living world ecosystems

Question 1

what is an ecosystem?

Answer 1

an ecosystem is a natural system made up of plants, animals and the environment. it includes all the biotic (living) parts and the abiotic ( non-living) parts in an area.

Question 2

what is a producer?

Answer 2

a producer converts energy from the sunlight to produce food

eg: pond weed

Question 3

what is a consumer?

Answer 3

a consumer gets its energy from eating either the producer or other consumers
eg: ladybird, greenfly

Question 4

what is a decomposer?

Answer 4

a composer is when a dead animal or plant materials are decomposed, nutrients are released into the soil
eg: bacterial, fungi

Question 5

what is a food chain?

Answer 5

a food chain shows what eats what in an ecosystem.

Question 6

what is a food web?

Answer 6

a food web is a more complex picture of the food chain and it shows how they overlap

Question 7

`what is a nutrient cycle?

Answer 7

this is when nutrients are transferred throughout the ecosystem.

Question 8

how is the nutrient cycle placed?

Answer 8

• dead animals material decomposes–>
• puts nutrients into the soil–>
• plants take the nutrients from the soil–>
• consumer eats plants–>
• consumer dies and nutrients is returned to the soil :-)

Question 9

will changing a balanced ecosystem change anything?

Answer 9

YES- changing one part will affect all other parts. These changes could be natural,

eg: climate change causes warmer temperatures, ponds and lakes dry up and all plants and animal species may die, or human,
eg: fertilisers wash into the river causing the algae to grow, deplete the oxygen and fish die.

Question 10

what is a biome?

Answer 10

it is a large scale global ecosystem.

Question 11

where are biomes found?

Answer 11

they are found in broad belts from the East to West, parallel to the lines of latitude. the vegetation and climate vary due to a
A} atmospheric circulation ( rainfall)
B} how close to the equator they are ( temperature)