Ecosystem Mini-Lessons!
Food Webs
Start by watching the video to the right. Energy flows from the sun to producers, then to consumers, and finally to decomposers. Only about 10% of the energy passes on to the next level. Food webs demonstrate balance, and removing one species causes ripple effects. Look at the diagram below of an energy pyramid. Ask yourself: “If zebras disappear, what happens to lions and grass?” Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete "Food Chains" Gizmos!
Economic Benefits
Think about this question: “What everyday products or jobs depend on living things?” Agriculture, fisheries, timber, and even medicines all come from biodiversity. In fact, over 50% of prescription medicines come from nature! Healthy ecosystems also support industries like ecotourism and farming, which provide income for communities. When biodiversity is lost, these resources and jobs are also lost.
Ecosystem Services
Think about this question: “How do forests provide for humans every single day?” Ecosystem services can be grouped into four categories. Provisioning services provide food, water, and materials. Regulating services include air purification, climate regulation, and flood control. Supporting services include soil formation and pollination. Cultural services involve recreation and spiritual value.
Endangered Species and Extinction
An endangered species is a species at risk of extinction, meaning it could disappear from Earth in the near future. Extinction is the permanent loss of a species. A species may become endangered when survival factors such as food, space, clean water, or mates decrease. The biggest cause of extinction today is habitat loss, often from human activity like deforestation, pollution, or climate change. Other risks include overhunting, invasive species, and disease. Use the link below to explore the IUCN Red List. You can click "Red List Category" to filter by extinct or endangered species. Are there any species on the list that surprise you?
Human Impacts
Unlike natural causes, humans often disrupt ecosystems in ways that are larger and longer-lasting. Examples include deforestation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, and urban development. These impacts can reduce biodiversity, fragment habitats, and make it harder for populations to survive. For example, cutting down forests for farmland can destroy habitats for many species, while pollution can poison soil and water. Example: In coral reef ecosystems, human-caused warming of the oceans has led to coral bleaching. Without healthy coral, fish lose their homes, food sources decrease, and entire reef communities collapse.
Ecological Benefits
Look at a food web with many connections between plants, herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers. Ask yourself: “What would happen if one of these species disappeared—would the whole web collapse?” Biodiversity keeps ecosystems stable by ensuring no single species dominates. When there are many species, ecosystems are more resilient and recover faster from disruptions such as fires, storms, or disease outbreaks. For example, rainforests and coral reefs thrive because of their high biodiversity.
Which food web below would lead to more stability in an ecosystem? Click the star to check your answer!
What is an Ecosystem?
To begin, watch the video about ecosystems. As you watch, ask yourself: “What makes this a system instead of just a group of living things?” An ecosystem includes living (biotic) factors such as plants, animals, and decomposers, as well as nonliving (abiotic) factors such as sunlight, soil, water, and temperature. All of these parts interact and depend on each other. Your task is to sort the pictures below into the “biotic” or “abiotic” categories. Check your answers by clicking the star icon! Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete one or both of the "Coral Reefs- Abiotic or Biotic" Gizmos!
Biotic
Abiotic
Healthy Ecosystems
A healthy ecosystem shows balance between producers, consumers, and decomposers. Signs of health include biodiversity, clean water, fertile soil, stable populations, and natural cycles continuing. Ecosystems can become unhealthy when something disrupts that balance, such as pollution, invasive species, habitat destruction, overhunting, or climate change. Take a look at the graph and answer the question.
Matter Cycles
Think about this question: “How is the water in your bottle today connected to the water dinosaurs drank millions of years ago?” Watch the video to learn about the carbon, water, oxygen, and nitrogen cycle! Matter cycles through systems in repeating patterns. In the water cycle, water evaporates, condenses, and precipitates before collecting again. In the carbon cycle, plants take in carbon dioxide, animals consume plants, and carbon returns to the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition. In the nitrogen cycle, soil bacteria make nitrogen usable for plants, which animals then rely on.
