👩🏽🏫 Introduction
Hello, eco-explorer! 🌱🦁🌍
Have you ever wondered how animals, plants, soil, and even sunlight work together like a team? That’s what an ecosystem is all about. It’s nature’s way of balancing life. In this lesson, you’ll discover what ecosystems are, how they’re structured, and why every single part—including YOU—matters!
📘 Core Concepts
🔹 What is an Ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a community of living things (plants and animals) interacting with non-living things (soil, water, air, sunlight) in a particular area.
It’s like a natural system where all the parts—both living and non-living—depend on each other.
🔹 Types of Ecosystems
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Natural Ecosystems | Form without human help | Forests, oceans, rivers, deserts |
| Artificial Ecosystems | Created/managed by humans | Farmlands, aquariums, city parks |
🔹 Components of an Ecosystem
Ecosystems have two main types of components:
1. Biotic Components (Living)
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🌿 Producers: Green plants that make their own food through photosynthesis
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🐇 Consumers: Animals that eat plants or other animals
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Primary consumers (herbivores)
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Secondary/tertiary consumers (carnivores, omnivores)
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🍄 Decomposers: Organisms like fungi and bacteria that break down dead material and return nutrients to the soil
2. Abiotic Components (Non-living)
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☀️ Sunlight
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💧 Water
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🪨 Soil
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🌬️ Air
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🌡️ Temperature
These factors affect where organisms live and how they grow.
🔹 Ecological Factors
These are the things that influence an ecosystem.
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Biotic factors | Predators, food availability, competition |
| Abiotic factors | Rainfall, sunlight, pH, temperature, slope of land |
Some tools used to measure abiotic factors:
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Thermometer (temperature)
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Rain gauge (rainfall)
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Light meter (light intensity)
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pH meter (soil acidity)
🧠 Why It Matters
Ecosystems:
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🧬 Support biodiversity
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🍽️ Provide food, water, and shelter for life
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♻️ Recycle nutrients and purify air and water
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🌎 Help balance the climate and prevent natural disasters
Destroying one part of an ecosystem can affect everything else.
🧪 Real-Life Example
A Pond Ecosystem
In a pond:
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Plants like algae and lilies are producers
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Fish and frogs are consumers
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Microorganisms in the mud are decomposers
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Sunlight, water, and mud are abiotic components
All these elements interact to keep the pond alive and healthy.
🧩 Sample Problem Walkthrough
🧠 Problem:
A forest has trees, birds, insects, rocks, soil, and streams. Identify 2 biotic and 2 abiotic components of this ecosystem.
✅ Step-by-Step Solution:
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Biotic: Trees, birds
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Abiotic: Rocks, water (stream)
✔️ Answer: Biotic: trees and birds; Abiotic: rocks and water
✍🏽 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blanks
(a) Plants that make their own food are called ______.
(b) Temperature and rainfall are examples of ______ factors.
Answers:
(a) producers
(b) abiotic
2. Match the Component to Its Role
| Component | Role |
|---|---|
| (i) Fungi | A. Producer |
| (ii) Goat | B. Consumer |
| (iii) Sunlight | C. Abiotic |
| (iv) Algae | D. Decomposer |
Answers:
(i) → D, (ii) → B, (iii) → C, (iv) → A
3. Short Answer
Why are decomposers important in an ecosystem?
Sample Answer: Because they break down dead organisms and return nutrients to the soil, which helps plants grow.
🌀 Recap
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An ecosystem is a system of living and non-living things working together
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Components include biotic (plants, animals, decomposers) and abiotic (sunlight, soil, air)
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Ecosystems can be natural or artificial
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Every part of the ecosystem is connected—changing one affects the others
💭 Reflection Prompt
Think about your school, a park, or a garden. What are three biotic and three abiotic components you can observe there? List or sketch them in your science journal.
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