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Habitats Grade 4, Unit 6

Module A

Living Things and Life Processes

Living Things in Ecosystems

Habitats
In Grade 4, Unit 6, you were introduced to the idea of a habitat. A habitat is the place where an organism lives. The picture shows one habitat and two organisms in it.

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Name this habitat. A pond habitat. E.g. Frog (animal), water Name the two organisms in this habitat. (plant). lily examples, refer to What other organisms live in this habitat? For pond ecosystem on the
page 5.

1. There are many large habitats in the world. Name some of them. 2. There are many small habitats in your school area. Can you name some of them?
1. E.g. Desert, (African) grassland, tropical forests, ocean, polar regions. 2. E.g. A tree trunk, a log, a bush, a leaf, the soil, a pond, a wall, a flower bed.

A habitat provides organisms with everything they need to survive. Give examples of what the two organisms in the picture Animal: Food, air, water, warmth. Plant: Air, water, light. Refer need to survive. back to Grade 3, Unit 1. List some things that habitats provide organisms with. In this unit, you will learn more about habitats and the organisms that live in them. Lets begin!
E.g. Food, shelter, protection from enemies, a safe place to reproduce and look after young.

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Populations and communities

An organism is a living thing. Many kinds of organisms can live in the same habitat. For example, in a pond habitat, you may find the following organisms:

Duckweed

Cattail

Water snail

Frog

Population
Organisms do not usually live alone. They usually live with other organisms of the same kind. Organisms of the same kind that live together in a habitat are called a population. For example, here are three populations in a pond habitat.

Duckweeds Pond population

Water snails
Duckweeds = 4, snails = 3, frogs = 3.

Frogs

What is the size of each population in the pictures? The size of a population is always changing. For example, it increases when organisms reproduce. It decreases when the organisms are eaten by other organisms.
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Community
Plants and animals of different kinds share a habitat. The different plant and animal populations living together in a habitat form a community. That is:

Community = Population 1 + Population 2 + Population 3 + .

For example, a pond community is made up of duckweeds, water snails, frogs and other populations. cattail dragonfly

duckweed snails How many populations of organisms can you see in the picture? Four

From habitats to ecosystems

A habitat is the place where organisms live. The habitat together with the community forms an ecosystem. That is:

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Go to your school garden or pond.How many kinds of plants and animals can you see? These make up the community.

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Activity 1

Ecosystem = Habitat + Community

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The picture shows a pond ecosystem. It is made up of the habitat (the place) and the community (all the different kinds of organisms in the habitat).

cattail

dragonfly

ducks

frog duckweed water lily

elodea guppies

terrapin

Look at the picture of a pond ecosystem. How many kinds of organisms does it have? Nine

Different ecosystems
There are many ecosystems in the world. Each ecosystem has a habitat and a community of organisms. Some ecosystems are large, such as deserts, grasslands, tropical rainforests and oceans. Others are small, such as a garden, a tree trunk and a pond. Smaller ecosystems can be part of larger ones, for example, a pond or a river in a tropical rainforest.

Eco means house. A system has parts that work together.

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Here are three examples of ecosystems.

A seashore ecosystem
There are many kinds of seashore habitats. An example is a rocky seashore. Many living things are found on a rocky seashore. The pictures shows some examples.

Hermit Crab Seagull

Barnacles

Starfish

Seaweed

Limpet Worm
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Tropical rain forest ecosystem

The tropical rain forest is home to a great variety of organisms. In a tropical rain forest, you will find trees, grasses, ferns and fungi. Ants and cicadas may built nests on tree trunks. Birds and monkeys may perch and rest on trees.

Birds nest fern Monkey Lizard (Gecko)

Flying lizard Spider

Pit Viper

Tree Frog

Stick insect

Sun bear

Fungi

Pitcher plant Ground ochid

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Garden ecosystem
Most garden are man-made ecosystems. People plant trees, ferns and flowering plants. Animals move into the garden from other places. In a garden, you will find many insects such as ants, beetles, bees and butterflies.

