π Everything is Connected!
An ecosystem is a community of living things (plants, animals, bacteria) interacting with their non-living environment (water, soil, air, sunlight). Everything in an ecosystem depends on everything else!
π Key Terms
Important Words
- Habitat β the place where an organism lives
- Population β all the same species in an area
- Community β all the different species living together
- Ecosystem β community + non-living environment
- Biome β large regions with similar ecosystems (e.g., rainforest)
π Roles in an Ecosystem
π±
Producers
Make their own food using sunlight
Examples: Plants, algae, seaweed
Start of every food chain!
π°
Consumers
Eat other organisms for energy
- π₯ Herbivores β eat plants
- π Carnivores β eat meat
- π½οΈ Omnivores β eat both
π
Decomposers
Break down dead organisms
Examples: Fungi, bacteria, worms
Return nutrients to soil!
π Food Chains
π± Grass (producer)
β eaten by
π° Rabbit (primary consumer)
β eaten by
π¦ Fox (secondary consumer)
β eaten by
π¦
Eagle (top predator)
Food Web
Many food chains connected together = food web. Most animals eat more than one type of food!
βοΈ Activities
Create a Food Chain
Choose an ecosystem (pond, forest, ocean) and create a food chain:
- Producer: ___________
- Primary consumer: ___________
- Secondary consumer: ___________
- Top predator: ___________
What would happen if all the producers died?
π©βπ« Teacher Notes
Curriculum Links
- Science: Living World β ecology
- Te Ao MΔori: Kaitiakitanga, interconnectedness