assignment on ecosystem

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, work together to form a bubble of life.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Meteorology, Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography

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An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants , animals , and other organisms , as well as weather and landscape , work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems contain biotic or living, parts, as well as a biotic factors , or nonliving parts. Biotic factors include plants , animals , and other organisms . A biotic factors include rocks , temperature , and humidity . Every factor in an ecosystem depends on every other factor, either directly or indirectly. A change in the temperature of an ecosystem will often affect what plants will grow there, for instance. Animals that depend on plants for food and shelter will have to adapt to the changes, move to another ecosystem , or perish . Ecosystems can be very large or very small. Tide pools , the ponds left by the ocean as the tide goes out, are complete, tiny ecosystems . Tide pools contain seaweed , a kind of algae , which uses photosynthesis to create food . Herbivores such as abalone eat the seaweed . Carnivores such as sea stars eat other animals in the tide pool , such as clams or mussels . Tide pools depend on the changing level of ocean water. Some organisms , such as seaweed , thrive in an aquatic environment, when the tide is in and the pool is full. Other organisms , such as hermit crabs , cannot live underwater and depend on the shallow pools left by low tides . In this way, the biotic parts of the ecosystem depend on a biotic factors . The whole surface of Earth is a series of connected ecosystems . Ecosystems are often connected in a larger biome . Biomes are large sections of land, sea, or atmosphere. Forests , ponds , reefs , and tundra are all types of biomes , for example. They're organized very generally, based on the types of plants and animals that live in them. Within each forest , each pond , each reef , or each section of tundra , you'll find many different ecosystems . The biome of the Sahara Desert , for instance, includes a wide variety of ecosystems . The arid climate and hot weather characterize the biome . Within the Sahara are oasis ecosystems , which have date palm trees, freshwater , and animals such as crocodiles . The Sahara also has dune ecosystems , with the changing landscape determined by the wind . Organisms in these ecosystems , such as snakes or scorpions , must be able to survive in sand dunes for long periods of time. The Sahara even includes a marine environment, where the Atlantic Ocean creates cool fogs on the Northwest African coast. Shrubs and animals that feed on small trees, such as goats , live in this Sahara ecosystem . Even similar-sounding biomes could have completely different ecosystems . The biome of the Sahara Desert , for instance, is very different from the biome of the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and China. The Gobi is a cold desert , with frequent snowfall and freezing temperatures . Unlike the Sahara, the Gobi has ecosystems based not in sand , but kilometers of bare rock . Some grasses are able to grow in the cold, dry climate . As a result, these Gobi ecosystems have grazing animals such as gazelles and even takhi , an endangered species of wild horse. Even the cold desert ecosystems of the Gobi are distinct from the freezing desert ecosystems of Antarctica. Antarcticas thick ice sheet covers a continent made almost entirely of dry, bare rock . Only a few mosses grow in this desert ecosystem , supporting only a few birds, such as skuas . Threats to Ecosystems For thou sands of years, people have interacted with ecosystems . Many cultures developed around nearby ecosystems . Many Native American tribes of North Americas Great Plains developed a complex lifestyle based on the native plants and animals of plains ecosystems , for instance. Bison , a large grazing animal native to the Great Plains , became the most important biotic factor in many Plains Indians cultures , such as the Lakota or Kiowa . Bison are sometimes mistakenly called buffalo. These tribes used buffalo hides for shelter and clothing, buffalo meat for food , and buffalo horn for tools. The tallgrass prairie of the Great Plains supported bison herds , which tribes followed throughout the year.

As human populations have grown, however, people have overtaken many ecosystems . The tall grass prairie of the Great Plains , for instance, became farmland . As the ecosystem shrunk, fewer bison could survive . Today, a few herds survive in protected ecosystems such as Yellowstone National Park. In the tropical rain forest ecosystems surrounding the Amazon River in South America, a similar situation is taking place. The Amazon rain forest includes hundreds of ecosystems , including canopies, understories, and forest floors. These ecosystems support vast food webs . Canopies are ecosystems at the top of the rainforest , where tall, thin trees such as figs grow in search of sunlight. Canopy ecosystems also include other plants , called epiphytes , which grow directly on branches. Understory ecosystems exist under the canopy . They are darker and more humid than canopies. Animals such as monkeys live in understory ecosystems , eating fruits from trees as well as smaller animals like beetles. Forest floor ecosystems support a wide variety of flowers , which are fed on by insects like butterflies. Butterflies, in turn, provide food for animals such as spiders in forest floor ecosystems . Human activity threatens all these rain forest ecosystems in the Amazon. Thou sands of acres of land are cleared for farmland , housing, and industry . Countries of the Amazon rain forest , such as Brazil, Venezuela, and Ecuador, are underdeveloped. Cutting down trees to make room for crops such as soy and corn benefits many poor farmers. These resources give them a reliable source of income and food . Children may be able to attend school, and families are able to afford better health care . However, the destruction of rain forest ecosystems has its costs. Many modern medicines have been developed from rain forest plants . Curare , a muscle relaxant, and quinine , used to treat malaria , are just two of these medicines . Many scientists worry that destroying the rain forest ecosystem may prevent more medicines from being developed. The rain forest ecosystems also make poor farmland . Unlike the rich soils of the Great Plains , where people destroyed the tall grass prairie ecosystem , Amazon rain forest soil is thin and has few nutrients . Only a few seasons of crops may grow before all the nutrients are absorbed. The farmer or agribusiness must move on to the next patch of land, leaving an empty ecosystem behind. Rebounding Ecosystems Ecosystems can recover from destruction , however. The delicate coral reef ecosystems in the South Pacific are at risk due to rising ocean temperatures and decreased salinity . Corals bleach, or lose their bright colors, in water that is too warm. They die in water that isnt salty enough. Without the reef structure, the ecosystem collapses. Organisms such as algae , plants such as seagrass , and animals such as fish, snakes , and shrimp disappear. Most coral reef ecosystems will bounce back from collapse. As ocean temperature cools and retains more salt, the brightly colored corals return. Slowly, they build reefs . Algae , plants , and animals also return. Individual people, cultures , and governments are working to preserve ecosystems that are important to them. The government of Ecuador, for instance, recognizes ecosystem rights in the countrys constitution . The so-called Rights of Nature says Nature or Pachamama [Earth], where life is reproduced and exists, has the right to exist, persist , maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution . Every person, people, community or nationality, will be able to demand the recognitions of rights for nature before the public bodies. Ecuador is home not only to rain forest ecosystems , but also river ecosystems and the remarkable ecosystems on the Galapagos Islands .

