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Chapter 2 - Ecology
Lesson 5Ecosystem Interactions
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TCAP Coach5th grade Science
Objectives
The student will determine various types of plant and animal relationships within an ecosystem.
Ecosystem Interactions
Living things, or organisms, interact with each other and their environment. The study of these
interactions is called ecology.Scientists who study ecology are called ecologists.
Ecologists often study ecosystems.
Ecosystem Interactions
Ecosystems are groups of living things and the nonliving environment in which they live.
Ecosystems
● You can think of an ecosystem as a large system with many different parts. An ecosystem is made up of both living and nonliving parts. An example of an ecosystem is the Sahara desert and all of the organisms that live there.
Ecosystems
● The living parts of an environment are all of the living things that an organism in that ecosystem may interact with. Plants, trees, flowers, grass, and birds are examples of living parts of an ecosystem.
Ecosystems
The nonliving parts of an ecosystem include the soil, the air, and the climate, including the amount of
rainfall that an area receives. All of the living things in an ecosystem interact with each other and the
nonliving parts of the ecosystem.
Predators and Prey
● Many animals eat other organisms to get energy.
● An organism that eats other organisms in order to live is called a predator.
Predators and Prey
● The organism that is eaten is called prey.
● When a bear eats a fish, the bear is the predator, and the fish is the prey.
Predators and Prey
The relationship between predator and its prey is one of the ways organisms interact with each other in an
ecosystem.
Predators and Prey
● Certain animals in an ecosystem eat only plants.
● These animals are called herbivores. Rabbits, some insects, and deer are examples of herbivores.
Predators and Prey
Omnivores are animals that eat plants and prey upon animals.
Humans and bears are examples of omnivores.
Predators and Prey
● Carnivores are animals that do not eat plants but live solely on other animals.
● Hawks, wolves, and sharks are examples of carnivores.
Predators and Prey
● Some plants eat live prey.
● The Venus flytrap is one example of a plant that captures prey for food. This plant traps flies and other small insects inside its leaves and digests them for energy.
Parasites and Hosts
● Some organisms must live on or inside another organism to get energy.
● These organisms are called parasites.
● Parasites do not get energy by eating other organisms but by actually feeding off them!!!
Parasites and Hosts
●The organism that the parasite infects is called the host.●The parasite benefits from living on the host. The host is usually harmed because the parasite takes nutrients away from it.●Fleas, ticks, leeches, tapeworms, mistletoe
Food Chains and Food Webs
All organisms need energy to live.Plants and animals have different ways of getting
energy. Plants use energy from the sun to make their own
food (photosynthesis).
Food Chains and Food Webs
Because animals cannot make their own food, they eat plants or other animals (or both!) to get the
energy they need to live.
Food Chains and Food Webs
Ecologists describe the interactions between plants and animals by drawing food chains. A food chain
shows the path of energy as it flows from one organism to the next.
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food Chains and Food Webs
Look at the food chain below.
In this food chain, the mouse eats grass, the snake eats the mouse, and the hawk eats the snake.
Food Chains and Food Webs
In nature, however, organisms don't always eat just one type of organism to get energy. So ecologists
also draw food webs.A food web is a diagram of several connected food chains. Can you find the food chain between the grass, mouse, snake, and hawk in the next food
web?
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food Chains and Food Webs
Food Chains and Food Webs
1. A large hawk eats a mouse. Which term best describes the hawk?
a. preyb. producerc. predatord. parasite
1. A large hawk eats a mouse. Which term best describes the hawk?
c. predator
2. What does a food chain show?
a. the flow of food between animalsb. the flow of energy as it passes from one organism
to the nextc. the flow of water through an ecosystem
d. the flow of food between a parasite and a host
2. What does a food chain show?
b. the flow of energy as it passes from one organisms to the next
3. A parasite is an organism that gets energy by
a. killing its preyb. producing its own food
c. feeding off a host organismd. feeding off of producers
3. A parasite is an organism that gets energy by
c. feeding off a host organism
4. Which one is a diagram that shows the variety of paths in which energy flows through an ecosystem?
a. an energy pyramidb. a food chain
c. a food diagramd. a food web
4. Which one is a diagram that shows the variety of paths in which energy flows through an ecosystem?
d. a food web
