September 2024 Kids’ Corner
from the Gale River Cooperative Preschool
Investigating Ecosystems!
In this Kids Corner you’ll:
Learn three scientific terms: Ecosystem, Biotic, Abiotic
Practice identifying and sketching the parts of an ecosystem
What would you say if someone asked you to describe the natural environment where you live? Stop and think about or discuss your answer before reading any further!
What came to mind? Did you describe the types of plants in your area; the smell of the fir and spruce trees in the forest, or the maple trees that change color in the fall? What about your favorite local animals; moose, bears, squirrels, woodpeckers, or butterflies?
Maybe you thought of the landscape instead of the plants and animals. Was your first thought of the granite mountains, or your favorite lake or river?
Or, maybe instead of plants, animals, or the landscape, you thought about how it feels to live here; the snow in the winter, the wind on the mountaintops, or the muddy wet spring.
Whether you described living creatures, the natural landscape, or the climate, you were describing part of the ecosystem!
An ecosystem is the combination of living things, non-living things, and the conditions in an area. The scientific term for living things (plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms) is biotic. The scientific term for non-living things (rocks and minerals, water, the climate, etc.) is abiotic. The biotic and abiotic components of an ecosystem combine to form a distinct community, different from its surroundings. For example, if you’re walking in a forest and suddenly the forest changes to a bog, you can tell you’re in a different ecosystem because the plants, animals, and conditions have changed.
You can think of an ecosystem as a neighborhood where creatures live. Neighborhoods can be huge like a forest, medium sized like a lake or pond, or tiny like a single rotting log or small pool of water. Just like your neighborhood, ecosystems aren’t complete without both living and nonliving things.
Stewardship Tidbit
Small ecosystems fit into larger ones (like a rotten log or a vernal pool in the forest, or a tide pool along the shoreline). Even though we can think of them as their own neighborhoods, ultimately, all ecosystems on Earth are connected to and affected by one another!
Your Turn!
You’ll need:
Paper
Pencil
Magnifying glass (optional)
With your grown up, go outside and find the smallest ecosystem you can. Take a magnifying glass if you have one so you can observe even tiny creatures.
Make a labeled diagram of your ecosystem including the biotic and abiotic parts. Finish by writing some notes about the conditions in your ecosystem (is it humid, sunny, wet, windy, etc.).
Example:
Indoor Option
If you can’t go outside to investigate ecosystems, use your imagination! Make up your own ecosystem complete with biotic and abiotic parts. You can even use mystical creatures like unicorns and fairies or creatures from your imagination. Draw a labeled diagram of your ecosystem. Don’t forget to think about things like temperature, wind, rain, etc!
Example:
S t r e t c h your knowledge!
The prefix “bio” comes from Greek and means “life”. Biology is the study of living things. Biotic means living. Biodegradable means that something can be broken down by living things. A biography is the story of someone’s life. What other “bio” words can you think of?
Sources
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ecosystem/
All images from wikimedia commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Thanks to our partner, the Gale River Cooperative Preschool in Bethlehem, for helping our area parents get kiddos outside for fun no matter the time of year.
