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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.