Bactrian and Dromedary Different desert ecosystems support different species of camels. The dromedary camel is tall and fast, with long legs. It is native to the hot, dry deserts of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The Bactrian camel has a thicker coat, is shorter, and has more body fat than the dromedary. The Bactrian camel is native to the cold desert steppes of Central Asia. It is easy to tell the two types of camels apart: Dromedaries have one hump, Bactrians have two.

Coral Triangle The most diverse ecosystem in the world is the huge Coral Triangle in Southeast Asia. The Coral Triangle stretches from the Philippines in the north to the Solomon Islands in the east to the islands of Indonesia and Papua in the west.

Ecocide The destruction of entire ecosystems by human beings has been called ecocide, or murder of the environment.

Human Ecosystem "Human ecosystem" is the term scientists use to study the way people interact with their ecosystems. The study of human ecosystems considers geography, ecology, technology, economics, politics, and history. The study of urban ecosystems focuses on cities and suburbs.

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10: Ecosystems

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Chapter Summary

chapter summary here

• 10.1: Introduction to Ecosystem Ecology An ecosystem is a community of living organisms and their interactions with their abiotic (non-living) environment. Ecosystem ecology focuses on the transfer of energy and matter among living and non-living components within and between ecosystems. Ecosystems can be classified based on their general environment: freshwater, ocean water, and terrestrial. Ecologists study ecosystems using controlled experiments (in either natural or manipulated environments) and by creating ecosystem models that d
• 10.2: Energy Flow through Ecosystems All living things require energy in one form or another as it is required by most life-sustaining metabolic pathways. Productivity within an ecosystem can be defined as the percentage of energy entering the ecosystem incorporated into biomass in a particular trophic level. The productivity of the primary producers is especially important in any ecosystem because these organisms bring energy to other living organisms. The structure of ecosystems can be visualized with ecological pyramids which il
• 10.3: Biogeochemical Cycles The matter that makes up living organisms is conserved and recycled. The six most common elements associated with organic molecules—carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur—take a variety of chemical forms and may exist for long periods in the atmosphere, on land, in water, or beneath the Earth’s surface. Geologic processes, such as weathering, erosion, water drainage, and the subduction of the continental plates, all play a role in this recycling of materials.
• 10.4: Ecosystem Services Ecosystem services are the many and varied benefits to humans provided by the natural environment and healthy ecosystems. Functioning healthy ecosystems offer such things as natural pollination of crops, clean air, extreme weather mitigation, and human mental and physical well-being. Collectively, these benefits are becoming known as ecosystem services, and are often integral to the provision of food, the provisioning of clean drinking water, the decomposition of wastes, and the resilience and p
• 10.5: Resistance, Resilience, and Stability An ecosystem is said to possess ecological stability (or equilibrium) if it is capable of returning to its equilibrium state after a perturbation (a capacity known as resilience) or does not experience unexpected large changes in its characteristics across time.

Why is earth the only planet with life on it? We have aquatic life forms, terrestrial life forms, and aerial life forms too. How is earth the only planet to have ‘An Ecosystem’ on it? But, what is ecosystem and why is it important to learn about it? What would happen if one of the ecosystems disappears?  Let us study more about it below.

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What is Ecosystem?

A complex relationship between all the living and nonliving things (plants, animals, organisms, sun, water , climate etc)interact with each other is known as ‘An Ecosystem’ .  Ecosystems are the foundation of ‘Biosphere’ and maintain the natural balance of the earth.

For example, let’s take the relationship between sheep and lion in the ecosystem; for its survival, the lion eats the sheep. And each relationship like this has an effect on other creatures and plants living in the same area.

Hence, if the lion eats more sheep, it has an effect on the plants too; they begin to flourish; since there aren’t many sheep to eat the plants.

Each organism in the ecosystem plays an important role, so anytime a ‘foreign’ factor is put in the ecosystem, it poses a major threat to the ecosystem. This happens because the foreign factor can deform the natural balance of the ecosystem and harm it potentially.

This foreign factor could be anything ranging from rising temperature to the tsunami. Not just the foreign factor but man-made can also destroy the ecosystem.

Browse more Topics under Our Environment

• Effects of Human Activities on Environment

Components of the Ecosystem

The components of an ecosystem are divided into abiotic components , that include all nonliving components such as minerals, climate , soil, water, sunlight and biotic components , that include all the living components. These components together make up for the flow of energy in the ecosystem and the nutrient cycle in the ecosystem.

The gleaming energy from the sun is the basic source of energy in all the ecosystems. The autotrophs (self-sustaining organisms) absorb this energy and produce photosynthesis where they can use this energy to convert CO 2 and H 2 O into simple carbohydrates. The autotrophs store energy in these carbohydrates, which they then use to produce more complex and organic products like lipids, proteins, and starches that help the organism to survive.

These autotrophs are the producers of the ecosystem.

