Memory Anchor:

• Super Challenge:

  Stretch:

  Challenge:

Key Questions:

1. What are the different levels of organisation in an ecosystem from individual organisms to the whole ecosystem?
   • Individual, Population, Community, Ecosystem.
2. What is the importance of interdependence and competition in a community?
   • Interdependence - balance in population numbers of species, increased net productivity, predator prey cycles, mutualistic relationships. Competition - gives something natural selection to work for, separation of niches between species.
3. What factors are organisms competing for in a given habitat?
   • plants are competing for light, space, nutrients, water. Animals are competing for food, water, shelter, territory, mates.
4. What is an ecosystem?
   • An ecosystem is the interaction of a community of living organisms (biotic) with the non-living (abiotic) parts of their environment.
5. What do organisms require to survive?
   • To survive and reproduce, organisms require a supply of materials from their surroundings and from the other living organisms there.
6. What do plants compete for?
   • Plants in a community or habitat often compete with each other for light and space, and for water and mineral ions from the soil.
7. What do animals compete for?
   • Animals often compete with each other for food, mates and territory.
8. What do species within a community depend on each other for?
   • Within a community each species depends on other species for food, shelter, pollination, seed dispersal etc. If one species is removed it can affect the whole community. This is called interdependence.
9. What is a stable community?
   • A stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.