What is an Ecosystem?

Lake Ecosystems INTERACTIONS

Within a system of living things
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• Ducks eat plants and bugs
• Ducks are interacting with other ducks

Between living and non living things

• Ducks breathe air (oxygen)
• Duck is swimming in the lake
• the duck drinks lake water
• Plants are growing from the lake taking up nutrients from the water
• Sunlight is being converted into food for the plants

Fish Image

Between living things
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Between living and non living things

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• Fish interact with the plants
• Fish interact with smaller fish

• Fish interact with water

Reflect & Synthesize:
Answer the following questions in your blog post. Remember to have at least one follow-up sentence for each question, when possible.

1. What do living things get from their ecosystems?
2. What evidence do you have to support your answer to Question 1?
3. What does the term ecosystem mean, based on your experience in this lesson? (Don't use the definition from the BIG IDEA here. Put it into your own words.)
4. Brainstorm at least one question you have about Ecosystems that you hope you learn from this unit.
5. Look at the image below that shows a portion of a forest ecosystem. Name at least five components (living or non-living things) of the ecosystem that you can either observe directly or infer. 
6. What are three (or more) interactions that might occur in this portion of the forest ecosystem?

1. Answered above.
2. Answered above.
3. An ecosystem is an area where different organisms live with and off of each other with different needs.
4. One question would be what are some differences between all kinds of ecosystems.
5. The deers drinking water from the pond, the deers eating grass, the grass getting water from the pond, the trees growing from water, leaves growing out of branches. Maybe some animals eating fruit, animals eating animals, plants getting energy.
6. Animals eating animals, Animals eating fruit, plants getting energy from the sun.