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Ecosystems and habitats Science Unit: Ecosystems Outcome I can describe what makes an ecosystem, identify features of habitats and explain how organisms are adapted to live in their habitat. Keywords ecosystem habitat adaptation biotic abiotic Keywords An ecosystem is made up of all the living organisms in a place, interacting with each other, and their non-living surroundings. A habitat is the place where an organism lives. It must provide food, shelter and a place to reproduce. An adaptation is a feature that organisms have to help them live in a particular place. Biotic factors are the living components of an ecosystem. Abiotic factors are the non-living components of an ecosystem. Lesson outline Ecosystems and habitats Understanding ecosystems Habitats and their features Interactions within habitats Adaptations and changing environments Understanding ecosystems Explanation An ecosystem is made up of all the living organisms in a place, interacting with each other and with their non-living surroundings. ecosystem relates to the environment how a group of things work together Understanding ecosystems Explanation Ecosystems can be of any size. The planet is the largest example of an ecosystem. planet Earth A bottle garden can also be described as an ecosystem. a bottle garden Understanding ecosystems Explanation The living parts of an ecosystem are made up of communities. A community is the interaction between populations of different organisms in a specific area. a rainforest community an African grassland community a coral reef community Understanding ecosystems Explanation A population is the number of organisms of one type that live in a specific area. For example: population of humans in a city population of pelicans on a lake Understanding ecosystems Explanation Some examples of non-living parts of an ecosystem include: soil rocks water light litter pollution air Understanding ecosystems Check Match the words in the boxes below to the correct descriptions. ecosystem The number of one type of organism in a specific place. community The interacting living organisms and nonliving parts in a place. population The interacting populations of living organisms in a place. Task A Understanding ecosystems Sam has been asked to describe two ecosystems. These are the ocean and tropical rainforest. Can you help him? Think about the characteristics of both ecosystems. How would you recognise each ecosystem? Think about the organisms that live there and the nonliving parts of the ecosystem. Write a short paragraph to describe each ecosystem to Sam. Practice Task A Understanding ecosystems Feedback Features of different ecosystems: Ocean Tropical rainforest Living: Lots of fish and marine animals Plants only near the shore / surface Living: Lots of plants and animals Lots of organisms living in trees Non-living: Salt water Light reduces as you go deeper Lots of open space Non-living: Warm Lots of rainfall Light reduced near the forest floor Lesson outline Ecosystems and habitats Understanding ecosystems Habitats and their features Interactions within habitats Adaptations and changing environments Habitats and their features Explanation Habitats are the places where organisms live. Habitats provide the conditions that organisms need to survive. They must provide: food shelter a place to reproduce Habitats and their features Explanation Habitats vary in size. The largest habitat on Earth is the ocean. Other large habitats include: forests, including tropical rainforests polar deserts grasslands tundra Habitats and their features Explanation Some habitats can be very small - we call these microhabitats. Examples include under plant pots or rocks, in manmade temporary pools or inside a fallen tree. under pots and rocks a temporary pool inside a tree trunk Habitats and their features Explanation Living organisms within the community interact with each other in a habitat. For example: ● organisms eat other organisms to get food ● there is competition between organisms to get the best shelter ● organisms interact through reproduction feeding shelter reproduction Habitats and their features Explanation Habitats also contain non-living parts, which can differ in different habitats. For example, in different aquatic (water) habitats: ● ● ● ● the ocean is made up of salt water a river is often made up of freshwater which often moves or flows a stream is made up of freshwater which often moves quickly a lake is made up of freshwater which is often still ocean river stream lake Habitats and their features Which of the following statements best describes a habitat? a The interaction between living things in a place. b The place where organisms feed, shelter and reproduce. c The interaction between the living things and the non-living things in a place. Check Task B Habitats and their features Look at the picture of a rock pool. A rock pool is a habitat. Write a short paragraph to explain how the rock pool provides organisms with food, shelter and a place to reproduce. Practice Task B Habitats and their features How does the rock pool provide organisms with food, shelter and a place to reproduce? Rocks provide a firm base for seaweeds to attach themselves to. The seaweed is a producer. This means that there is food for organisms that are found in a rock pool food web diagram. Cracks in between rocks, in seaweeds and under boulders provide organisms with shelter when the tide comes back in, and also provide places to reproduce. Feedback Lesson outline Ecosystems and habitats Understanding ecosystems Habitats and their features Interactions with habitats Adaptations and changing environments Interactions within habitats Explanation Organisms interact with other living organisms in their habitat. For example, for food and to reproduce. Living things that affect other living things are called biotic factors. the bear (a predator) is catching its prey, a salmon the salmon is living Feeding is an example of a biotic factor. a bear feeding on salmon Interactions within habitats Explanation Organisms also interact with the non-living things in their habitat. For