1. Life On Earth
Key Area 1 - Ecosystems

2. Ecosystem Learning Outcomes
Define different ecological terms.
Success Criteria:
Define the term ecosystem.
Identify living factors in an ecosystem
Identify non-living factors in an ecosystem.
Research one type of ecosystem by completing the World Ecosystems Expedition.

3. Ecological Terms
In key area 1 you will be learning some new ecological terms.
Watch the following video and write down some key ecological terms on a show me board.
Introduction to ecology

4. Ecological Terms
Some of the key terms that you will learn in this key area include:
Can you define any of these words already?
ecosystem
carnivore
prey
omnivore
habitat
predator
community
herbivore
biodiversity
food chain
species
food web

5. Ecosystem What is an ecosystem or biome?
Can you name any examples of ecosystems?
What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystem Management: Tropical Rainforests
Ecosystem Management: Deciduous Forests
Ecosystem Management: Deserts

6. Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a natural biological unit made up of both living and non-living parts.
Examples of ecosystems include:
Tropical rainforests
Deciduous forests
Deserts

7. forest
grassland
Land ecosystems
desert
tundra

8. Water ecosystems
Marine
Freshwater
Coral reef
Ocean
Pond
River

9. Non-living parts of an ecosystem
The non-living (abiotic) parts of an ecosystem include:
Sunlight and water
Air and wind
Types and volume of water available
Rocks and soil.

10. Living parts of an ecosystem
The living (biotic) parts of an ecosystem include:
Plants and algae
Animals
Micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi.

11. Components of an ecosystem
The components that make up an ecosystem are the habitats, populations and communities.

12. What is a population?
What is meant by the term global human population?
View the following clips about human populations.
The most populous country
Encouraging population growth in Japan
Curbing population growth in India
Population: physical factors

13. Population
A population is the number of individuals of one species in an ecosystem.
Examples include:
population of humans on Earth.
population ants in an ant colony.

14. Habitat A habitat is an area of an ecosystem where an organism lives.
Examples of habitats include:
Riverbank
Pond water
Soil
Rock pool
Spotting habitats

15. Community
A community is all the different populations of organisms that live in a habitat.
This includes the plants, animals and micro-organisms such as bacteria and fungi.

16. Population
A population is the number of individuals of one species in an ecosystem.
Habitat
An area of an ecosystem where an organism lives.
Community
A community is all the different populations of organisms that live in a habitat.

17. World Ecosystem Expedition
Your task:
Produce a ‘Biology Expedition Brochure’ for one of the ecosystems listed below:
1: Tropical rainforests 2: Savannah 3: Desert 4: Tundra 5: Deciduous forests 6: Coniferous forests
Your brochure needs to ‘sell’ your planned expedition, and will be judged by your teacher, who will select the best ecosystem to go on expedition to!
Success Criteria
Detailed information about the ecosystem (country location, climate, vegetation, animals)
Statistics from your ecosystem presented in an appropriate format
References (bibliography) of your sources of information
Examples of activities/sight-seeing included on the expedition
A 50 – 100 word summary of your ecosystem

18. Ecosystem Learning Outcomes
Define different ecological terms.
Success Criteria:
Define the term species.
Define the term biodiversity.
Understand why biodiversity is important to humans.
Describe some human activities that can reduce biodiversity.

19. What is a species? Watch the following video clips:
Note down key words on your show me board.
Why classify?
Does it have fur?
Carl Linnaeus
World’s largest organism
Kingdoms

20. Hybrids
Some organisms are so closely related that they are able to interbreed but they are not the same species.
These organisms are known as hybrids.
FactPack: Animal Hybrids
Hybridisation
Ligers and DNA

21. Liger
Zorse
We are sterile!
We are animal hybrids
Mule

22. Species
A species is a group of organisms that can interbreed to produce fertile offspring.

23. What is biodiversity? Watch the following video clip:
Note down key words on your show me board.
1. What is biodiversity?
2. Why is biodiversity important?
Think  Pair  Share

24. Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the range of different species in an ecosystem.
High biodiversity is important for healthy sustainable ecosystems.

25. Why is biodiversity important to humans?
Raw
Materials
Economic Reasons
Food
Medicines
Losing
Potential
Riches
Ethical Reasons
Aesthetic Reasons
Extinction

26. Human impacts on biodiversity
The following human activities can have a negative impact and reduce biodiversity:
air pollution
water pollution
habitat destruction
deforestation
desertification
over-fishing

27. Ecosystem Learning Outcomes
Learning Intention: Describe and explain what happens to the flow of energy in an ecosystem.
Success Criteria:
Construct a food chain
Describe the path of energy flow in a food chain
Explain how much energy is lost from a food chain
Explain how energy is lost from a food chain.