Follow Steps to ECOSYSTEMS HANDBOOK
Step 5: Start the Gizmos by clicking "Click When Ready"Step 6: Change from "Case" to "Handbook" in the top-right corner! Step 7: Go through the information as needed! "Next" will come up to add info to that screen. The arrow at the bottom will glow once all parts of the section are complete.
Step 1: Open CleverStep 2: Log in with edio Step 3: Open the Explore Learning App Step 4: Find our Science class and open "Ecosystems-Middle School" Gizmos
Invasive Species
Watch the video and look at an example of the spotted lanternfly, which spread rapidly across the East Coast. The introduction of foreign species into a habitat is one of the primary causes of ecosystem disruption. These newly introduced species may also be referred to as invasive. Organisms that are not native to a region are invasive species.
Conservation Efforts
Ecosystems can be protected and restored using many different conservation solutions. Each solution has both benefits and costs, and it’s important to think about both sides. Conservation Solutions:
- Habitat Restoration: Replanting native plants, cleaning rivers, or restoring wetlands to bring ecosystems back to health.
- Benefit: Improves biodiversity, provides homes for wildlife.
- Cost: Expensive, requires time and community involvement.
- Wildlife Corridors: Building green bridges or tunnels that allow animals to safely cross roads and move between habitats.
- Benefit: Prevents animal deaths, supports genetic diversity.
- Cost: Can be costly to build and maintain.
- Laws and Regulations: Protecting species with hunting bans, fishing limits, or pollution controls.
- Benefit: Provides long-term protections and enforces responsibility.
- Cost: Hard to enforce everywhere, may conflict with industries that rely on natural resources.
- Community Conservation: Local people create reserves, protect species, or run ecotourism projects.
- Benefit: Empowers communities, provides jobs, protects ecosystems.
- Cost: Requires education, funding, and cooperation.
Population Changes
Clark’s Nutcracker is a bird that lives in western North America and has a unique relationship with the whitebark pine tree. The bird collects pine seeds and buries them in the soil as a food supply. Many of these buried seeds are never eaten, so they sprout into new trees. Without Clark’s Nutcracker, far fewer whitebark pines would grow, because wind and other animals don’t spread the seeds as effectively. If the nutcracker disappeared, the pine forests would shrink, reducing food and habitat for animals such as grizzly bears, squirrels, and birds that depend on pine seeds. This example shows how losing even one species can disrupt seed dispersal, forest growth, and the larger ecosystem.
Imagine your ecosystem without one important animal—what would happen if it suddenly became extinct? In an ecosystem, populations are interconnected through food webs, competition, and shared resources. If a predator disappears, prey populations may grow too large, leading to overgrazing or depletion of plants. If a prey species disappears, predators may struggle to survive. These ripple effects can destabilize the entire ecosystem. Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete "Forest Ecosystem" or "Prairie Ecosystem" Gizmos!
Keystone Species
Watch a clip of wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and ask: “How did adding wolves change the ecosystem?” Keystone species are species that are especially important to ecosystem balance. Some examples of keystone species are wolves, beavers, bees, and sea otters.
Technological Benefits
Did you know Velcro was invented after scientists studied how burrs stuck to dog fur? This is an example of biomimicry, where humans design technology modeled after nature. Other examples include bullet trains designed after the beak of a kingfisher, or medicines discovered in rainforest plants. The more biodiversity we protect, the more “blueprints” we have for new inventions.
Overpopulation
When one population grows too large, it can throw off the balance of the entire ecosystem. For example, if deer populations grow beyond their carrying capacity, they may overgraze plants, leaving less food for other animals and damaging the forest. Overpopulation can happen when predators are removed, food resources temporarily increase, or when invasive species spread unchecked. This creates stress for other populations and can reduce biodiversity. Example: In Pennsylvania, white-tailed deer populations became very high after wolves and mountain lions were eliminated. With fewer natural predators, deer overgrazed plants and young trees, reducing forest regeneration and harming other species that rely on healthy forests. Watch both videos then answer the question to the right.
