Understanding small-scale ecosystems
I can describe the natural processes that occur within a small-scale ecosystem in the UK.
- Year 10
- AQA
Understanding small-scale ecosystems
I can describe the natural processes that occur within a small-scale ecosystem in the UK.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- An ecosystem is a natural system in which plants, animals and their non-living environment interact.
- Living and non-living things interract within a small-scale ecosystem.
- Food webs help us understand the interrelationships in a small-scale ecosystem.
- Nutrient cycles show how nutrients transfer across different stores within an ecosystem.
Keywords
Ecosystem - a community of organisms (such as plants and animals) that interact with one another and their non-living (abiotic) environment
Producer - an organism that is able to absorb energy from the sun through photosynthesis
Consumer - an organism that gets its energy by feeding on other organisms (animals and/or plant matter)
Food chain - the connections between different organisms (plants and animals) that rely on one another for their source of food
Decomposer - an organism such as a bacterium or fungus that breaks down dead plant or animal tissue or waste
Common misconception
That ecosystems are made up of plants and animals only.
An ecosystem is a community of living things interacting with one another and with non-living components of their environment, such as soil and climate.
Equipment
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of the following is not a process carried out by all living things?
Q2.An ecosystem is a community of __________ and their non-living environment.
Q3.What does the term photosynthesis mean?
Q4.What is the term for an animal that only eats other animals and not plants?
Q5.Which of the following organisms can make their own food using energy from the Sun?
Q6.What is this type of diagram called?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.A community of organisms that interact with one another and their non-living environment is called an .
Q2.Which of the following would be considered abiotic?
Q3.Put the following organisms in the correct food chain order, going from producer to quaternary (level four) consumer.
Q4.The cycling of nutrients within an ecosystem can be understood by considering transfers between three stores. Which of these are stores?
Q5.Identify the examples of inputs into an ecosystem.
Q6.Match the following keywords to the correct definitions.
