NATURAL SCIENCE. 5th LEVEL.

UNIT 3: ECOSYSTEMS.
1. Whats an ecosystem?
An ecosystem includes all of the living and non-living
things in a particular place. An ecosystem also
includes the relationships that exist between those
things. Different places have different ecosystems. A
habitat is the place where a particular living thing
lives.
An ecosystem is made up of two parts: the biotope
and the biocoenosis.
The biotope, or physical environment, includes all of the non-living things in an
ecosystem, such as geographical relief, soil, light and temperature.
The biocoenosis includes all the living things in an ecosystem, such as plants,
animals and other organisms.
There can be many different organisms in an
ecosystem. A populationis a group of organisms
that live together and belong to the same species. A
community is a collection of different populations
that live together in one place.

2. What are trophic relationships?

The relationships between the organisms that eat and the organisms that are
eaten are called trophic relationships:
1. Plants are producers: they make their own food.
2. Hervibores are primary consumers: they feed on plants.
3. Some carnivores are secondary consumers: they feed on hervibores.
4. Other carnivores are tertiary consumers: they feed on secondary consumers.
5. Decomposers: they break down the remains of dead organisms.

A food chain shows the trophic relationships between different organisms.

3. Cmo clasificamos los ecosistemas?
Hay muchos tipos de ecosistemas. Para clasificarlos, nos tenemos que fijar en
su medio fsico. Ejemplos de ecosistemas son:

La charca (Pond).
El bosque (Woodland) (lo estudiaremos ms en profundidad como
trabajo de investigacin).
La costa (Coast).
La pradera (Prairie).
Las ciudades (City ecosystems).

4. Whats the biosphere?

The biosphere (biosfera) is all of the
ecosystems on Earth. It includes the
oceans, the land, the atmosphere and all
the living thing on the planet.
HABITAT (habitat): the place where a population lives is called its habitat.
BIOME (bioma): An ecosystem that has several types of
habitat is called a biome.
BIOSPHERE: The biosphere is the biggest known biome. It
includes all of the habitats on Earth.
5. Por qu cambian los ecosistemas?
Con el tiempo, los ecosistemas van cambiando. A veces, estos cambios son
naturales, pero en otras ocasiones son causados por la actividad humana.
Cules son las causas de los cambios naturales?
Los cambios naturales en un ecosistema estn causados por variaciones en
las condiciones medioambientales, como cambios estacionales o el desarrollo
natural de las comunidades ecolgicas.
Cules son las consecuencias de la actividad humana?
La polucin, la sobrepesca, los incendios forestales o la deforestacin
son algunas de las consecuencias que la actividad humana
tiene sobre los hbitats y ecosistemas, llegando incluso a
su destruccin total. Esta destruccin puede, incluso,
provocar la extincin de muchas especies.