Summary#4 Surviving in Ecosystem

Surviving in Ecosystems

Simbiosis = Two organisms relate together by helping or harming each other.

Mutualism = Two organism benefit each other.

Parasitism = One organism benefits and the other harms.

Commensalism = Two organisms that benefit each each other not harming but protecting.

Summary #3 Cycles of Life

Water Cycle

The water cycle is the continous movement of water between Earth´s surface and the air, changing from liquid to gas to liquid.



Carbon cycle

The continous transfer of carbon between the atmosphere and living things.



Nitrogen Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to plants and back to the atmosphere and directly into plants again.



Summary#2 Food Chains and Food Webs

Food chains and food webs are met food webs describe the successive transfer of energy from plants to the animals that eat them, and to the animals that eat those animals, and so on. A food chain is a model for this process which assumes that the transfer of energy within the community is relatively simple. A food chain in a grassland ecosystem, for example, might be: Insects eat grass, and mice eat insects, and fox eat mice. But such an outline is not exactly accurate, and many more species of plants and animals are actually involved in the transfer of energy. Rodents often feed on both plants and insects, and some animals, such as predatory birds, feed on several kinds of rodents. This more complex description of the way energy flows through an ecosystem is called a food web. Food webs can be thought of as interconnected or intersecting food chainshods of describing an ecosystem by describing how energy flows from one species to another.Food web is the overlapping food chains in a community.

[FOOD WEB]

[FOOD CHAIN]

Summary#1 *Living Things and Their Environment*

An ecosystem is all the living and nonliving things in an area interacting with each other. Most ecosystems are much larger than a jar. Some, like the prairie ecosystem of North America, the deserts of Africa, and the rain forests of Brazil, cover large areas of a country or continent. Freshwater ecosystem cover less space than saltwater ecosystems. Saltwater ecosystems can cover entire oceans. It doesn´t matter where they are or what they look like, all ecosystems have the same parts. All living things need certain nonliving things in order to survive. Abiotic factors include water, minerals, sunlight, air, climate, and soil. All organisms need water. Living things need minerals, such as calcium, iron, phosphorous, and nitrogen. Some living things, like plants and algae, need sunlight to make food. Animals need oxygen to produce the energy for their bodies. Plants an algae need carbon dioxide. The environment must also have the right temperature for organisms to survive. Eac kind of organism, whether an animal, plant, fungus, protist, or bacterium, is a member of a single species. All the organisms of a species living in the same area make up a population. Each species in an ecosystem also has a role or place in the activities of its community.The world is a place of changes. One day the wheater may be dry and cold. The next day it may be wet and warm. In nature ecosystem tend to stay in balance. One population controls the number in another population. Communities help preserve and enrich the soil. Some organisms contribute to the health and well-being of others.

Summary#1*Energy Resources*

Many homes, shools, and business get heat by burning oil or natural gas. Some older buildings still burn coal for heat. Some homes burn wood for heat. The heat in many other homes and businesses comes from electricity. Many common devices, such as lights, computers, radios, TVs, and washers. Some small devices such as flashlights and portable CD players get their electricity from batteries. That electricity comes from a power planet. The power plant makes electricity by using energy from burning fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. It takes a lot of energy to move a car, bus, or train. Public an private transportation is one of the greatest uses of energy in today´s world. Heat from burning fossils fuels can bu used directly to heat homes, schools, businesses, and factories. The heat can also bu used to generate electricity. All fuels have advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of using fossil fuels is that they contain a lot of energy. However, fossil fuels take millions of years to form. Burning a fossil fuel also gives off smoke, gases, and other by-products. These pollute the envirotment. Fossil fuel are the remains of once-living things. Natural gaso or oil formed from the remains of tiny ocean plants and animals. These sea creatures died and fell to the bottom of the ocean. There their bodies were buried by layers of sand and mud. One day is to use alternative energy sources such as water, wind, and solar energy. Every watt of electricity we get from a solar cell is one less watt we have to get by burning oil or coal.