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Ecosystem

An ecosystem includes all the living creatures or biotic elements (plants, animals and organisms) in a certain area interacting with each other and with other non-living elements or abiotic elements (minerals, sunlight, soil, water, etc.). Watch the video on the right to see it perfectly explained. All the biotic elements make up the biocenosis and the abiotic elements make up the biotope. There are two types of ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems and aquatic ecosystems.		Biocenosis Biotic Abiotic Biotope	Abiotic factors. Superfast learning. YouTube. (YouTube Standard licence)
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS It is an ecosystem occurring on land. There are four main types of terrestrial ecosystems:		AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS It is an ecosystem that deals with water based environments where plants and animals interact with the chemical and physical features of water.
Forests: They are types of ecosystems consisting mainly of trees. Depending on the average temperature around they may be taigas (consisting of pines and spruces), mixed temperate forests (with coniferous and deciduous trees), equatorial rainforests (containing half of all the living animals and plants of the planet and numerous medicinal and flowering plants)	Forest, Ribeira, Coruña. Yolanda Varela. (CC-BY-NC-SA)	Ocean: They include everything in the oceans like plankton, bacteria, large living organisms and saltwater bays, salt marshes, inlets, shorelines, etc. There are five oceans in our planet: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Arctic and Antarctic. Some species we can find in oceans are sharks, whales, seabirds, plankton, corals and other ocean plants.	Antarctic ocean. Daniel Enchev. Flickr. (CC BY-NC)	Ocean Estuary Tidal marshes Coastal ecosystems
Forest Equatorial rainforest Grassland	Grasslands:They are flat places with not enough rain to support a forest. They happen in warm places and many animals can be found and sand dunes or rocky flat surfaces are common.	Miño river estuary. Yolanda Varela (CC-BY-NC-SA)	Estuary: It is a place where seas and rivers meet, for example, river mouths, coastal bays, tidal marshes.	Coastal ecosystem. Yolanda Varela (CC-BY-NC)
Deserts: There may be two types of deserts, cold deserts, such as Antarctica, or hot subtropical deserts.They are ecosystems with very little rain and plants and animals that have adapted to live in harsh conditions.	Arizona desert. Over Doz. Flickr (CC-BY-NC)	Coastal ecosystem:They are areas where land and water join. They may include barrier islands, lacustrine areas, headlands, dunes, etc. A variety of animals and plants live here.	Verdugo river, Ponte Caldelas, an example of lotic ecosystem. Yolanda Varela (CC BY-NC-SA)	Lotic ecosystem: They are rapid flowing waters such as rivers and streams.
Tundra, Alaska. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wikipedia. (Public Domain)	Mountains: They occur at high altitudes. They usually have limited vegetation, some birds and animals. The temperatures are low and the landscape is rocky.	Lentic ecosystem: They are still water ecosystems, for example, lakes, and ponds. We can find algae, amphibians, reptiles, floating plants, etc.	Enol lake. Horrapics. Flickr (CC- BY)	Swamps and wetlands: They are areas with mineral soils, poor drainage and a great number of trees.
Tundra: They are regions mainly in Alaska, Canada, Europe, Greenland and Russia which are frozen mos of the time. Plants with short roots like dwarf shrubs, lichen, moss, etc., small animals like lemmings or foxes and some mammals like musk oxen, caribous and bears and migratory birds live here.	Desert Mountain Tundra		Lotic ecosystem Lentic ecosystem Swamps and wetlands Lacustrine areas	Swamps at State Park, Virginia. Virginia State Park. Flickr. (CC BY)

Activity 1

1. Choose the right option to make correct words.
ECOSY Cloze (1): JXUwMDBiJXUwMDA3JXUwMDExJXUwMDA4	Cloze (2): JXUwMDE3 CEAN	CONI Cloze (3):	PLAN Cloze (4): JXUwMDEzJXUwMDFmJXUwMDFiJXUwMDAx	MARS Cloze (5): JXUwMDEwJXUwMDBkJXUwMDE2
WETL Cloze (6): JXUwMDE5JXUwMDBmJXUwMDBhJXUwMDE3	Cloze (7): JXUwMDE1JXUwMDAyJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFi TAINS	TUN Cloze (8): JXUwMDFjJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEz	TA Cloze (9): JXUwMDExJXUwMDBlJXUwMDA2	EST Cloze (10): JXUwMDBkJXUwMDE0JXUwMDEzJXUwMDBi
IND Cloze (11): JXUwMDExJXUwMDA4JXUwMDBm OCEAN	ANTAR Cloze (12): JXUwMDFiJXUwMDE3JXUwMDFkJXUwMDBh	SHR Cloze (13): JXUwMDBkJXUwMDE3	LIC Cloze (14): JXUwMDEwJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBi	CAR Cloze (15): JXUwMDExJXUwMDBiJXUwMDBkJXUwMDFh

