**The green pigment in plants (chlorophyll) along with CO₂WS produce food for plants aka photosynthesis!

​

​

Animals cannot produce their own food, which means they have to consume (eat) other organisms (plants and/or animals) to meet their energy needs.

For a population to thrive, its members must be able to reproduce.

-Plants reproduce with seeds and pollination.

-Animals have internal and external structures.

Unit 11

Delve into Living Systems

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only

Curious Conversations

• When we talk about an ecosystem, what parts are we including? Can you break it down for me?
• Where do you think all the energy in nature originally comes from?
• What does a plant need to make its own food—do you remember the three things it uses to make glucose or the acronym?
• What’s the difference between a producer and a consumer? Can you give me an example of each?
• Can you name the four main parts of a plant? And what does each part do?
• I’ve heard the word 'niche' used in science—what does that mean when we're talking about animals or plants?

• All energy flow begins with the sun (the sun is not a living thing).
• The greatest amount of energy in an ecosystem is in the producers.
• Producers (make their own food) = plants; consumers (eat to get energy) = animals; decomposers (break down dead material)
• Food chains show the transfer of energy from one organism to another.
• Food WEBS show the relationship between different food chains in an ecosystem.
• A habitat is the place where an animal or plant naturally lives–provides food, water, shelter, and space.
• A niche is an animal’s role in the community–what it eats, and what eats it.

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only

**Important things to keep in mind:

• Food webs cannot exist without producers (plants) at the bottom.
• The arrows show a transfer of energy from one thing to another when it is eaten.
• Remember that energy is neither created nor destroyed–it’s transferred.
• In the example above, the energy of the carrot is being transferred to the rabbit, and its energy is then transferred to the fox.

Example questions:

• If grains were taken out of the food web, which TWO organisms would be most affected?
• Mice and birds (grasshoppers would be affected, but they have another source of food)
• What does the fox eat?
• Rabbits and birds
• What do you think would happen if rabbits went extinct?
• There would be an over-supply of carrots, and less foxes.

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only

You always begin at the first ‘step’ with each new identification.

​

This means you will start at ‘step 1’ 5 times because you need to identify 5 different leaves.

For use by NNPS Department of Teaching and Learning and families only