Organic compounds produced by autotrophs help in the survival of the heterotrophic organisms. And heterotrophs are the consumers of the ecosystem since they’re incapable of making their own food. All organisms like bacteria, fungi or animals are heterotrophs.

Types of Ecosystems

An ecosystem consists of three types of ecosystems, another term for which is ‘Biomes’. The three major types are:

a. Aquatic biomes

b. Terrestrial biomes

c. Lentic biomes

a. Aquatic Biomes:

Aquatic biomes are the ones, one finds in water bodies, such as oceans, rivers, seas, lakes, springs, etc. This biome is further divided into smaller ecosystems:

Pond Ecosystems  :

Pond ecosystems are comparatively small and mostly include many kinds of amphibians and insects. At times one can also find fishes here but they aren’t capable of moving as easily as the amphibians.

River Ecosystems:

This ecosystem consists of fishes along with plants, amphibians, and insects. One may also find birds that hunt in and around the water for its food (small fishes).

Shallow water Ecosystem:

Here one can only find tiny fishes and corals that live in shallow waters close to land.

Deepwater Ecosystem:

These are kind of ecosystem where one can find gigantic sea creatures that live at the deep bottom of the sea. Creatures that wouldn’t be visible to the normal human eye.

Want to know What is Waste ?

b. Terrestrial Biomes:

Terrestrial ecosystems are ecosystems that are found on land that include forests, deserts, grasslands, tundras, and coastal regions. There can be more than one terrestrial biome depending on its climate. This ecosystem further divides into:

Rainforests:

Rainforests are the kind of ecosystems that are extremely dense because of a variety of organisms living in a tiny area.

Tundra is the kind of ecosystem that is a relatively simple ecosystem since only a few life forms can survive this ecosystem; especially because of its harsh conditions.

They are opposite of tundras, yet the have extreme conditions. Animals prefer to live in extreme heat than extreme cold.

One can find more forests than any other ecosystem in the world such as deciduous and coniferous forests. Forests can support many life forms and complex ecosystems.

c. Lentic Biomes:

These are the kinds of ecosystems that support both aquatic and terrestrial life forms such as swamps. The only requirement is that this kind of ecosystem is the exposure for the photosynthesis process to happen; since organisms here survive on the carbohydrates made by photosynthesis.

What are the Effects of Human Activities on Environment ?

Trophic Levels, Food Chain and Food Web

The nutritive levels in a food chain are known as  Trophic Levels . The organisms in the trophic levels of the food chain are categorized based on their feeding patterns.

• P roducers (green plants) make for the lowest level of the chain.
• Consumption of the by-products of these producers by the herbivores or the primary consumers makes for the second-level.
• Next, the consumption of these herbivores by carnivore or the tertiary consumers makes for the third-level. Additionally, omnivores ( organisms that consume plants and animals both) as well come at the third level.
• Quaternary consumers consist of organisms that eat these carnivores.
• Lastly, decomposers make up for a completely different level of the food chain alongside the given levels. These decomposers help in breaking waste materials and convert them into nutrients which is useful for the prod ucers.

Organisms that lie at the very top of the food chain are known as ‘Apex Consumers’ .

All of the above points together make up for what is known as ‘Food Chain’ .

The interlinking of feeding relationships of various communities of organisms is known as the ‘Food web’.

Solved Example for You

Q. Which of the following organisms eat organic matter and return the nutrients to the soil?

a. Producer

b. Decomposer

c. Scanvenger

d. None of the above

Sol: b. Decomposer

Some animals eat dead animals. They are called scavengers. They help break down or reduce organic material into smaller pieces. Decomposers then eat these smaller pieces. Decomposers eat dead materials and break them down into chemical parts. Animals and plants, then use nitrogen, carbon and other nutrients. Decomposers help the world in cleaning up the dead plants and animals.

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10 Ecosystem Project Ideas

• Freebies , Planning , Science

When you think about ecosystem project ideas, do you immediately think about dioramas in a shoebox, like this one I found on Pinterest?

Don’t get me wrong, dioramas are a great way for students to demonstrate their learning but it’s also the most common way. If you are like me, you are always looking for unique ways for students to express what they learned. That’s why I have a variety of ecosystem project ideas!

Create Your Own Ecosystems or Habitats.

Have your students work in groups, research, and then create an ecosystem together. It can be something as simple as collecting pond water, organisms, and plants. You could also have students create individual habitats instead of an entire ecosystem. We created our own habitats and the students really enjoyed it. Together we discussed the importance of meeting our living things’ needs and a healthy environment. We had a habitat for ants, fish, worms, and so much more.

Create a Flap Book.

Provide students with a 12 x 9 strip of construction paper and several index cards (one per ecosystem you are studying). Have students name, draw, and color the ecosystem on the outside of the index card, and on the inside provide valuable information about the ecosystem inside. When you are done, it will look like this:

Create an Imaginary Ecosystem.

Have students create their own ecosystem but still requiring the characteristics of ecosystems such as needing to have both living and nonliving factors, populations, communities, and so on. Have students determine the food chains and much more. It will definitely require some creative thinking on their part, but it will definitely be fun!

Create an Ecosystem Mobile.

Students love creating mobiles and they make for a cute display. If you can’t find hangers to make mobiles, you can easily use other materials such as sticks (yes, sticks from trees.), dowels (found in craft stores), or paper towel rolls. When creating an ecosystem mobile , you can have students again use index cards like in the example above, designing the outside and describing the ecosystem on the inside. You could also have students get creative and design something that represents that ecosystem, such as a raindrop for the rainforest. Students will love this ecosystem project idea!

Read Around the Room.

Set out many books about ecosystems around the room and students are sure to get excited! Have different locations representing different ecosystems and then move students around from station to station. If you want, you can have a student record in a chart or on one big piece of chart paper what they learned about that ecosystem. There are many great books out there on ecosystems.

