Environment & Ecosystems

By: Cindy & Lauralynn

Student Centered Investigation

Look

at the picture Discuss and make a list with your table of the living and nonliving things in your given ecosystem. Choose a spokesperson to present to the class your list.

Tundra Ecosystem

Desert Ecosystem

Aquatic Ecosystem

Rainforest Ecosystem

Agro ecosystem

Objective
I

will be able to identify and explain characteristics of living and nonliving things in an environment and ecosystem. Second Grade Science Standard 4: Objective 2a Communicate and justify how the physical characteristics of living thing help them meet their basic needs

Vocabulary

Ecosystem- is a complex set of relationships among the living resources, habitats, and residents of an area. Environment-the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates. Biome- group of communities with own climate, vegetation, and animal life, covering a large area such as: oceans & rain forest Abiotic- refer to a nonliving things in a physical environment such as: sunlight, soil, wind, rain, and temperature Biotic- living organisms in an environment such as: a butterfly pollenating a flower. Organism- An individual animal, plant or single-celled life form.

Environment Vs. Ecosystem

An environment is everything that surrounds a living thing. The nonliving parts of an environment support the living things in the environment. An ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in an environment. In an environment, living and nonliving parts act on each other or interact. These interacting parts make up an ecosystem. The living parts of an ecosystem depend on nonliving parts.

Two Components in an Environment

Abiotic Components Sunlight Temperature Precipitation Water or Moisture Soil Biotic Components Primary Producers Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores

Characteristics of Living Things (Biotic)

Adult Level

Elementary Level
Growth Movement Reproduction

Made of cells Obtain and use energy Grow and develop Reproduce Movement Adapt to their environment Different levels of organization

This is post-test question.

Characteristic of Nonliving Things (Abiotic)

Nonliving Nonliving

things can not reproduce.

things do not need air, water and food.

Two Groups of Nonliving things in an Environment

Things that were part of living things:
Coal Paper Jam

Things that were NEVER part of living things: Stone Gems Sand Glass

Living & Nonliving Things in an Ecosystem

LIVING THINGS Producers Consumers Decomposers NONLIVING THINGS Soil Precipitation Sunlight

Food Web and Energy Flow

How do organisms obtain & use the matter & energy they need to live & grow?
Sustaining

life requires substantial energy and matter inputs Energy needed for life is mostly derived from the sun through photosynthesis Plants and algae are energy-fixing organisms that sustain the rest of the food web
This is a post-test question

Misconceptions
Students may think Environment and Ecosystem are the same. Organisms higher in a food web eat everything that is lower in the food web. Decomposers release some energy that is cycled back to plants. Ecosystems change little over time. Ecosystems are not a functioning whole but simply a collection of organisms. Plants cannot defend themselves against herbivores.

Review
Smart board activity