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Activity 2

2. Listen and mark with an X the word that corresponds to the sound.
	Cloze (1): JXUwMDE3	a. Ecosystem	Cloze (2): JXUwMDAw	b. Estuary	Cloze (3): JXUwMDE3	c. Desert
	Cloze (4): JXUwMDAw	a. Tundra	Cloze (5): JXUwMDE3	b. Grassland	Cloze (6): JXUwMDE3	c. Swamp
	Cloze (7): JXUwMDE3	a. Abiotic	Cloze (8): JXUwMDAw	b. Biotic	Cloze (9): JXUwMDE3	c. Drainage
	Cloze (10): JXUwMDAw	a. Lotic ecosystem	Cloze (11): JXUwMDE3	b. Lentic ecosystem	Cloze (12): JXUwMDE3	c. Tidal marshes
	Cloze (13): JXUwMDE3	a. Dunes	Cloze (14): JXUwMDE3	b. Barrier islands	Cloze (15): JXUwMDAw	c. Coastal ecosystem
	Cloze (16): JXUwMDE3	a. Taiga	Cloze (17): JXUwMDIw	b. Equatorial rainforest	Cloze (18): JXUwMDY4	c. Deciduous trees

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Activity 3

3. Choose the word that corresponds to the definition.
They are still water ecosystems, for example, lakes, and ponds. We can find algae, amphibians, reptiles, floating plants, etc.	They are flat places with not enough rain to support a forest. They happen in warm places and many animals can be fount and sand dunes or rocky flat surfaces are common.	They are rapid flowing waters such as rivers and streams.	It is a place where seas and rivers meet, for example, river mouths, coastal bays, tidal marshes.
Cloze (1):	Cloze (2):	Cloze (3):	Cloze (4):
They are regions mainly in Alaska, Canada, Europe, Greenland and Russia which are frozen mos of the time. Plants with short roots like dwarf shrubs, lichen, moss, etc., small animals like lemmings or foxes and some mammals like musk oxen, caribous and bears and migratory birds live here.	They are areas where land and water join. They may include barrier islands, lacustrine areas, headlands, dunes, etc. A variety of animals and plants live here.	They are areas with mineral soils, poor drainage and a great number of trees.	They are types of ecosystems consisting mainly of trees. Depending on the average temperature around they may be taigas (consisting of pines and spruce), mixed temperate forests (with coniferous and deciduous trees), equatorial rainforests (containing half of all the living animals and plants of the planet and numerous medicine and flowering plants)
Cloze (5):	Cloze (6):	Cloze (7):	Cloze (8):

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Extra activity

General characteristics of a large marine ecosystem (Gulf of Alaska). National Oceanic and Atmospheric administration. Wikipedia. (Public Domain)

1- Have a look at this image of Alaska coastal ecosystem. There are biotic, abiotic elements but also the presence of human activities.

Can you draw an image like this portraying the area where you live? Include all the elements that have some influence on the ecosystem.

Ecosystems, threats and solutions

Living project, youth edition. World Wildlife Fund. (CC-BY-NC)

Read the text and answer the questions

1. What is biodiversity? Write the answer in your notebook.

9. In groups of three, each student reads one of the small changes that the text suggests. Then try to remember them and tell the rest of the group till each can complete the list.

2. What is the Living Planet report? Write the answer in your notebook.

3. What does nature give us?

Cloze (1):

Air

Cloze (2):

Food

Cloze (3):

TV series

Cloze (4):

Drinking water

4. According to the text, the fall in the number of birds, fish, mammals, amphibians and reptiles affects the following ecosystems... Mark them with an X.

Cloze (5):

Deserts

Cloze (6):

Rivers

Cloze (7):

Lakes

Cloze (8):

Wetlands

5. Complete the actions we can take to get a global change that protects ecosystems.

Cloze (9): action

Cloze (10): action

Cloze (11): on decision makers

World Cloze (12): listen

Big Cloze (13): listen

6. Why has the Amazon rainforest lost 20% of its surface? Mark with an X the correct answers.

Cloze (14):

To raise livestock

Cloze (15):

To get wood

Cloze (16):

To clear land for roads and houses

Cloze (17):

To turn rainforests into safe places to visit

7. The two most important problems in ocean ecosystems are... (Mark the right answer with an X)

Cloze (18):

Overfishing and plastic pollution

Cloze (19):

Tsunamis and waves

Cloze (20):

Big fish and cold water

Cloze (21):

Sharks and coral reefs

8. Write a list in your notebook including all the problems that ecosystems have to face.

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Project

What's in a drop? Yolanda Varela (CC-BY-NC-SA)

PROJECT 1

Click on the image on the left and, in pairs, follow the instructions to check how biodiversity compares in water taken from different places.

Don't forget to keep a diary of all steps taken so that you can tell other students what you have done

PROJECT 2

There are different types of ecosystems in Galicia, from deciduous forests like Fragas do Eume, high mountain areas like Trevinca or Ancares, shrub areas like O Suido mountain range to coastal ecosystems such as cliffs, for example, the cliffs of Loiba in Ortigueira, or beaches and dunes, Corrubedo, Cies Islands etc. Make posters with each of the ecosystem and organize an exhibition for the rest of the school.

Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike License 4.0

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Speaking of Science foi realizado por Yolanda Varela Guzmán durante unha licenza por formación no curso 2018-2019.