Create a Scavenger Hunt.

What student doesn’t love a scavenger hunt? To create an ecosystem scavenger hunt , you would just place information about each ecosystem around your room in different locations. For instance in one spot you may have information about deserts and in another location information about grasslands. Then create a few questions for students to answer regarding each ecosystem. Students move around the room reading about each ecosystem and hunt for those questions. It’s a great way to sneak in some reading and just another ecosystem project idea.

Create an Accordion Book.

Can you tell I’m a crafty, foldable kind of gal? I just love hands-on activities and foldables. I think I wrote about this a little in my Going Wild for Ecosystems post. Drag out some construction paper or copy paper and have students fold it in half. Then have them draw the ecosystem at the top and write about its characteristics at the bottom of the half sheet. When finished, you end up with an ecosystem accordion foldable . (See image below).

Do this with each half for however number of ecosystems you are studying. Then connect them all by gluing them (or taping) side by side. (see image above).

Create a Circle Book.

Are you looking for an ecosystem project idea that is easy-peasy? These circle books have been my latest obsession. I’ve even got some created that I haven’t uploaded yet! But just like any of the above, you don’t have to head to my store to purchase them, you could easily create them yourself! Provide each student with one circle per ecosystem you would like them to represent. Then on each circle have them illustrate the ecosystem on the top and describe its characteristics on the bottom. (Sensing a theme?)  Then fold each circle in half back to back and glue them together to form your ecosystem circle book .

Project Based Learning.

Are you looking for a way to get in a little PBL? Why not have students design their own ecosystem zoo ? (This is a shameless plug!)  This project integrates area, perimeter, geometry, and STEM learning in your science classroom. Students work through a series of steps, including research, to design and build a model of their own ecosystem zoo! It’s differentiated and can easily be adapted!

Triboard Display.

Why not have your students create a display similar to a science fair? In this display, students would take a regular file folder (see image below) and attach pieces that describe the landscape, climate, plants, animals, and food chain/web of the ecosystem. Then have students place a world map in the middle and color all the locations in the world where their ecosystem can be found. This can also be done on a larger scale with an actual tri board.

Want to save a little money? Check out the Ecosystem Bundle! It combines many of my ecosystem resources together at a discounted price.

GRAB THE FREEBIE!

Want to grab the ecosystem tri-board display activity above for free? Click here to download it!

This is just a small sampling of some ecosystem project ideas. If you’re looking to save time, you can find many of these items inexpensively prepared for you in my store here , though you can also create many of these ideas yourself. And if you’re looking to save money, I’ve got a great bargain with my ecosystem bundle —eight whole products that can easily stand alone or be chained together!

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curriculum for educators everywhere!

Find more at TeachEngineering.org .

• TeachEngineering
• Environments and Ecosystems

Lesson Environments and Ecosystems

Grade Level: 4 (3-5)

Time Required: 15 minutes

Lesson Dependency: None

Subject Areas: Biology, Life Science, Science and Technology

NGSS Performance Expectations:

• Print lesson and its associated curriculum

Curriculum in this Unit Units serve as guides to a particular content or subject area. Nested under units are lessons (in purple) and hands-on activities (in blue). Note that not all lessons and activities will exist under a unit, and instead may exist as "standalone" curriculum.

• Population Density: How Much Space Do You Have?
• Biodomes Engineering Design Project: Lessons 2-6
• Got Energy? Spinning a Food Web
• Plant Cycles: Photosynthesis & Transpiration
• Biomimicry: Natural Designs

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Engineers adapt designs for housing, cities and many types of buildings to specific environments and ecosystems. They use their environment, knowledge of the biosphere and the concept of ecosystems to inform their designs and shape the human-built environment. Engineers and scientists use biodomes to study ecosystems and model how living and nonliving things interact in those natural environments. They also collaborate to use this information to predict the availability of water for communities.

After this lesson, students should be able to:

• Have a working knowledge of the various types of environments and ecosystems.
• Have a working knowledge of vocabulary related to environments and ecosystems.
• Define the biosphere and discuss its components.
• Identify how engineers can use their knowledge of environments, the biosphere and ecosystems.

Educational Standards Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards. All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN) , a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org). In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g. , by state; within source by type; e.g. , science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc .

Ngss: next generation science standards - science, international technology and engineering educators association - technology.

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Do you agree with this alignment? Thanks for your feedback!

State Standards

Colorado - science.

What are environments and ecosystems and why do we need to understand them? An environment is the surrounding area in which an organism lives, including the air, water, food and energy required for that organism to survive. An ecosystem includes all the living organisms and the nonliving things in an area that are linked together through the flow of nutrients and energy. On our planet, there are many different environments where organisms can live. There are mountains, valleys, trees, snow, and water environments, as well as hot and cold climate environments. (Conduct a class discussion [see the Pre-Lesson Assessment activities described in the Assessment section] to explore with students various types of environments and ecosystems [such as tropical rain forest, tundra, etc.] and their characteristics [climates, plants, animals, soils, weather, etc.]). (Optional: Consider showing students the attached PowerPoint presentation, Environments & Ecosystems Visual Aids .)

Animals, plants and other organisms have different physical characteristics that make them more adapted to a particular environment. However, different types of organisms can live together in similar environments. Birds have hollow bones (making them lighter) and feathers that help them to fly. Large animals need support and bone structure to walk; as a result, they have backbones and legs. Still, both of these animals might live in a forest.

Some physical characteristics make an organism less adapted for other environments. For example, whales have blubber so they can withstand cold temperatures and other mammals have thick fur, which protects them from the cold. Because of these characteristics, these animals would not survive very well in a hot desert environment. Also, some animals can adapt to changes in their environment by changing their physical characteristics or changing their surroundings. What are some things that protect us from the climate and/or weather that we experience? (Possible answers: Warm clothing homes/buildings with heating or air conditioning; homes/buildings that can withstand wind, snow, rain or other more severe weather conditions such as earthquakes or hurricanes.) Engineers help us design most of the things you just named! All organisms have a place in this world and are adapted to a specific niche or role within their environment.

