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WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?

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AN ECOSYSTEM IS...

• A self-sustaining system, in which animals & plants are connected primarily by food…

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• …with plants as the primary source of food – Producers…

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• …with animals eating the food (or each other) – Consumers.

• HOW IS FOOD MADE?

sunlight (energy)

The Sun provides energy in the leaves

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leaf

stem

vein

root

bud

• Water passes into the roots, travels up the stem (largely by capillary action) and enters the leaves

nutrients and water

• Nutrients are carried up in the water

Step 1

sunlight (energy)

• Energy, as visible light from the Sun, enters through the leaf surface

GAS

GAS

• A gas, called carbon dioxide, enters the leaves

Step 2.

Step 3.

Oxygen

• Energy transforms water & carbon-dioxide into sugar…

a ‘food’

sunlight (energy)

• In the process, oxygen is produced and passes out through the leaf holes (stomata)

• WHO EATS THE FOOD?

HERBIVORES (eat plant parts)

CARNIVORES (eat each other)

DETRITIVORES (eat decaying plant or meat))

LEAF

caterpillar, beetle, cricket, grasshopper, insect larva

OMNIVORES (eat plant and animal)

STEM

aphid cicada, snail, slug, termite (woody stem)

FLOWER

weevil, ant, cockatoo (seeds)

bee, wasp, butterfly, moth (nectar & pollen)

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Spider, scorpion, antlion, ladybird beetle, centipede, bullant

millipede, earthworm

cricket, some birds & lizards

? humans

ROOT

beetle

quandong

• Make connections, showing the cycling of food energy

Yr 1 Woodlands PS. Photo Jenny Russell

• HOW IS OUR ECOSYSTEM DISTURBED?

1. Introduce a feral animal

Effects of a herbivore

What happens if all leaves are eaten?

Effects of a carnivore

What happens if there are no animals left?

Construct a flow sheet

2. If pollination fails

Flowers will have no seeds

• No food for nectar/pollen feeders

Flow sheet from Noah, Yr 1, Woodlands PS. Photo, Jenny Russell

• No new trees will grow

• No leaf litter

• No shelter for invertebrates to grow & reproduce

• No food for carnivores & omnivores

• No flowers will grow

• COMMUNICATE SCIENCE

• Write a persuasive text about importance of maintaining the ecosystem
• Write a speech (Speak Out competition)
• Create a brochure or poster encouraging others to protect the land
• Write an account of the ecogram, highlighting what you found important