28. Food chains
Identify the food chain in this diagram

29. Food chains
A food chain is a diagram that shows the feeding relationships of organisms living together in an ecosystem.
For example:
leaves
caterpillar
bird
cat

30. Food chains
All food chains start with producers (green plants) that change light energy to chemical energy (food) through photosynthesis.
When an organism eats another organism, energy is transferred.
This transfer of energy can be represented as a food chain. Arrows indicate the direction of energy flow.

31. Making food chains
Write down a food chain for each list. Remember to use arrows.
Slug, thrush, lettuce
Grain, human, chicken
Caterpillar, oak tree, blackbird
Lion, grass, zebra
Owl, wheat, mouse

32. Food chains activity
Drag the organisms into the boxes to make three food chains.

33. Don’t forget that your food chain must start with a plant!
Antarctic food chain
Read the following paragraph about the Antarctic and on a show me board draw a food chain that shows the feeding relationships in this ecosystem.
Don’t forget that your food chain must start with a plant!
Killer whales or orcas move around Antarctica hunting for their food. One of the species that they eat are the Weddell Seal. Weddell seals are large mammals that stay in Antarctica all year round. One of the many things that they eat are squid. Squid are very fast hunters who often poison their prey. They feed on many different organisms including shrimp. Shrimp are small animals that live on the ocean floor. There are over 2,000 different species of shrimp all over the world. They are omnivores but phytoplankton makes up a large part of their diet.

34. Antarctic food chain – answer
phyto-
plankton
shrimp
squid
weddell
seal
killer
whale
Killer whales or orca move around Antarctica hunting for their food. One of the species that they eat are the Weddell Seal. Weddell seals are large mammals that stay in Antarctica all year round. One of the many things that they eat are squid. Squid are very fast hunters who often poison their prey. They feed on many different organisms including shrimp. Shrimp are small animals that live on the ocean floor. There are over 2,000 different species of shrimp all over the world. They are omnivores but phytoplankton makes up a large part of their diet.

35. Energy loss in food chains
At each level in a food chain 90% of energy is lost as:
Heat
Movement
Undigested materials
10% of the energy is used for growth.

36. Summary of energy loss
3. Some of the energy is lost as heat as the caterpillar moves about.
2. Some of the energy in the leaf is lost in waste which passes through the digestive system of the caterpillar.
4. Only a small proportion of the energy is stored in the body of the caterpillar. This is the only energy available to the animal that eats it
1. The caterpillar eats the leaf.

37. Feeding relationships
There are two types of organisms that exist in food chains.
They are named according to how they obtain their food.

38. Producers
Producers are organisms that produce their own food by photosynthesis.
Producers include plants and algae.
Producers are found at the start of every food chain and absorb light energy from the sun.

39. Consumers
Consumers are organisms that feed on other organisms to gain energy.
Consumers can feed on both plants and animals.

40. Types of consumer There are 3 different types of consumer.
Organisms are categorised by what they feed on.
What is a herbivore?
What is an omnivore?
What is a carnivore?

41. Herbivores

42. Omnivores

43. Carnivores

44. Predators and prey
An animal that hunts and kills other animals for food is known as a predator.
The animal that is being hunted is known as the prey.
Predators and prey
Predation
Super prey
Sharks and seals

45. Feeding Relationships Key Words
Definition
producer
consumer
herbivore
carnivore
omnivore
An organism that can produce its own food by photosynthesis.
An organism that feeds on other organisms for energy.
An organism that only eats plants.
An organism that only eats animals.
An organism that eats both plants and animals.

46. Food webs
A food web is a network of interlinked food chains in an ecosystem.

47. Food webs A food web is made up of a number of food chains.
Food webs occur because animals eat more than one type of food.

48. Food webs Food webs always start with producers.
Herbivores feed on producers and are known as a primary consumers.
Animals that feed on primary consumers are known as a secondary consumers.
Animals that are found at the top of food chains are known as tertiary consumers or top predators.

50. Decomposers
Decomposers break down the dead remains of animals and plants and recycle nutrients back into the soil.
Main decomposers are bacteria and fungi.

51. Food Webs
Glue your food web into your jotter, then answer the questions on the next slide.

52. Use the food web to answer the questions:
Name the producer in this food web.
Name 2 predators.
What would happen to the number of foxes if the seed-eating bird were removed from the food web?
What would happen to the number of insectivorous birds if the spiders were removed?
Name one food source that foxes and snakes compete for.
What would the effect on the food chain be if toads were removed?

53. Niche
Learning Intention: Identify and describe the role of different living organisms within an ecosystem.
Success Criteria:
Define the term niche.
Give examples of how livings things interact with each other in an ecosystem.
Describe how these interactions allow living things to survive in a particular niche.