Let's imagine that we are traveling through different environments on a mission to collect information about the plants, animals, weather and climate. All of these things make up the Earth's biosphere , which contains both living and nonliving components, such as air, soil, water and sunlight. The biosphere is the portion of the Earth where life is found. It is made up of all the different environments and ecosystems. Some examples of environments found in the biosphere include tropical rain forests, deserts, other forest types (such as deciduous or coniferous), grassland prairie and arctic climates.

Do you know what a biodome is? It is something that people make to model a particular environment and the community of organisms that live there. Engineers and scientists use biodomes to study ecosystems and model how living and nonliving things interact in those natural environments. Can you think of other reasons why studying the environment, climates and ecosystems, might be important to an engineer? (Possible answers: To learn how to better design structures to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes or tsunamis, as well as snow loads, flood prevention, etc.)

In this unit, we are going to become engineers who create model ecosystems. We will design and create our own biodomes and watch what happens to the living and nonliving things we place in them. We will have to learn as much as possible about the environment, though, so we can design and build successful biodomes!

Lesson Background and Concepts for Teachers

Two very different environments exist on our planet: land and water. The organisms that live in these environments have very similar requirements but may respond to them differently. Organisms that live on land must develop a way to combat gravity. They need legs or wings if they want to move. A tree develops a way to get water to move upwards (against gravity). Organisms in water take advantage of water properties to support their body, so they tend to be more hydro-dynamically designed

Compared to many animals and plants, humans are not very physically adapted to the environments in which they live. We comfortably tolerate only a small temperature range, between 63 and 99° Fahrenheit. As a result, we tend to adapt our environment to our needs rather than doing much adapting ourselves. Certain factors such as population call for further adaptaion, have students explore these factors in the hands-on design activity, Population Density: How Much Space Do You Have?

Engineers use their understanding of environments and ecosystems and their respective climates/weather types to design buildings, to inform the layout of communities, and to, in a large part, make the environments in which we live adapted to our needs. See Table 1 for examples of animals and plants that can be found in various environments. Engineers and scientists also collaborate to use this information to predict availability of water for communities.

• Population Density: How Much Space Do You Have? - Students learn how population affects the availability of resources and consider why population density information is useful to engineers.

Can you define the biosphere and what it contains? (Answer: The biosphere is the part of the Earth's atmosphere that is capable of supporting life and includes both living and nonliving things. It includes plants, animals, weather and climate.) What are some examples of environments found in the biosphere (Possible answers: Tropical rainforests, deserts, other forest types [such as deciduous or coniferous], grassland prairie and arctic climates.) How does an understanding of the different ecosystems help engineers to design our towns and cities, and shape the environment? (Answer: Engineers use information about environments and ecosystems to design homes and buildings that are comfortable for us to live and work.)

abiotic: Nonliving, for example, sunlight or rocks.

biodome: A human-made, closed environment containing plants and animals existing in equilibrium.

biome: An area with a certain set of ecological characteristics, including a specific climate, plants and animals living in it.

biosphere: The part of the Earth's atmosphere that is capable of supporting life and includes both living and nonliving things.

biotic: Pertaining to life or living organisms.

characteristic: A distinguishing feature or quality.

climate: The average weather, usually over a 30-year time period, for a particular region and time period. Climate is not the same as weather; it is the average pattern of weather for a particular region. Weather describes the short-term state of the atmosphere. Climatic elements include precipitation, temperature, humidity, sunshine, wind velocity, phenomena such as fog, frost and hailstorms.

ecosystem: A functional unit consisting of all the living organisms (plants, animals and microbes) in a given area, and all the nonliving physical and chemical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycling and energy flow. An ecosystem can be of any size — a log, pond, field, forest or the Earth's biosphere — but it always functions as a whole unit.

engineer: A person who applies scientific and mathematical principles to creative and practical ends such as the design, manufacture and operation of efficient and economical structures, machines, processes and systems.

environment: The surroundings in which an organism lives, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelationships. (Examples: Tundra, coniferous forest, deciduous forest, grassland prairie, mountains and rain forest.)

equilibrium: A stable condition of being in balance.

habitat: The natural home of a plant or animal.

homeostasis: Equilibrium of an internal environment.

model: (verb) To simulate, make or construct something to help visualize or learn about something else (as the living human body, a process or an ecosystem) that cannot be directly observed or experimented upon. (noun) A representation of something, sometimes on a smaller scale.

niche: A unique ecological role that an organism plays in an ecosystem.

Pre-Lesson Assessment

Pre-Unit Quiz : To conduct an overall pre/post assessment of the Biodomes curricular unit (six lessons, with associated activities), administer the Pre-Unit Quiz to the class before beginning any discussion on Biodomes. Then, after completion of lesson 6, administer the same (post-unit) quiz to the same students and compare pre- to post- scores. In addition, this short quiz is suitable to administer to a control group of students who have not completed the unit, to comparatively test the impact of the curricular unit on learning.

Group Discussion : As a class, have the students engage in open discussion. Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses, writing their ideas on the classroom board. All ideas should be respectfully heard. Take an uncritical position and discourage criticism of ideas. Have students raise their hands to respond. Ask the students:

• What different types of environments can you think of? (See Table 1 examples.)
• (For each environment) What is the climate like? What kind of weather might occur? (Dry or humid? Sunny or foggy? Hot or cold? Snowstorms or tornados?)
• (For each environment) What types of plants and animals live there? (See Table 1 examples.)

