Download Unit 5. The structure of ecosystems

Unit 5. How’s the place we
live in?
(The structure of ecosystems)
Evaluation of this unit:
Climate change project
20 % ( 2 points)
Tasks dossier
10 % (1 point)
Attitude and Behavior
10% (1 point)
Exam
60 % (6 points)
Volunteer activity
Can increase your mark
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1.Fill in the next chart in order to discover howmuch do you know about ecosystems. You will
have to fill in this chart more than one time during this unit .
Could you answer these
questions?
1. What is an ecosystem?
2. Which are the different components of an
ecosystem?
3. What are the abiotic and biotic factors?
4. Which is the difference between a
producer, a consumer and a decomposer?
5. Do you know other biotic relations apart
from predation?
6. What’s biodiversity?
From 1 (I don’t know
anything about it) to 5
(I know it perfectly).
1st
2nd
3rd
What are the biosphere and ecosphere? (p. 57)
But first….
What is an ECOSYSTEM?
Living
beings
Relationsh
Physical
ips
environme
(Interactio
nt
ns)
An ECOSYSTEM can be defined as the organisms
which live in a particular area, the relationships
between them and with their physical environment.
Do you know which are the
components of the ecosystems?
BIOCENOSIS
• LIVING BEINGS
• Animals, plants,
fungi,
microorganisms…
BIOTOPE
• INORGANIC
PART
• The physical
environment
Both, BIOTOPE and
BIOCENOSIS have an influence
over living beings!
BIOTOPE
BIOCENO
SIS
ABIOTIC
FACTORS
BIOTIC
FACTORS
Physical and
Chemical
elements which
affect living
beings.
Effects of other
organisms on
living beings.
What are a habitat and ecological niche? (p. 59)
HABITAT
ECOLOGICAL
NICHE
The physical place
where a species lives
(sim. Biotope).
The WAY a
species relates
with the biotic
and abiotic
factors
We’ve talked about ecosystems, but…What are
the BIOSPHERE and the
ECOSPHERE?
If we think about the Earth as a
Sphere…
In ecology, the term ECOSPHERE is used
to talk about the Earth as a set formed by:
Hydrosph
ere
Atmosph
ere
Litospher
e
Biosphere
Tasks:
2. Look for some information about abiotic factors. Writ e some examples of abiotic factors in
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
3. Go to page 62 and read about the dif ferent kinds of intraspecif ic and interspecif ic
relationships between lif e beings. Try to classif y the next examples, and say if they are posit ive (+),
negative (-) or neutral (0) relationships:
4. Biodiversit y is defined as the variety of dif ferent types of lif e found on the Earth and the
variations within species.
A. Imagine that you have a little garden wit h some potatoes plants, and your neighbor, who also
has a garden, has potatoes, carrots and tomatoes. Unfortunately, this season your plants have died
because of a blight. Explain what will happen wit h your garden and your neighbor’s.