Bird

Spider

Hibiscus Bee

Butterfly

Snail

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Fun Science
1. The name tropical rainforest consists of the words tropical, rain and forest. Explain why. 2. Name some smaller ecosystems that can be part of a large seashore ecosystem.
Some ecosystems are made by people. These are not natural ecosystems. They are artificial ecosystems. Examples are aquariums, zoos and gardens. Most artificial ecosystems also provide all the things needed for the organisms to survive.

An aquarium

1. Tropical found in the tropics (hot, humid regions near the equator); rain heavy rainfall; forest a large area of trees. 2. E.g. Pool of sea water, sandy beach, rocky beach, cliffs, seashore stream, muddy shore.

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Activity 2

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Conditions of ecosystems
There are many kinds of ecosystems on Earth. Each ecosystem has different kinds of organisms. This is because the conditions of each ecosystem are different. For example, tropical rainforests are hot and wet whereas deserts are hot but dry. Organisms are affected by the conditions of an ecosystem. Only organisms that are adapted for the characteristics of an ecosystem can survive there. What conditions (or factors) affect the survival of an organism in an ecosystem? The factors include: light temperature water air
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Adaptations in organisms Grade 5, Unit 4 Characteristics of environments Grade 4, Unit 6

food soil other organisms

Which of these are living factors? Light, temperature, water, air and soil. Which of these are non-living factors?
Food, other organisms.

In Grade 4, Unit 6, you learnt about light, temperature, water and other organisms. And in Grade 5, Unit 4 you learnt about adaptations of organisms.

Light
In a tropical rain forest, trees block sunlight from reaching the ground. Plants, such as ferns, that live on the ground have large leaves to catch as much sunlight as possible. Gardens have many flowering plants. These plants need a lot of sunlight to make food during photosynthesis. The sunlight also allows bees and other insects to find flowers. A bee on a mimosa plant.
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This fern has large leaves.

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1. Sunflowers need a lot of light to grow. It is dark on the forest floor. 2. Nectar (sweet liquid). 3. To get enough sunlight, vines climb up walls, fences or other plants. 4. E.g. Earthworms. The water lily lives For adaptations, refer to Grade 5, Unit 4. enough sunlight to

1. Why do sunflowers not grow on the ground of a forest? 2. What do bees get from flowers? 3. Vines grow in forests. What do vines do to get sunlight? 4. Name one kind of animal that does not need light to survive.

in ponds. To get survive, the water lily has large leaves that float on the water.

Temperature
Tropical rain forests are very warm. Many plants are found there as plants grow well in warm conditions. Reptiles, such as crocodiles, lizards and snakes live in tropical rain forests where it is warm. Reptiles need heat from the Sun to get the energy they need to be active. They cannot survive in cold places. In rocky seashore ecosystems, The tide is the the Sun can dry up organisms at rise and fall of low tide. To prevent from drying up, the sea. organisms live under stones, in cracks between rocks and on the shaded sides of rocks.

Crocodiles keeping warm.

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1. How are penguins, polar bears and whales adapted to live in places where temperatures are cold? 2. List other ways you have learnt of how animals and plants are adapted to live in hot and cold places.
1. All three animals have a layer of insulating fat. Penguins also have feathers and polar bears have hair to keep them warm. 2. Refer to Grade 5, Unit 4 for examples.

Seaweed in rocks.

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Water
All living things need water to survive. Habitats that get a lot of rain usually, such as tropical rain forests, contain a great diversity of life. In dry places, such as deserts, there is less life. Only organisms that need little water to survive are found there. In tropical rain forests, many living things live close to streams and rivers. For example, frogs lay eggs in the water. The tadpoles that hatch, grow and feed in the water. Other living things also live near in water habitats. Fish live in water. To breathe in water, they have gills. To move, they have fins and a tail.

Fewer living things live in a desert.

Frogs live close to water.

Seagulls have webbed feet to help them move in water and walk on wet sand without sinking into the sand. Webbed feet On a rocky seashore, waves can wash away animals. T However, they are adapted to survive these conditions. Crabs have strong claws to hold onto rocks. Limpets have suckers which hold tightly to rocks. Starfish have a flat shape that allows water to flow over them easily.
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1. Camels live in hot, dry places. How are they able to go for many days without water? 2. Cactus plants also live in hot, dry places. List three adaptations they have to conserve water. 3. Name other ways animals are adapted for breathing and moving in water.
These questions revise work learnt in Grade 5, Unit 4. Refer back to this unit in Grade 5.