Picture Discussion : Using books or the internet, show students photographs of different types of environments. In an informal class discussion, have students identify:

• What types of animals and plants might be present in each environment?
• What resources would be present for people?
• How would those resources need to be conserved in order for people to survive?

Post-Introduction Assessment

Writing and Drawing/Drafting Reflection : Ask students to write a paragraph in their science journal or on a sheet of paper that describes themselves and where they live. They should include a description of their environment, habitat and community, and consider themselves as part of a population. Add a drawing or drafting component by having students place themselves in an environment of their choice and design a living space to protect themselves from the conditions of that environment. Remind students that engineers sometimes create these types of designs.

Group Discussion : Solicit, integrate and summarize student responses.

• Have students discuss and identify biotic and abiotic factors in the biosphere. This includes living and nonliving things, animals and plants, as well as the air, soil, rocks and sunlight.
• Pick an environment that is different from where the students live (for example, a rain forest, desert or arctic tundra.) Ask students to describe how their lives might be different if they lived in this new environment. Then, ask them to explain how they, as an engineer, would design a home for this environment. (For example, would you want thick walls in a tropical environment or in a desert?)
• Have students discuss why engineers and scientists might study different environments and ecosystems, as well as the extreme weather conditions that exist within different climates, such as floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes or tsunamis.

Lesson Summary Assessment

Using Evidence: Ask students to write a paragraph using evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment. They can use what was taught in the lesson or do outside research as evidence.

Option 1 - Worksheet to Class Poster : Use the Environments and Ecosystems Worksheet as an exploratory activity for students to chart the various plants, animals and soil that are present in different ecosystems. Have students complete the worksheets individually and then share their information with the class to create one large ecosystem chart on a poster-sized sheet to hang in the classroom. See Table 1 for possible worksheet answers.

Option 2 - Worksheet to Class Chart: Have students complete the Environments and Ecosystems Worksheet as an individual investigation project, using books or the internet. Then, ask them to share their discoveries by providing them with sticky notes to record what they discovered about the different environments, encouraging them to use the vocabulary learned in their research. Have them post their responses on a poster chart divided into columns for each type of ecosystem. Once all notes are posted, read aloud some of the sticky notes, or have students come up and select notes to share with the class. Refer to the completed environments and ecosystems chart during subsequent lessons in this unit.

Lesson Extension Activities

Climates Research Project : As an individual exploratory research project, have students research the climates that are present in different environments and ecosystems. After selecting an environment type, research to find out its climate, rainfall, temperature and extreme conditions. Ask them to consider how they, as engineers, might take the climate into consideration for the design of homes or structures in the environment they are researching.

Use the internet to find additional resources that describe the characteristics of our planet's many ecosystems. Start with the following websites:

Discovery Channel Online

Ecosystems: http://library.thinkquest.org/11353/ecosystems.htm

Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk Project (HEAR)

National Geographic

Sustainable Ecosystems Institute

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Student Center: http://www.epa.gov/students

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

In this multi-day activity, students explore environments, ecosystems, energy flow and organism interactions by creating a scale model biodome, following the steps of the engineering design process.

As students learn about the creation of biodomes, they are introduced to the steps of the engineering design process, including guidelines for brainstorming. They learn how engineers are involved in the design and construction of biodomes and use brainstorming to come up with ideas for possible biod...

Students learn about energy and nutrient flow in various biosphere climates and environments. They learn about herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, food chains and food webs, seeing the interdependence between producers, consumers and decomposers. This lesson is part of a series of six lessons in whic...

Students learn about population density within environments and ecosystems. They determine the density of a population and think about why population density and distribution information is useful to engineers for city planning and design as well as for resource allocation.

Bush, Mark B. Ecology of a Changing Planet . Second Edition. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000.

Dictionary.com. Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. Accessed October 9, 2006.

Environmental Health Center Glossary. Updated September 27, 2005. National Safety Council. http://www.nsc.org/Pages/Home.aspx Accessed October 9, 2006.

Glossary of Terms. Public Entity Environment Management System Resource Center, Peer Center. http://www.peercenter.net/about/glossary.cfm Accessed October 9, 2006.

Weather and Climate Terminology, Glossary Data Lookup and Reference Service. Weather Guide, NetCent Communication. http://weather.ncbuy.com/glossary.html?action=LETTER&term=C Accessed October 9, 2006.

Contributors

Supporting program, acknowledgements.

The contents of this digital library curriculum were developed under a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education and National Science Foundation GK-12 grant no. 0338326. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the Department of Education or National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.

Last modified: August 27, 2019

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• Environment Essay

Essay on Understanding and Nurturing Our Environment

The environment is everything that surrounds us – the air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil beneath our feet, and the diverse flora and fauna that inhabit our planet. It's not just a backdrop to our lives; it's the very essence of our existence. In this essay, we'll explore the importance of our environment, the challenges it faces, and what we can do to ensure a sustainable and thriving world for generations to come.

Our environment is a complex and interconnected web of life. Every living organism, from the tiniest microbe to the largest mammal, plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of ecosystems. This delicate balance ensures the survival of species, including humans. For instance, bees pollinate plants, which produce the oxygen we breathe. Nature is a masterpiece that has evolved over millions of years, and we are just one small part of this intricate tapestry.

Importance of Environment  

The environment is crucial for keeping living things healthy.

It helps balance ecosystems.

The environment provides everything necessary for humans, like food, shelter, and air.

It's also a source of natural beauty that is essential for our physical and mental health.

The Threats to Our Environment:

Unfortunately, our actions have disrupted this delicate balance. The rapid industrialization, deforestation, pollution, and over-exploitation of natural resources have led to severe environmental degradation. Climate change, driven by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions, is altering weather patterns, causing extreme events like floods, droughts, and storms. The loss of biodiversity is another alarming concern – species are disappearing at an unprecedented rate due to habitat destruction and pollution.

