Download Life in an Ecosystem

Life in an Ecosystem
Teacher Information:
Suggested Timeline:
One class
Materials Required:
Paper
Pencils
Key Concepts:
- Ecosystems consist of
four key components:
non-living elements (air,
water, soil and sun),
producers (plants),
consumers (animals),
and decomposers (e.g.
bacteria, fungus, etc.);
all interacting with each
other.
- Each ecosystem
(wetland, grassland,
forest, and old-growth
forest) has specific
plants, animals and
distinguishing
characteristics.
Read over the Ecosystem Backgrounder and familiarize
yourself with the plants and animals that live in the
specific ecosystem you will be visiting.
There are two types of living things in ecosystems:
plants and animals. Green plants are the ‘sun catchers’
that transform some of the sun’s energy by
photosynthesis. Plants are producers that make their
own food and become a useable form of energy for
other organisms. A consumer cannot make its own
food and obtains its energy by eating other organisms.
Animals who eat plants directly are called primary
consumers (insects, swallows, elk, etc.). Secondary
consumers (bears, badgers, eagle) may eat plants
and/or other animals that consume the plants. Then
there are the decomposers (bacteria and fungi) who
tidy things up by eating waste and dead material by
breaking down matter into a simpler form which is then
returned to the soil, air or water to be used by other
organisms.
Each ecosystem operates with a source of energy, the
sun driving the entire system. Solar heating of the
atmosphere and oceans produces flow of air or wind
creating weather patterns causing evaporation and
precipitation. Within ecosystems energy, nutrients and
materials are exchanged through a series of cycles of
producing, eating and being eaten called a food chain.
Student Activity:
Activity Objectives:
Define the term producer, consumer,
decomposer (given in teacher
information on previous page).
Give an example of two plants, two
animals and two decomposers in an
ecosystem.
1. Define the term producer, consumer, and decomposer. Have the students mark on
the top of a sheet three columns: producers / consumers / decomposers and
brainstorm organisms under each category. Try to think of specific organisms
that students may likely see while visiting the field trip location e.g. wetland,
grassland, old-growth forest, forest. Note to Teachers: these organisms are listed
in the “Ecosystem Backgrounder” provided by EKES.
2. One way that living things are connected is through the food chain. The food
chain is the transfer of food energy from the source in plants (producers) through
a series of animals (consumers) with repeated eating and being eaten.
Decomposers recycle energy back into the system. Think of the ecosystem you
will be visiting. Make a list of plants and animals living there.
3. Draw some simple food chains illustrating who is eating whom. Start with the
ecosystem in the center and incorporate producers, consumers and decomposers.
Notice the abstract web that forms. Where lines are connecting organisms draw
arrows indicating the flow of energy.