Natural Causes
Ecosystems are always changing, and many of those changes happen naturally. Events such as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and volcanic eruptions can quickly change the balance of populations. For example, a fire may destroy large areas of forest, reducing shelter for animals but also creating opportunities for new plants to grow. These natural disturbances are part of ecosystem cycles, but they can stress populations if they happen too often. Example: In Yellowstone National Park, wildfires sometimes burn through large sections of forest. While the fires kill some plants and animals, they also help certain trees, like lodgepole pines, release seeds and grow new forests.
Ecosystem Project
Brooke Lapinski
Created on October 9, 2025
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Transcript
Ecosystem Mini-Lessons!
Food Webs
Start by watching the video to the right. Energy flows from the sun to producers, then to consumers, and finally to decomposers. Only about 10% of the energy passes on to the next level. Food webs demonstrate balance, and removing one species causes ripple effects. Look at the diagram below of an energy pyramid. Ask yourself: “If zebras disappear, what happens to lions and grass?” Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete "Food Chains" Gizmos!
Economic Benefits
Think about this question: “What everyday products or jobs depend on living things?” Agriculture, fisheries, timber, and even medicines all come from biodiversity. In fact, over 50% of prescription medicines come from nature! Healthy ecosystems also support industries like ecotourism and farming, which provide income for communities. When biodiversity is lost, these resources and jobs are also lost.
Ecosystem Services
Think about this question: “How do forests provide for humans every single day?” Ecosystem services can be grouped into four categories. Provisioning services provide food, water, and materials. Regulating services include air purification, climate regulation, and flood control. Supporting services include soil formation and pollination. Cultural services involve recreation and spiritual value.
Endangered Species and Extinction
An endangered species is a species at risk of extinction, meaning it could disappear from Earth in the near future. Extinction is the permanent loss of a species. A species may become endangered when survival factors such as food, space, clean water, or mates decrease. The biggest cause of extinction today is habitat loss, often from human activity like deforestation, pollution, or climate change. Other risks include overhunting, invasive species, and disease. Use the link below to explore the IUCN Red List. You can click "Red List Category" to filter by extinct or endangered species. Are there any species on the list that surprise you?
Human Impacts
Unlike natural causes, humans often disrupt ecosystems in ways that are larger and longer-lasting. Examples include deforestation, pollution, climate change, overfishing, and urban development. These impacts can reduce biodiversity, fragment habitats, and make it harder for populations to survive. For example, cutting down forests for farmland can destroy habitats for many species, while pollution can poison soil and water. Example: In coral reef ecosystems, human-caused warming of the oceans has led to coral bleaching. Without healthy coral, fish lose their homes, food sources decrease, and entire reef communities collapse.
Ecological Benefits
Look at a food web with many connections between plants, herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers. Ask yourself: “What would happen if one of these species disappeared—would the whole web collapse?” Biodiversity keeps ecosystems stable by ensuring no single species dominates. When there are many species, ecosystems are more resilient and recover faster from disruptions such as fires, storms, or disease outbreaks. For example, rainforests and coral reefs thrive because of their high biodiversity.
Which food web below would lead to more stability in an ecosystem? Click the star to check your answer!
What is an Ecosystem?
To begin, watch the video about ecosystems. As you watch, ask yourself: “What makes this a system instead of just a group of living things?” An ecosystem includes living (biotic) factors such as plants, animals, and decomposers, as well as nonliving (abiotic) factors such as sunlight, soil, water, and temperature. All of these parts interact and depend on each other. Your task is to sort the pictures below into the “biotic” or “abiotic” categories. Check your answers by clicking the star icon! Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete one or both of the "Coral Reefs- Abiotic or Biotic" Gizmos!
Biotic
Abiotic
Healthy Ecosystems
A healthy ecosystem shows balance between producers, consumers, and decomposers. Signs of health include biodiversity, clean water, fertile soil, stable populations, and natural cycles continuing. Ecosystems can become unhealthy when something disrupts that balance, such as pollution, invasive species, habitat destruction, overhunting, or climate change. Take a look at the graph and answer the question.
