Ecosystems

LS.5.2.1 Engage in argument from evidence to compare the characteristics of several common ecosystems (including estuaries, salt marshes, oceans, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, forests, and grasslands) in terms of their ability to support a variety of populations.
LS.5.2.2 Use models to classify organisms within an ecosystem according to the function they serve: producers, consumers, or decomposers.
LS.5.2.3 Use models to infer the effects that may result from the interconnected relationships of plants and animals to their ecosystem.

Vocabulary Words:

Ecosystem: an interconnected community that includes all living and non-living things

Biotic Factor: the living or once-living things in an ecosystem

Abiotic Factor: the non-living things in an ecosystem

Terrestrial Ecosystem: land based ecosystem

Aquatic Ecosystem: water based ecosystem

Biotic & abiotic factors

What biotic factors and abiotic factors do you see in this ecosystem?

Terrestrial & Aquatic Ecosystems

Examples: deciduous forest, rainforest, grassland

Examples: saltwater, freshwater, estuary

producers, consumers, & decomposers

Learn more HERE!

Producers: Use energy from the sun to make their own food (through photosynthesis)

Consumers: Get energy by eating other plants/animals

Decomposers: Get energy by breaking down dead plants/animals and waste, help return nutrients to the soil

Food chains & food webs

Food Chain: a model that shows how energy flows through an ecosystem

Food Web: a model that shows the complex feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem; consists of many different interlocking food chains.

What happens when there is a change in a food web?

Find out what happened to the food web in Yellowstone National Park!