Impact of Human Activities on the Environment

Human activities like pollution, deforestation, and waste disposal are causing environmental problems like acid rain, climate change, and global warming. The environment has living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components. Biotic components include plants, animals, and microorganisms, while abiotic components include things like temperature, light, and soil.

In the living environment, there are producers (like plants), consumers (like animals), and decomposers (like bacteria). Producers use sunlight to make energy, forming the base of the food web. Consumers get their energy by eating other organisms, creating a chain of energy transfer. Decomposers break down waste and dead organisms, recycling nutrients in the soil.

The non-living environment includes climatic factors (like rain and temperature) and edaphic factors (like soil and minerals). Climatic factors affect the water cycle, while edaphic factors provide nutrients and a place for organisms to grow.

The environment includes everything from the air we breathe to the ecosystems we live in. It's crucial to keep it clean for a healthy life. All components of the environment are affected by its condition, so a clean environment is essential for a healthy ecosystem.

Sustainable Practices:

Adopting sustainable practices is a key step towards mitigating environmental degradation. This includes reducing our carbon footprint by using renewable energy, practicing responsible consumption, and minimizing waste. Conservation of natural resources, such as water and forests, is essential. Supporting local and global initiatives that aim to protect the environment, like reforestation projects and wildlife conservation efforts, can make a significant impact.

Education and Awareness:

Creating a sustainable future requires a collective effort, and education is a powerful tool in this regard. Raising awareness about environmental issues, the consequences of our actions, and the importance of conservation is crucial. Education empowers individuals to make informed choices and encourages sustainable practices at both personal and community levels.

Why is a Clean Environment Necessary?

To have a happy and thriving community and country, we really need a clean and safe environment. It's like the basic necessity for life on Earth. Let me break down why having a clean environment is so crucial.

First off, any living thing—whether it's plants, animals, or people—can't survive in a dirty environment. We all need a good and healthy place to live. When things get polluted, it messes up the balance of nature and can even cause diseases. If we keep using up our natural resources too quickly, life on Earth becomes a real struggle.

So, what's causing all this environmental trouble? Well, one big reason is that there are just so many people around, and we're using up a lot of stuff like land, food, water, air, and even fossil fuels and minerals. Cutting down a bunch of trees (we call it deforestation) is also a big problem because it messes up the whole ecosystem.

Then there's pollution—air, water, and soil pollution. It's like throwing a wrench into the gears of nature, making everything go wonky. And you've probably heard about things like the ozone layer getting thinner, global warming, weird weather, and glaciers melting. These are all signs that our environment is in trouble.

But don't worry, we can do things to make it better:

Plant more trees—they're like nature's superheroes, helping balance everything out.

Follow the 3 R's: Reuse stuff, reduce waste, and recycle. It's like giving our planet a high-five.

Ditch the plastic bags—they're not great for our landscapes.

Think about how many people there are and try to slow down the population growth.

By doing these things, we're basically giving our planet a little TLC (tender loving care), and that's how we can keep our environment clean and healthy for everyone.

Policy and Regulation:

Governments and institutions play a vital role in shaping environmental policies and regulations. Strong and enforceable laws are essential to curb activities that harm the environment. This includes regulations on emissions, waste disposal, and protection of natural habitats. International cooperation is also crucial to address global environmental challenges, as issues like climate change know no borders.

The Role of Technology:

Technology can be a double-edged sword in environmental conservation. While some technological advancements contribute to environmental degradation, others offer solutions. Innovative technologies in renewable energy, waste management, and sustainable agriculture can significantly reduce our impact on the environment. Embracing and investing in eco-friendly technologies is a step towards a greener and more sustainable future.

Conclusion:

Our environment is not just a collection of trees, rivers, and animals; it's the foundation of our existence. Understanding the interconnectedness of all living things and recognizing our responsibility as stewards of the Earth is essential. By adopting sustainable practices, fostering education and awareness, implementing effective policies, and embracing eco-friendly technologies, we can work towards healing our planet. The choices we make today will determine the world we leave for future generations – a world that can either flourish in its natural beauty or struggle under the weight of environmental degradation. It's our collective responsibility to ensure that it's the former.

FAQs on Environment Essay

1. What is the Environment?

The environment constitutes the entire ecosystem that includes plants, animals and microorganisms, sunlight, air, rain, temperature, humidity, and other climatic factors. It is basically the surroundings where we live. The environment regulates the life of all living beings on Earth.

2. What are the Three Kinds of Environments?

Biotic Environment: It includes all biotic factors or living forms like plants, animals, and microorganisms.

Abiotic Environment: It includes non-living factors like temperature, light, rainfall, soil, minerals, etc. It comprises the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.

Built Environment: It includes buildings, streets, houses, industries, etc. 

3. What are the Major Factors that Lead to the Degradation of the Environment?

The factors that lead to the degradation of the environment are:

The rapid increase in the population.

Growth of industrialization and urbanization.

Deforestation is making the soil infertile (soil that provides nutrients and home to millions of organisms).

Over-consumption of natural resources.

Ozone depletion, global warming, and the greenhouse effect.

4. How do we Save Our Environment?

We must save our environment by maintaining a balanced and healthy ecosystem. We should plant more trees. We should reduce our consumption and reuse and recycle stuff. We should check on the increase in population. We should scarcely use our natural and precious resources. Industries and factories should take precautionary measures before dumping their wastes into the water bodies.

5. How can we protect Mother Earth?

Ways to save Mother Earth include planting more and more trees, using renewable sources of energy, reducing the wastage of water, saving electricity, reducing the use of plastic, conservation of non-renewable resources, conserving the different flora and faunas, taking steps to reduce pollution, etc.

