Defining an Ecosystem

Engage

To begin, I engage students in the I Think, We Think strategy to activate their prior knowledge.
I hand out the I Think, We think graphic organizer with the term Ecosystem at the top. (I also write this term on the board).
I ask students to write their own ideas about this word under the column I think.
I want them to have a chance to write their initial ideas about what they already know about ecosystems.
Then I ask students to turn to their elbow partner and share their thinking with one another.
Once they do, I have them work together to create a statement under the column We Think.
This strategy is an opportunity for students to collaborate and modify their thinking about the term ecosystem.
Their collaborative discussion allows them to compare their thinking with their partners’ way of thinking.
I call on students to share their thinking and partners’ thinking about an ecosystem.
I create a class web of ideas so students can visually see similarities and differences between their thinking and their peers thinking about ecosystems.
I tell the students they will fill in the last box, I now think, after they do some research on ecosystems.

Explore

Preparing to Investigate Ecosystems

After sharing our I think, We think Responses, I ask a student to read the standards board aloud to the class:
“Today, we will conduct research to define an ecosystem and examine six different images of ecosystems.”
I add on saying, “our goal is to determine the factors that create ecosystems. This will help us understand how and why organisms interact they way they do in different environments.”
Then I bring students attention to the 6 different stations displaying images of ecosystems.
I tell them they are examining each image to observe features that could be used to define an ecosystem.
I hand out a features of an ecosystem graphic organizer and tell them they are recording these features on it according to the image they are observing.

Guided Inquiry

I begin by pointing out each ecosystem image they will be examining: the pond, dessert, spiders web in the woods, mountains, grassland, and puddle.
I explain that groups are to make observations and discuss with their group what they notice in each ecosystem.
After observing and discussions, each student writes down the features they believe define an ecosystem on the recording sheet.
I review station expectations with the class: everyone is an active participant by contributing to the discussion, helping others see features they may miss, and everyone is on task.
Once all stations are reviewed, I direct each group to a station and tell them to begin. I give them about three minutes at each station and use a timer to keep everyone on task.
Students observe, discuss, and record the features on their recording sheet recorded on the data table that applies to that station.
They continue exploring each image until all images have been examined.
I circulate the room and check in with groups at different stations.
I listen to the features they use to define an ecosystem.
At the end of our investigation, I direct students to return to their “I think, We Think” paper.
I guide to the last box on it that says, I now think and ask them to record additional thoughts on defining an ecosystem.

Explain

To further develop their understanding of an ecosystem, I show students a quick video: What is an Ecosystem? (YouTube, bookmarked)
I show them this video to connect the features of an ecosystem they examined in images and then to give them a snapshot of concepts they are looking for in their research today.
It presents them the basic information they need know to get them started.

Researching Facts about Ecosystems

My students use chromebooks today to find out more details to define an ecosystem based on these guiding questions I post on the front board:

What makes up an ecosystem?
Are ecosystems certain sizes?
How do organisms relate to an ecosystem?
What is a population in an ecosystem?
What is a community of an ecosystem?
What are nonliving parts in an ecosystem?
How do parts of an ecosystem work together?

These questions are meant to guide students through their research and focus their attention on key details relevant to the assignment.
(I found research was a difficult task for my students. While these questions helped them, they struggles with writing details in their own words. It is an area I need to continue doing mini-lessons.)
I provide them with a note taking graphic organizer called: TOP TEN Fact – Defining an Ecosystem.
I selected this graphic organizer because I want my students to carefully consider the facts they read and really determine the main ideas that define an ecosystem.
After reading through each website, they are recording the best ten facts they think define an ecosystem.
These websites I use are student friendly sites that provide information about ecosystems.
By reading through and taking notes on the information these websites provide, students learn that ecosystems are made up of living and non-living things.
They discover that the living parts of an ecosystem have roles and live in habitats; and ecosystems consist of a populations: a group organisms one species that lives in an area at one time; and that these populations make up the community (all the populations in in an area at one time), and find out that community members rely on one another for shelter, food, and reproduction.
In addition, they read about the nonliving features of an ecosystem: soil, water, air, sun, and temperature and learn that the living and nonliving features work together in an ecosystem.
I present the terms biotic and abiotic by writing them on the board.
I review the prefix bio- and share that it means life.
I ask students, "knowing the meaning of that prefix, think about these terms. Which one do you think means living? nonliving?"
Students are quick to determine that biotic means living and abiotic means nonliving.
I tell them we will continue using these terms throughout the unit as we learn more about these parts of ecosystems.

Using Research to Define an Ecosystem

Once they have completed this research, they use their ten facts to summarize and define an ecosystem.
They do this by synthesizing the information using the getting the point graphic organizer.
Their task with this template is to summarize their learning into a paragraph that is no longer than 20 words.
I selected this format for students to use because I often find students try to write every single detail they read about rather than the main ideas.
By using this in conjunction with the top ten facts graphic organizer, students work on developing a paragraph that defines an ecosystem.
I call on a few students to share their ecosystem statement with the class.
After a few share aloud, I define the term on our important to know board as:
ecosystem: all the living and nonliving things in an area.

