1. Chapter 4: Living Things and their Environment

2. Aim: What is the difference between abiotic and biotic factors?

3. Ecosystems All the living and nonliving things in an area
Ecology-the study how all these things interact in order to survive
There are many different types of ecosystems
All have the same parts:
Abiotic factors
Biotic factors

4. Abiotic Factors
Biotic Factors
Living parts of an ecosystem
Plants, animals, fungi, protists and bacteria
Nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Living things need these nonliving things to survive
Water, minerals, sunlight, air, climate and soil

5. Aim: What is a Prairie ecosystem like?

6. Blackland Prairie Located in Texas
Largest remaining prairie in America
Was once covered in wild grasses
Rich black soil was found here
Land was occupied by buffalo
snakes, lizards, types of birds, raccoons, coyotes, deer and bats
50 different kinds of tall and short grasses
Many types of flowers

7. Now the prairie is used for planting crops (wheat, corn) and cattle grazing
When towns, cities and farms were built the buffalo and many other animals left, such as black bears and jaguars
Some animals came, such as armadillos

8. Aim: What are populations and communities?

9. Population All the organisms of a species living in the same area
Populations of the Blackland prairie
Armadillos
Badgers
Indian grass
Pond algae
Soil bacteria
Scientists want to know how these populations interact with one another

10. Communities All the populations living in an area
Scientists study the interactions of different populations in an ecosystem’s community
This helps them to understand what makes an ecosystem grow

11. Aim: What is the difference between niches and habitats?

12. Habitat The place where an organism lives Examples:
red bat’s habitat is above ground
Chorus frog-ponds of Blacklands
Bees-beehive
Sharks-live in the ocean

13. Niches Role of an organism in the community
No 2 species can have the same niche
They would have to be identical for this to occur
No 2 species are identical
Scientists study niches and habitats to find out if a community is healthy or in trouble
Includes:
What a species eats
What eats the species
Active by day or night
Kind of environment the species needs to live in

14. Aim: What happens when habitats change?

15. Habitats can change year to year
This affects the organisms
Animals either finds a new habitat or adapt to the changes in their environment
Ex: spadefoot toad is able to survive during a drought
The toad digs with its hind feet to cover itself with soil
Absorbs water from the soil which contains clay

16. Aim: What is the treasure of the Blackland Prairie?

17. Topsoil-dark brown to black
Treasure is the soil
Topsoil-dark brown to black
Rich in humus-partly decayed plant matter produced by bacteria and fungi
Full of minerals
Magnesium-helps produce chlorophyll
Calcium-important element of cell walls
Good to grow crops

18. Aim: What does a food chain represent?

19. Food Chains Energy in an ecosystem comes from the sun
The energy in food is passed from one organism to another
Represents the movement of energy from one organism to another
1st organism is a plant (producers)
Sun’s energy is stored in foods the plant makes

20. 2nd organism is consumer (herbivore)
3rd organism is consumer (carnivore)
All organisms receive the sun’s energy
Food chains end with decomposers-eat dead animals and plants

21. Aim: What is a food web?

22. Food Webs
Shows the relationship between all of the species in a community
Shows how populations must compete for food
Map of overlapping food chains
Begin with producers
use Sun’s energy to make their own food
Ex: grasses, trees, algae (oceans)

23. Consumers-can’t make their own food
Get energy from other organisms
Grouped according to what they eat
Herbivores-eat only plants (producers)
Ex: grasshoppers, rabbits, mice
Carnivores-eat only other animals
Ex: wolves, foxes, sharks
Omnivore-eats both plants and animals
Ex: humans, bears

24. Decomposers:
Every food web ends with decomposers
Breakdown dead matter into substances that can be used by producers
Some of the substances return to the soil
Ex: insects, bacteria, fungi

25. Aim: How are populations connected?

26. Populations in an ecosystem are connected together
If one animal population changes, it will affect the animal population that eats that animal
A change in a population affects all the organisms in the food web
Organisms may adapt to the changes, especially when they eat more than one animal
Animals compete for food
Sometimes competition causes an animal to change its habitat

27. Aim: How does energy move in a community?

29. Energy Pyramid Producers get energy from the sun
Consumers get energy from the foods they eat
Energy is lost as it passes from one organism to another
This is shown in the energy pyramid
Shows there is less food at the top of the pyramid than at the base
Organisms decrease as you move up the pyramid

30. energy decreases as you move up the pyramid
90% of energy is lost from one level to the next

31. Aim: What is the water cycle?
Transparencies/notes on board

32. Aim: What is the carbon cycle?
Notes on board

33. Aim: What is the nitrogen cycle?
Notes on board

34. Aim: Why is it important to recycle?

35. Dead matter is important to living things
Decomposers turn dead matter into substances other organisms need to survive
Break down dead plant parts into carbon dioxide and ammonia-contains nitrogen
All organisms need nitrogen in order to make proteins
Nitrogen found in plant fertilzers

36. Composting Is a way to recycle plant material
Compost is used to make soil more fertile
To make compost take 3 parts leaves and plant material, 1 part fresh grass and 1 part food scraps
Earthworms can be used to turn the leaves, grass and food scraps into compost

37. Importance of Recycling
Nonrenewable resources will eventually be used up, such as oil and natural gas
Renewable resources, such as wood, can be replenished
If we recycle paper and paper products we will be decreasing the destruction of forests