example, for food or for shelter. Non-living things that affect living things are called abiotic factors. the bear is interacting with the river to hunt for food the river is not living, it is an example of an abiotic factor a bear catching food in the river Interactions within habitats Explanation Abiotic factors are measurable characteristics of the ecosystem in which organisms live. Examples of abiotic factors include: ● ● ● ● ● soil type light intensity water availability / humidity climate / temperature altitude / levels of oxygen light intensity Interactions within habitats Check Sam has been given cards listing some biotic and abiotic factors. Can you help him sort them into two piles, one containing the biotic factors and the other the abiotic factors? light levels temperature disease competition for food oxygen levels Biotic factors: disease and competition for food. Abiotic factors: light levels, temperature, oxygen levels. Task C Interactions within habitats Salmon live in the ocean. They swim upstream in fast flowing rivers to reproduce. Salmon eat small animals and fish in the ocean, as well as small fish, crayfish and worms in rivers. Write a paragraph to explain how the salmon is adapted to both habitats that it lives in (the ocean and fast flowing rivers). Think about how the adaptations help the salmon to interact with the biotic and abiotic factors, to survive in its habitats. Practice Task C Interactions within habitats Feedback Write a paragraph to explain how the salmon is adapted to both habitats that it lives in (the ocean and fast flowing rivers). Things you may have written about: ● Sharp teeth to help catch and eat prey. ● Good eyesight to help spot and catch prey. ● Muscles to help it swim fast to help catch prey, escape predators and to swim against the current. ● Streamlined shape to help the salmon move through the water more easily. ● Camouflaged to help it to blend into the surroundings to prevent being spotted by predators. Lesson outline Ecosystems and habitats Understanding ecosystems Habitats and their features Interactions within habitats Adaptations and changing environments Adaptations and changing environments In order to survive in a habitat, organisms need special features, called adaptations. adaptations that help with feeding adaptations that help to live in a habitat (e.g. desert) Explanation Adaptations and changing environments Explanation Some common adaptations help organisms to: make their own food move hunt for and eat food build shelters for protection avoid predation keep warm / cool Adaptations and changing environments Explanation Adaptations are inherited from parents. When environments change it can take a long time for adaptations to adapt. If the environment changes too much, organisms may become extinct. When organisms are removed from food webs, all other organisms in the food web are impacted. They can become extinct or endangered too. Killifish are often seen in aquariums. They come from USA. In the 1980s they were able to adapt quickly to highly polluted water. They were the only fish able to survive the pollution. Adaptations and changing environments Check The class have been learning about camels. Camels are adapted to live in a desert habitat. The class notice that camels have long eyelashes. They talk about why this is an adaptation. camel eyelashes Who is right? The eyelashes help to keep bright sunlight out of the eye to help the camel see better. Andeep It isn’t really an adaptation as many mammals have eyelashes. Jacob The eyelashes help to keep sand out of the camel’s eyes in a sandstorm. Sofia Task D Adaptations and changing environments Practice 1) Three different types of habitat are shown in the images below. lemur tropical rainforest penguin polar cactus desert Choose an organism (animal or plant) that lives in each habitat. Write a short paragraph to explain how each organism is adapted to live there. An example organism for each habitat has been provided if you need help but try and think of your own example organism if you can. Task D Adaptations and changing environments 2) Global warming is causing the ice in polar habitats to melt. What impact will ice melting have on the penguin population? nts Hint: Think about the impact on the population and also the adaptations that penguins have to survive in the habitat. polar penguin Practice Adaptations and changing environments Task D Feedback 1) Adaptations for the example organisms include: lemur Lives in the tropical rainforest habitat. Large tail to help balance. Claws to help grip / climb. Eyes facing forward to help judge distance. Lives in polar habitat. Fatty body to help insulate against the cold. Webbed feet and wings to help swim. Streamlined shape to help swim. Beak to catch fish. penguin cactus Lives in desert habitat. Leaves adapted to spines to protect from being eaten. Stores water in the stem. Deep roots to collect water. Task D Adaptations and changing environments Feedback 2) Global warming is causing the ice in polar habitats to melt. What impact will ice melting have on the penguin population? The changing habitat may not provide the penguins with food, shelter and a place to reproduce. This means that the population could decrease, or even become extinct. penguin polar Penguins are able to swim well and so will still be well adapted to a life in water. However, they may be too well insulated for the warmer weather. Summary Ecosystems and habitats Ecosystems are made up of the interacting living organisms and non-living things in a place. Habitats provide organisms with food, shelter and a place to reproduce. Living things that affect other living things in their habitat are known as biotic factors. The non-living things that affect living things are called abiotic factors. Organisms have a range of adaptations that help them to live in their habitat. Changes to the environment may make it harder for organisms to survive in a particular habitat. © Oak National Academy 2024. Produced in partnership with University of York Science Education Group. Licensed on the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated. See Oak terms and conditions.