Ecology is the interactions between organisms and their environments. An ecosystem contains all of the living and non-living organisms in a area. A ecosystem contains species, populations, and communities of organisms. Within each ecosystem there are several habitats, or the physical place where organisms lives. Characteristics of a habitat determine what organisms can live there. Organisms rely on their habitats in order to survive.
Energy constantly flows throughout an ecosystem. Some organisms get their energy from the sun, these are called producers. Other organisms get their energy from other organisms or producers, these are called consumers. Food chains and food webs show the eating patterns of an ecosystem.
Symbiosis refers to the relationships between different species. Competition and predation are two other ways in which organisms interact.
Check out this Google Slides presentation I created on the major concepts of ecology. Within the presentation you will also find some helpful graphic organizers and videos.
This is my ecology flag! I would use my flag as a model for my students. Students would then create either a flag or badge to represent an ecology concept of their choice.
My flag shows the concept of producers and consumers. I put the three different types of consumers (top carnivores, carnivores, and herbivores) in a pyramid with producers on the bottom. This is great visual to show the hierarchy of producers and consumers.