Living Things and the Environment Organism – a living thing All organisms need the following things to live, grow, and reproduce: ◦ Food ◦ Water ◦ Shelter ◦ Energy source Habitat: The environment that provides these things. A PLACE in which an organism lives.

Living Things and the Environment Niche - The ROLE of an organism in its community or environment. ◦ The niche includes the type of food the organism eats, how it obtains food, and which other organisms use the organism as food.

Biotic vs Abiotic Factors Biotic factors - the living things in an ecosystem Abiotic factors – the non-living things in an ecosystem

Levels of Organization Review Cells - The smallest living parts of an organism. Tissues - large groups of cells all doing the same job. Organs - groups of tissues that work together to do a job. Organ system - A group of organs that work together to perform a major function in a plant or animal. Organism - an individual animal, plant, or single- celled life form. And the levels continue!

Levels of Organization Cont’d Population – a group of organisms of the same species living in an ecosystem Community – the living part of an ecosystem; all the populations that live together in the same area Ecosystem – all the interactions and relationships of organisms with one another and with their physical environment within a certain area. ◦ An ecosystem can be as small as a drop of rain water or as large as the ocean. ◦ It is several small communities interacting with each other. Biome – a group of land ecosystems with similar climates and organisms Biosphere - the sphere or area around the planet Earth where life exists

Levels of Organization

Brain Break 1. Stand Up. 2. Start by waving your right hand in front of you left to right. Your palm should be facing away from you while keeping your hand with your fingers pointing up. 3. Now stop that hand and have your left hand in front of you waving it up and down. 4. Now practice moving them at the SAME TIME. Do not move your hands going diagonally. 5. Now switch to have your right hand up and down and your left hand left and right. Do this faster and switch often to make it more difficult. 6. Lastly, to increase the difficulty, have your arms crossed while doing this.

Carrying Capacity and Limiting Factors Carrying Capacity - the largest population (amount) of an organism that can live in one area.

Limiting Factors - An environmental factor that limits the growth of a population ABIOTIC FACTORS - abiotic factors can act as LIMITING FACTORS that keep a population at a certain level desert environment -- hot temperature and little water are examples of limiting factors different species living in the desert are LIMITED mainly to those types of plants and animals that need very little water and can survive extreme temperatures BIOTIC FACTORS - biotic factors interact with other living organisms and the physical environment and can also be LIMITING FACTORS ◦ disease (bacteria), predators, food resources

CC and LF Video CC and LF Video Clip

Energy Roles in Ecosystems Each of the organisms in an ecosystem fills the energy role of a: ◦ Producer ◦ Consumer ◦ Decomposer

Producer/Autotroph (PLANTS) Energy enters most ecosystems as sunlight. Sunlight is captured by the leaves of plants and is stored as sugar for energy. A producer is an organism that captures energy from light and makes food with that energy.  Examples: trees, plants, flowers

Consumer/Heterotroph Consumers - an organism that consumes or eats other living things to get energy. ◦ Herbivore – eat plants only ◦ Omnivores – eat plants and animals ◦ Carnivores – eat animals only  Scavenger - carnivore that eats dead organisms

Decomposer Decomposers - break down waste and dead organisms into more basic parts and returns the raw materials to the ecosystem.

Brain Break Thumb War Thumb War is easy: Simply lock fingers together and then tap alternately with your thumbs to the chant: "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war". Then you can get started with the war. The first person to pin the others thumb down for three seconds so they can't move it is declared the winner.

Food Chains and Webs Food Chains and Webs Video Clip Food Chains and Webs Food chains and food webs show the movement of energy through an ecosystem.

Food Chain Food Chain - is a series of events in which one organism/species eats another and obtains energy.

Food Web Food web - consists of many overlapping food chains in an ecosystem.

Energy Pyramid Energy pyramid - shows the amount of energy that moves from one feeding level to another in a food web. ◦ Energy and matter are constantly being cycled. The most energy is available at the producer level (at the bottom) of the pyramid. As you move up the pyramid, each level has less energy available than the level below. ◦ This means less animals are able to survive.

Energy pyramid

The Carbon and Oxygen Cycle Water is essential for life. It makes up about 70% of our universe and our bodies. 2 of the other substances that are also necessary for survival are: ◦ Carbon ◦ Oxygen They continue in a cycle. Remember the photosynthesis and respiration cycle? The Carbon Cycle or The Circle of Life The Carbon Cycle or The Circle of Life

What is the Carbon Cycle? The carbon cycle is a process in which carbon atoms are cycled through plants, animals and the earth’s soil, water, and atmosphere. As a simple example, plants take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it for photosynthesis. Animals then eat the plants and use the carbon to build their own tissues. These animals return carbon dioxide into the air when they breathe, and then, when they die, carbon returns to the soil during decomposition. New plants or small microorganisms then use the carbon atoms, starting the cycle all over again. Above from Brain Pop Carbon Cycle

You are what you eat!

What is Biomass? The total weight of all organisms (plants, animals and bacteria) in each trophic level. ◦ We can view biomass in a pyramid showing that biomass decreases as you go up the pyramid. ◦ In most ecosystems, the biomass of the producers is greater than that of the consumers. ◦ Decomposers recycle the nutrients in the waste materials of dead organisms.

Why is there more biomass in some parts of Idaho or the US than others?