Limpet

Crab

Starfish

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Air
All living things, whether they live on land or in water, need air to survive. Animals need oxygen to breathe. Plants need carbon dioxide to make food. In a pond, rocky seashore or other water habitats, most plants and animals get the oxygen and carbon dioxide they need from air dissolved in water.

Guppies can survive in water that has little dissolved air. How?

The guppy comes to the surface to take in air. In this situation, its gills are able to serve as lungs.

Food
All living things need food. Most plants make food by photosynthesis. Animals get food by eating plants or other animals. For example, in a tropical rain forest, chimpanzees get food by eating fruits, leaves and seeds from trees. In a rocky seashore, crabs eat shrimps. And animals can only survive in a garden if there is food.

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Adaptation of predators & prey Grade 4, Unit 5

A chimpanzee eating fruit.

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A crab eating a shrimp.

In these pictures, name animals that are predators and animals that are prey.
Predators: crabs, garden spider. Prey: limpets, bees.

A garden spider eating a bee.

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Soil
Soil is important for plant growth. Plants get water and minerals from the soil. The soil in gardens is usually loam. Loam contains a lot of humus and minerals and is good for growing plants.
Humus is material in the soil that has decomposed. Humus gives soil its brown colour that you see!

A garden plant growing in loam.

This Venus flytrap can survive in poor soil.

Soil in tropical rain forests is often poor with few minerals for plants. Pitcher plants and Venus flytraps get the substances they need by catching and digesting small insects.

Other organisms
As you have learnt earlier, organisms in an ecosystem depend on each other to survive. For example, in a tropical rain forest, a stick insect uses camouflage to protect itself from other organisms that want to eat it. In a garden, trees provide a place for birds to reproduce and look after their young. Without the trees, the birds could not live there. The nest of a bird in a garden.

This leaf insect is difficult for predators to see it. Can you spot it?
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1. Plants and animals in water habitats 1. By photosynthesis, depend on each other plants produce oxygen which animals for oxygen and carbon use for breathing. dioxide. Explain how The carbon dioxide this takes place. the animals produce 2. From your earlier work, when breathing is used by plants for give some examples of photosynthesis. how organisms depend 2. Refer to Grade 4, on other organisms. Unit 6. WB

Activity 3
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Studying an ecosystem

The best way to study an ecosystem is to visit and observe it. Here are three questions to ask when you study an ecosystem. What are the physical conditions? For example, is it hot, cold, wet, dry, sunny or shady? What plants and animals live there and in which part of the ecosystem do they live? How are the organisms adapted to live in that ecosystem?

A pond ecosystem

Try not to disturb the ecosystem when you study it. Do not harm the organisms.

You can now carry out the activity in your workbook to observe a pond ecosystem.
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Activity 4

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My Conc
1. 2. 3. 4.

lusions

An organism is a living thing. Organisms live in habitats. A population is a group of organisms of the same kind living together in a habitat. A community consists of different populations of living together in a habitat. The habitat together with the community forms an ecosystem. Some ecosystems are large, such as an ocean, a desert and a tropical rain forest. Others are small, such as a garden and a pond. Each ecosystem has conditions (or factors) that affect the survival of an organism living in it. The conditions (factors) include other organisms and non-living factors such as light, temperature, water, air, food and soil. The best way to study an ecosystem is to visit and observe it.
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5. 6. 7.

Activity 5

Stretch yourself

1.

Investigating a rain forest reserve (a) Organise a class visit to a rain forest reserve in your area. (b) Observe plants and animals there. Identify as many as you can.

2.

The worlds ecosystems (a) Use the Internet to find out about one large ecosystem in the world.

(b) Make notes about what you find out. (c) Carry out one of these two activities: (i) Prepare a poster on this ecosystem. Include pictures of the habitat and some of the organisms. (ii) Give a brief talk to your class on this ecosystem.
Encourage pupils to search for information on the Internet. Here is one possible website: http://www.worldbiomes.com/biomes_map.htm

New words
population conditions community ecosystem tropical tide to depend
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