After summarizing their research into a Getting the Point paragraph, I collect them to use as a formative assessment.
I want to see how students synthesized their research into a 20-word summary.

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Defining an Ecosystem

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Defining an Ecosystem

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After examining this ecosystem, identify and list the features you think create this ecosystem.
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After examining this ecosystem, identify and list the features you think create this ecosystem.
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After examining this ecosystem, identify and list the features you think create this ecosystem.
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After examining this ecosystem, identify and list the features you think create this ecosystem.
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TOP TEN Facts- Defining an Ecosystem

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Ecosystem Description

You have a copy of the image below. In the image, you can see the following ecosystems…

the pond.
desert.
spiders web in the woods.
mountains.
grassland.
puddle.

You assignment is to observe and discuss what your group notices in each ecosystem. Write down the features your group believe define an ecosystem.

a. Pond – ______

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b. Desert – ______

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c. Spiders web in the woods – ______

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d. Mountains – ______

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e. Grasslands – ______

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f. Puddle – ______

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g. Pond – ______

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Getting the Point

What was the main idea about your research today?

What was the most important information?

What was the point of your research? (Write a 20 word ‘point’ (summary) using the information you gathered from your research.) It should not be more than 20 words.

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Facts – Defining an Ecosystem

What makes up an ecosystem?

An ecosystem includes all of the living things (plants, animals and organisms) in a given area, interacting with each other, and also with their non-living environments (weather, earth, sun, soil, climate, atmosphere). Ecosystems are the foundations of the Biosphere and they determine the health of the entire earth system.

In an ecosystem, each organism has its own niche (an organism’s role in an ecosystem – the job of a living thing) or role to play.

Are ecosystems certain sizes?

Ecosystems come in indefinite sizes. It can exist in a small area such as underneath a rock, a decaying tree trunk, or a pond in your village, or it can exist in large forms such as an entire rain forest. Technically, the Earth can be called a huge ecosystem.

To make things simple, let us classify ecosystems into three main scales.

Micro – A small scale ecosystem such as a pond, puddle, tree trunk, under a rock etc.
Messo – A medium scale ecosystem such as a forest or a large lake.
Biome – A very large ecosystem or collection of ecosystems with similar biotic and abiotic factors such as an entire Rainforest with millions of animals and trees, with many different water bodies running through them.

Ecosystem boundaries are not marked (separated) by rigid lines. They are often separated by geographical barriers such as deserts, mountains, oceans, lakes and rivers. As these borders are never rigid, ecosystems tend to blend into each other. This is why a lake can have many small ecosystems with their own unique characteristics. Scientists call this blending “ecotone

Levels of organization in an ecosystem

To understand the levels in an ecosystem, let us consider the diagram below.

Species, Organism – An individual is any living thing or organism. Individuals do not breed with individuals from other groups. Animals, unlike plants, tend to be very definite with this term because some plants can cross-breed with other fertile plants. In the diagram above, you will notice that Gill, the goldfish, is interacting with its environment, and will only crossbreed with other gold fishes just like her.
Population – A group of individuals of a given species that live in a specific geographic area at a given time. (example is Gill and his family and friends and other fishes of Gill’s species) Note that populations include individuals of the same species, but may have different genetic makeup such as hair/eye/skin colour and size between themselves and other populations.
Community – This includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time. A community includes populations of organisms of different species. In the diagram above, note how populations of gold fishes, salmons, crabs and herrings coexist in a defined location. A great community usually includes biodiversity.
Ecosystem – As explained in the pages earlier, ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with the environment (abiotic). At this level note how they depend on other abiotic factors such as rocks, water, air and temperature.
Biome – A biome, in simple terms, is a set of ecosystems sharing similar characteristics with their abiotic factors adapted to their environments.
Biosphere – When we consider all the different biomes, each blending into the other, with all humans living in many different geographic areas, we form a huge community of humans, animals and plants, and micro-organisms in their defined habitats. A biosphere is the sum of all the ecosystems established on planet Earth. It is the living (and decaying) component of the earth system.

What are nonliving parts in an ecosystem?

These are things like air, water, rocks, soil and metals. Inorganic matter is important in an ecosystem because it is what producers use, and it is the physical and chemical, non-living environment that we live in.

How do parts of an ecosystem work together?

Let's look at a puddle example. You might start by looking at the temperature, depth, turbulence, sunlight, atmospheric pressure, weather patterns, wind, nutrients, etc. Those are just the non-living things in the ecosystem of a puddle. When you add on all the living interactions, you have a good idea how complex an ecosystem can be. Even a puddle is an amazing place.

Usually, biotic members of an ecosystem, together with their abiotic factors depend on each other. This means the absence of one member or one abiotic factor can affect all parties of the ecosystem.