Download Interactions in Ecosystems: An Organisms Niche

Interactions in
Ecosystems:
Niches and Adaptations
Classroom Roles
• Tech Director: You will be responsible for
turning the lights on and off at the
appropriate times during the class.
• Distributor: You will be responsible for
passing out the handout to your classmates.
• Collector: You will be responsible for
collecting the handouts once they are
complete
• Organizer: You will be responsible for
ensuring the classroom is organized before
the class leaves.
• Think of your community…What are the various
roles/jobs where you live?
– Doctors keep us healthy.
– Carpenters build our homes.
– Farmers grow our food.
• Why do you think it is important to have various
species in an ecosystem?
• Why is it important that different organisms have
different roles/jobs? What would happen if
everybody had the same job? What would
happen if one job was removed?
An Organisms Niche:
• Each organism in an ecosystem has a
job or a role.
– We call these jobs a “niche”.
• An organisms niche
includes where it lives,
what it eats, and
what it does.
Every species does a different job!
• No two species have the same niche in an
ecosystem.
• Ex. Even though they are both birds, a
hummingbird’s niche includes moving pollen
from flower to flower while a blue jay’s niche
includes controlling insect populations.
What is this organisms niche (job)?
A beaver’s niche
includes:
• cutting down
trees
• building dams
• chewing bark
and wood
What is this organisms niche (job)?
A chipmunks niche
includes:
• Spreading seeds
throughout the
environment.
What is this organisms niche (job)?
A blackberry bush's
niche includes:
• Providing food for
animals
• Providing shelter for
animals
• Holding down the
soil and stopping
erosion
BLACKBERRY BUSH
Adaptations
• If two organisms from different species try to do
the same job, one species will be better at it
than the other.
• This is because one species
has adaptations that allow
it to be better in it’s role.
– Ex. Beaver’s have sharp teeth
so they can cut down trees and
large flat tails so they can swim.
Bear Adaptations
• What adaptations do these bears have that allow
them to succeed in their niche in their environment?
(Think about where each bear lives and what they eat)