54. Niche
A niche is the role that an organism plays within an ecosystem.

55. Niche
The niche of an organism includes the use it makes of the resources in an ecosystem.
Resources including light, temperature and nutrient availability.
It’s niche also includes interactions with other organisms in the community through competition, parasitism and predation.

56. Members of the same species occupy the same niche in an ecosystem because they play the same role when they interact with both the biotic and abiotic components.

57. Different species always occupy different niches, e. g
Different species always occupy different niches, e.g. the role that an eagle plays in a given ecosystem is similar but different to that which a hawk plays.

58. Identifying Niches -Task
Make a table with the headings “Organism from Pond Ecosystem” and “Description of Niche”
Using the diagram on the next slide, write down the name of the organism and describe its niche within the pond ecosystem.

59. Identifying Niches

60. Identifying Niches Organism from pond ecosystem Description of niche
Eagle
Heron
Green frog
Catfish
Water Rat
Reeds
Grasshopper
Duck

61. Identifying Niches Organism from pond ecosystem Description of niche
Eagle
Top predator / tertiary consumer. Feeds on water rats, turtles, catfish and green trout.
Heron
Predator / consumer that feeds on frogs and green trout.
Green frog
Consumer that feeds on lobster and flies. Prey of herons.
Catfish
Predator / consumer that feeds on lobster. Prey of eagles.
Water Rat
Herbivore that feeds on reeds. Prey of eagles.
Reeds
Producer rooted in pond mud. Fed on by water rats, grasshoppers and freshwater snails.
Grasshopper
Herbivore that feeds on reeds. Prey of snakes and turtles.
Duck
Omnivore / consumer that feeds on reeds and mosquitoes.

62. Examples of ecological niches
Fox
Predator of small animals, amphibians, insects and fruit.
Active at night.
Provides blood for black flies and mosquitoes.
Host of diseases.
Scraps provide food for small scavengers and decomposers.
Mole
Worm eating consumer.
Nocturnal (active at night)
Preyed on by owls.

63. Interactions in Ecosystems
An organism’s niche relies on how it interacts with the environment and other living things.
Interactions in a niche include:
competition
parasitism
predation
light intensity/availability
temperature
nutrient availability
Allows 10 minutes for pairs to discuss these factors in turn and make notes on scrap paper/back of notebook.
In groups of 4 rotate 5 A3 sheets of paper for the group to mind map their ideas, 2 mins per sheet.
Give each group one sheet (i.e. one factor) to formulate the ‘class note’ for their given factor.
In pairs think about each factor and how it would affect the distribution and survival of living things.
In groups of four add your thoughts to each piece of A3 paper
Produce a 50 – 100 summary for your given factor (from one of the A3 sheets)
Use page 239 – 240 of the N5 text book to help you

64. Competition in Ecosystems
Learning Intention:
Investigate interspecific and intraspecific competition in ecosystems.
Success Criteria:
Define interspecific competition and give examples.
Define intraspecific competition and give examples.

65. Skills for life, learning and work: Understanding new scientific terms
Literacy, Numeracy, HWB:
I can make notes and organise them to develop my thinking, help retain and recall information, explore issues and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate.
LIT 3-15a / LIT 4-15a
Skills for life, learning and work:
Understanding new scientific terms
Becoming confident in new biological terms
Research skills

66. What do plants and animals compete for?
Starter Activity: on a show me board
What do plants and animals compete for?
Plants Animals

67. This struggle for resources is called competition.
All living organisms need natural resources to survive, however these resources are limited. This means that individuals have to fight for them in order to survive.
This struggle for resources is called competition.

68. Competition in animals
Animals compete for:
food
water
mates
land (territory)
Photo credit: © 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation
Members of different species will not compete for mates.

69. Competition in plants
Competition between plants may be less noticeable than competition between animals but it still takes place. Plants compete for:
light
water
minerals and nutrients
space
pollinators
Photo credit: © 2006 Jupiterimages Corporation

70. Types of Competition
Interspecific competition occurs between members of different species.
Intraspecific competition occurs between members of the same species.
Different species = Interspecific Same species = Intraspecific

71. Competition
Intraspecific competition is more intense than interspecific competition as member of the same species require exactly the same resources.
Different species have different niches and therefore will have different food sources and habitats.

72. Example Questions Key Area 1 Ecosystems
Total Marks
/ 6

73. Question 1
1 mark

74. Question 2
1 mark

75. Question 3
1 mark

76. Question 4
All the organisms living in a particular area and the non-living components (with which they interact)
1 mark

77. Question 5
1 mark

78. Question 6
1 mark