6. What are some ways that humans impact their environment?

Humans have influenced the physical environment in many ways like overpopulation, pollution, burning fossil fuels, and deforestation. Changes like these have generated climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and undrinkable water. These negative impacts can affect human behavior and can prompt mass migrations or battles over clean water.  

7. Why is the environment of social importance?

Human beings are social animals by nature. They spend a good amount of time in social environments. Their responsibility towards the environment is certainly important because these social environments might support human beings in both personal development goals as well as career development goals.

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AP®︎/College Biology

Course: ap®︎/college biology   >   unit 8.

• Mutation as a source of variation
• Introduced species and biodiversity
• Invasive species
• Human activities that threaten biodiversity
• How does climate change affect biodiversity?
• How did all dinosaurs except birds go extinct?
• Were dinosaurs undergoing long-term decline before mass extinction?

Human impact on ecosystems review

• Disruptions to ecosystems

Human impact on biodiversity

Human-mediated causes of biodiversity loss.

• Land-use change : Humans may destroy natural landscapes as they mine resources and urbanize areas. This is detrimental, as it displaces residing species, reducing available habitats and food sources.
• Pollution : Pollution can occur from the runoff or disposal of chemical substances, or from energy sources (noise and light pollution).
• Introduced species : Humans may unintentionally, or intentionally, introduce a non-native species into an ecosystem. This can negatively effect an ecosystem because the introduced species may outcompete native organisms and displace them.
• Resource exploitation : Humans consume large amounts of resources for their own needs. Some examples include the mining of natural resources like coal, the hunting and fishing of animals for food, and the clearing of forests for urbanization and wood use. Extensive overuse of nonrenewable resources , like fossil fuels, can cause great harm to the environment. Recycling products made from nonrenewable resources (such as plastic, which is made from oil) is one way to reduce the negative impacts of this resource exploitation. In addition, the development and use of renewable resources , like solar or wind energy, can help decrease the harmful effects of resource exploitation.

Climate change and biodiversity

Conservation, common mistakes and misconceptions.

• The extinction rate is currently 1,000-10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Some people think that extinction is not a relevant issue, but it is actually more relevant than ever! Historically, the natural extinction rate is between 1-5 species-level extinctions per year. Human impact has caused this rate to jump to a significantly higher rate, offsetting the balance of biodiversity.
• The greenhouse effect is not all negative. Although we talk about greenhouse gases producing a negative impact (global change), the greenhouse effect serves a natural purpose: maintaining the warmth that sustains life on Earth. The problem arises when too much heat is trapped, causing a rise in average global temperature.
• An individual person can have an effect on biodiversity. Although biodiversity loss may be a large-scale problem, reducing threats to biodiversity can begin with a single individual. Smaller efforts, such as reusing or recycling items, or even purchasing sustainable foods, can have a culminating effect. That is, if each person did these things, even just a little, they would add up and help reduce biodiversity loss!

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New Texas Patent-Case Assignment Order Targets ‘Related’ Cases (1)

By Lauren Castle

Patent cases filed in the Waco Division of the Western District of Texas will be randomly assigned among a dozen judges in the district under a new order to challenge plaintiffs seeking to try cases in Judge Alan Albright’s popular courtroom.

Those seeking to move their related cases to Albright’s one-judge Waco Division after being assigned to another judge will have to convince the assigned judge with “sufficient legal and factual justification,” Chief Judge Alia Moses said in a Thursday order .

Albright has received almost a third of the nearly 500 patent suits filed in the Western District in ...

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• Biology Article

Our Environment

Table of Contents

What is the Environment?

Types of ecosystem, importance of environment, impact of human activities on the environment.

An Environment is everything that is around us, which includes both living and nonliving things such as soil, water, animals and plants, which adapt themselves to their surroundings. It is nature’s gift that helps in nourishing life on Earth.

The environment plays an important role in the existence of life on the planet earth. The word Environment is derived from the French word “Environ” which means “surrounding.” An ecosystem refers to all the living and non-living things present in the environment and it is a foundation of the Biosphere, which determines the health of the entire planet earth.

Ecology and Environmental science are the branches of life science, which mainly deal with the study of organisms and their interactions with other organisms and their environment.

There are two main types of ecosystems . Listed below are the types and examples of the ecosystem.

• Natural ecosystem – It is a naturally produced biological environment found in nature. It includes deserts, forests, grasslands, lakes, mountains, ponds, rivers, oceans, etc.
• Artificial ecosystem – It is an artificial environment which is created and maintained by man. It includes an aquarium, crop fields, gardens, parks, zoo, etc.

The components of the environment are mainly divided into two categories.

• Biotic environment–It includes all living organisms such as animals, birds, forests, insects, reptiles and microorganisms like algae, bacteria, fungus, viruses, etc.
• Abiotic environment– It includes all non-living components such as air, cloud, dust, land, mountains, rivers, temperature, humidity, water, water vapour, sand, etc.

Also refer:  Biotic and Abiotic components

Environment plays an important role in healthy living and the existence of life on planet earth. Earth is a home for different living species and we all are dependent on the environment for food, air, water, and other needs. Therefore, it is important for every individual to save and protect our environment.

There are different types of human activities which are directly attributed to the environmental disasters, which include- acid rain, acidification of oceans, change in the climate , deforestation, depletion of an ozone layer, disposal of hazardous wastes, global warming, overpopulation, pollution, etc.

Also read:  Environmental Issues and Solutions

Important Questions

• What is a Natural Ecosystem?
• Why is the ecosystem important?
• Why should we conserve biodiversity short answer?

This was a brief introduction to Our Environment. Stay tuned with BYJU’S to learn more about Environment, Environmental Issues, Ecosystem, Components of the Environment and other related topics at  BYJU’S Biology

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