1. Ecology
The study of how organisms and their environments interact.

2. Organism
An individual living thing, made up of one or many cells, that is capable of growing and reproducing.
Examples: a bug, a human, a horse, a plant
Non-examples: an eyeball, a dog’s paw, a rock, a plant’s leaf

3. Biotic factors
Biotic factors are the parts of an ecosystem that are living.
Biotic factors include plants, animals and shelter (coral reefs, trees)

4. Abiotic factors
Abiotic factors are nonliving things that an organism needs to survive in an ecosystem.
3 abiotic factors are sunlight, soil and water

5. List the abiotic and biotic factors found at this watering hole:

6. BRAINSTORM
Why do we eat?
What kinds of things do we eat?
Where does energy start?

7. Energy in Ecosystems
All energy in an ecosystem begins with the sun.

8. PHOTOSYNTHESIS
The sun translates energy into the ecosystem through plants in a process called photosynthesis.
Photosynthesis is the way that plants take in sunlight, water and carbon dioxide and turn it into energy to grow.

9. Stop & Think What is photosynthesis? What is the study of ecology?
List one abiotic and one biotic factor in an environment.

10. Species
Species are a single type of organism that are able to create offspring.
Examples: lion, walrus, human beings, dogs
Non-examples:
Mules (horse/donkey cross)
Ligers (lion/tiger cross)

11. Ecosystem
An ecosystem is all of the living and nonliving things that make up the environment where an organism lives.
Examples: the desert, a pond, a river, an ocean.

12. Stop and Write
List one example of an ecosystem and one example of a species that you would find in that ecosystem.

13. Energy flows through ecosystems.
Producers Consumers Decomposers

14. Producers
Producers take energy from the sun and turn it into food for all other organisms.
Plants and algae are the most common producers

15. Consumers
Consumers are organisms that get their energy by eating producers or other consumers.
3 levels of consumers:
Primary consumer-eats producers
Secondary consumer-eats primary consumers
Tertiary consumer-eats secondary consumers

16. Decomposers
Decomposers are organisms that get their energy by breaking down producers and consumers into smaller parts in the soil.
They are the clean-up crew for an ecosystem!
Examples: maggots, mushrooms, worms

17. What would the world look like without decomposers?

18. Food Chains
Food chains follow a single path of energy as animals find food.
The sun provides food for grass
The grass is eaten by a grasshopper
The grasshopper is eaten by a frog
The frog is eaten by a snake
The snake is eaten by a hawk.

19. Food Chains Tertiary Consumers Secondary Consumers Primary Consumers
Producers

23. Food Webs
Food webs show how plants & animals are interconnected by different paths and can have several food chains within them.
Everything is connected like a spider web. If one part is removed, it can affect the whole web.

24. Food Web
Example:
Trees produce acorns which are food for mice and insects
The mice provide food for weasels and snakes.
The insects and acorns also feed birds, skunks, and opossums.
Skunks, opossums, weasels, and mice feed hawks, foxes, and owls.

30. Stop and Write
Draw a diagram of the way that energy gets from the sun to plants to animals to humans.