Matter Cycles
Think about this question: “How is the water in your bottle today connected to the water dinosaurs drank millions of years ago?” Watch the video to learn about the carbon, water, oxygen, and nitrogen cycle! Matter cycles through systems in repeating patterns. In the water cycle, water evaporates, condenses, and precipitates before collecting again. In the carbon cycle, plants take in carbon dioxide, animals consume plants, and carbon returns to the atmosphere through respiration and decomposition. In the nitrogen cycle, soil bacteria make nitrogen usable for plants, which animals then rely on.
Follow Steps to ECOSYSTEMS HANDBOOK
Step 5: Start the Gizmos by clicking "Click When Ready"Step 6: Change from "Case" to "Handbook" in the top-right corner! Step 7: Go through the information as needed! "Next" will come up to add info to that screen. The arrow at the bottom will glow once all parts of the section are complete.
Step 1: Open CleverStep 2: Log in with edio Step 3: Open the Explore Learning App Step 4: Find our Science class and open "Ecosystems-Middle School" Gizmos
Invasive Species
Watch the video and look at an example of the spotted lanternfly, which spread rapidly across the East Coast. The introduction of foreign species into a habitat is one of the primary causes of ecosystem disruption. These newly introduced species may also be referred to as invasive. Organisms that are not native to a region are invasive species.
Conservation Efforts
Ecosystems can be protected and restored using many different conservation solutions. Each solution has both benefits and costs, and it’s important to think about both sides. Conservation Solutions:
Population Changes
Clark’s Nutcracker is a bird that lives in western North America and has a unique relationship with the whitebark pine tree. The bird collects pine seeds and buries them in the soil as a food supply. Many of these buried seeds are never eaten, so they sprout into new trees. Without Clark’s Nutcracker, far fewer whitebark pines would grow, because wind and other animals don’t spread the seeds as effectively. If the nutcracker disappeared, the pine forests would shrink, reducing food and habitat for animals such as grizzly bears, squirrels, and birds that depend on pine seeds. This example shows how losing even one species can disrupt seed dispersal, forest growth, and the larger ecosystem.
Imagine your ecosystem without one important animal—what would happen if it suddenly became extinct? In an ecosystem, populations are interconnected through food webs, competition, and shared resources. If a predator disappears, prey populations may grow too large, leading to overgrazing or depletion of plants. If a prey species disappears, predators may struggle to survive. These ripple effects can destabilize the entire ecosystem. Want more practice? Navigate to Gizmos (Clever -> ExploreLearning app) and complete "Forest Ecosystem" or "Prairie Ecosystem" Gizmos!
Keystone Species
Watch a clip of wolves being reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park and ask: “How did adding wolves change the ecosystem?” Keystone species are species that are especially important to ecosystem balance. Some examples of keystone species are wolves, beavers, bees, and sea otters.
Technological Benefits
Did you know Velcro was invented after scientists studied how burrs stuck to dog fur? This is an example of biomimicry, where humans design technology modeled after nature. Other examples include bullet trains designed after the beak of a kingfisher, or medicines discovered in rainforest plants. The more biodiversity we protect, the more “blueprints” we have for new inventions.
Overpopulation
When one population grows too large, it can throw off the balance of the entire ecosystem. For example, if deer populations grow beyond their carrying capacity, they may overgraze plants, leaving less food for other animals and damaging the forest. Overpopulation can happen when predators are removed, food resources temporarily increase, or when invasive species spread unchecked. This creates stress for other populations and can reduce biodiversity. Example: In Pennsylvania, white-tailed deer populations became very high after wolves and mountain lions were eliminated. With fewer natural predators, deer overgrazed plants and young trees, reducing forest regeneration and harming other species that rely on healthy forests. Watch both videos then answer the question to the right.
Natural Causes
Ecosystems are always changing, and many of those changes happen naturally. Events such as wildfires, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and volcanic eruptions can quickly change the balance of populations. For example, a fire may destroy large areas of forest, reducing shelter for animals but also creating opportunities for new plants to grow. These natural disturbances are part of ecosystem cycles, but they can stress populations if they happen too often. Example: In Yellowstone National Park, wildfires sometimes burn through large sections of forest. While the fires kill some plants and animals, they also help certain trees, like lodgepole pines, release seeds and grow new forests.