Ecosystems & Habitats
📋 What it is
An ecosystem is living things plus their environment, all connected; a habitat is a species’ home.
🗣️ Coach says
An ECOSYSTEM is a community of living things (plants, animals, microbes) together with their non-living surroundings (soil, water, air), all interacting. A HABITAT is the specific place a species lives and gets what it needs. Change one part of an ecosystem and the effects ripple through the rest.
🧠 Memory hook
Ecosystem = living things + environment, all connected. Habitat = a species’ home. Change one part → ripples.
😂 Giggle
Why was the altimeter always looking up?
It wanted to reach new heights in data collection!
😲 Whoa!
Reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone changed even the RIVERS — fewer overgrazing deer let plants regrow, stabilising the banks. One species rippled through the whole ecosystem.
✅ Quick check: What’s the difference between an ecosystem and a habitat?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
An ecosystem is a whole community of life plus its environment; a habitat is the specific home of one species.
Ecosystem = the web; habitat = one species’ place in it.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Look at a patch of ground and list its ecosystem: what lives there + the soil, water and light around it.