1. Starter Activity: On a show me board What is the role of each living thing in this picture?

2. Niche Learning Intention: Identify and describe the role of a living organism within it’s ecosystem. Success Criteria: Define the term niche. Define the term community. 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.

3. What is a Niche? A niche is the role that an organism has within an ecosystem. It refers to every aspect of an organism's involvement within an ecosystem, it describes it’s way of life. 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.

4. Can different species occupy the same niche?

5. Different species always occupy different niches. For example, the role that an eagle plays in a given ecosystem is similar but different to that which a hawk plays. They occupy different niches.

6. Ecosystem Key Words Key WordMeaningExample Ecosystem Habitat Niche Community Species Population Abiotic factor Biotic factor Biodiversity Biome Add the meaning niche to your key word page

7. Interactions in Ecosystems An organism’s niche relies on how it interacts with the environment and other living things. Some interactions include: -Competition -Parasitism -Predation -Light intensity/availability -Temperature -Nutrient availability 1.In pairs think about each factor and how it would affect the distribution and survival of living things. 2.In groups of four add your thoughts to each piece of A3 paper 3.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

8. Interactions in Ecosystems An organism’s niche relies on how it interacts with the environment and other living things. Some interactions include: -Competition  Note from this group -Parasitism  Note from this group -Predation  Note from this group -Light intensity/availability  Note from this group -Temperature  Note from this group -Nutrient availability  Note from this group

9. Niche Learning Intention: Identify and describe the role of a living organism within it’s ecosystem. Success Criteria: Define the term niche. Define the term community. 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.