable over long periods of time. In IB talk, we say that ecosystems are interrelated and interdependent. How does this video show that?
Activity 4 - IB Practice Question - On Socrative - ISBCOVINGTON
Due dates on your homework page.