Unit

1 Ecosystems

1 Watch. How do the bee and flower work together?

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 Let’s learn about ...
• how we classify living things
• why ecosystems are important
• how we can protect ecosystems

2  Match the numbers to the

correct letter.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3 L
 ook at the maze. Find an
example of …
a. a mammal
b. a mollusc
c. an amphibian

4  Work in pairs. Ask and

answer questions about a natural
space near where you live.

l
Be mindfu
Close your eyes. Listen to the
sounds of the forest. What do you
hear?  01
0

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 How do we classify living things?

Scientists classify living things into groups with similar characteristics. It’s important
to classify living things to understand how they’re similar and different.

1  Work in pairs.
a. Choose a living thing from the box. Describe it. Your classmate guesses the living
thing.
b. Think of ways to group the living things.

Plants
There are different types of plants: trees, bushes, ferns,
grasses and mosses.
Trees can be deciduous or evergreen.
Some plants produce seeds.
Some plants have got flowers.
Scientists can classify plants by where they grow.

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 Animals
Animals can be vertebrates or invertebrates. Vertebrates have got a backbone and
include mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. Invertebrates haven’t got a
backbone and include worms, arthropods, echinoderms and molluscs.
Animals can be warm-blooded or cold-blooded.
Scientists can also classify animals by:
• what they eat. • where they live.
• their body parts. • the way they reproduce.

Scientists can also classify living things by the ecosystem where they live. An ecosystem
is a community of living things in a particular area.

2 Work in pairs. Name an animal that lives in each ecosystem.

a. a pond b. a forest c. a desert

3  Copy the Carroll diagram in your notebook. Find one more animal for each box.

Lays eggs Doesn’t lay eggs

Lives in water fish

Lives on land

4  Copy the diagram in your notebook and classify the animals.

Animals duck horse

Has it got a backbone?
Yes No
spider frog
Has it got feathers?
Yes No

Does it lay eggs?

Yes No

At home Make a diagram to classify four animals.

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 What’s an ecosystem?

There are many different types of ecosystems on Earth,

for example grasslands, ponds, forests, coasts and cities.

Grasslands are areas with long and short grasses. There aren’t
many trees and animals like horses, rabbits and mice live there.

Forests are areas covered in trees. They provide oxygen that living
things need for respiration. Tropical rainforests are hot and humid
with a lot of rain. Most of the trees are evergreen, which means
they don’t lose their leaves. Animals like monkeys, jaguars,
frogs and parrots live there. Temperate forests have usually got
deciduous trees which lose their leaves in winter. Animals like
foxes, bears, owls, squirrels and eagles live there.

Ponds are freshwater ecosystems. Some plants grow under

the water, like pondweed. Other plants have got just their roots
under the water, like water lilies. Animals like frogs, fish, ducks
and many types of insects live in ponds. Plants next to the pond
provide shelter for frogs and birds.

Coastal ecosystems appear where the sea meets the land.

They can be beaches, coral reefs or mangroves. There are a lot of
different plants and animals that live there, including fish, turtles
and birds. The water isn’t very deep so the animals and plants
receive a lot of sunlight, which helps them to eat and grow.

An urban ecosystem consists of all the living and non-living

things in a town or city. These can include buildings, roads, parks,
gardens and rivers or streams. Trees provide shade and make
the temperature lower. Animals like foxes, cats, pigeons and rats
live there.

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 1 In what kind of ecosystems can you find … ?

a. b. c.

2 L
 isten. Jump when you hear a living thing that lives in the grassland. Put your
hands on your hips when you hear a living thing that lives in a pond. 002 

In an ecosystem, all living things need food. Food chains show how living things in an
ecosystem get energy. Plants are producers, which means they produce their own food.
Animals are consumers, which means they eat, or consume, other living things for food.

3  Copy and match in your notebook.

a. Producers eat other animals.

b. Consumers make their own food.

c. Herbivores eat plants.

d. Carnivores eat other living things.

4  Look at the food chains.

Answer the questions.
a. What do owls eat? Food chain 1
b. What do seals eat?
c. What type of living thing is at the
beginning of both food chains? grass grasshopper mouse owl
d. What type of ecosystems do the
food chains belong to? Food chain 2

5 C
 hoose an ecosystem. Draw a food
chain. Show your food chain to a algae fish seal shark
classmate. Can they identify the
ecosystem?

At home Show your food chain to someone at home.

Tell them what you know about the ecosystem.
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 Challenge

Make an insect hotel

Can you make

a habitat for
insects to live
and grow safely?

Before you start

Insects are very important to

ecosystems, but chemicals from
farms are killing them. They’re at
the bottom of food chains, so when
insects die, there are problems for
other animals in the food chain.

1 L
 ook at the photos. Match the
insects to their ecosystems.

You need ...

• a clean empty milk carton

• cardboard tubes
• natural materials: dry leaves, pine
cones, moss, bark, small sticks
• scissors

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 Planning

1 U
 se the scissors. Remove one side 2 C
 ut the cardboard tubes as tall
of the milk carton. as the sides of the milk carton.

3 P
 ut the tubes into the milk carton. 4 P
 ut the natural materials in the
Put as many as you can. tubes and between the tubes. Fill
the milk carton with materials.

6 Keep a diary.
5 F
 ind a space outside with shelter
• 
How many insects can you see?
and shade. Leave your insect
• 
What kind of insects are
hotel there. Check your hotel
living there?
every week.
 ompare your results with
C
your classmates.

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 How do living things interact in an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a community of animals, plants, micro-organisms,

non-living things and their shared environment.

1 Watch. Complete the sentences.

a. An ecosystem can be … b. An ecosystem consists of all the …

small, like a puddle. living things in an area.

big, like a forest. non-living things in an area.

big or small. living and non-living things in an area.

2 Find the living and non-living things in the picture.

fish wind soil

frog bird insect

rocks plants bear

trees worm deer

sunlight water

Non-living and living things interact in an ecosystem. Living things are called biotic
factors. Non-living things are called abiotic factors. Abiotic factors are important in an
ecosystem because living things (biotic factors) need abiotic factors to grow, eat and
reproduce, for example:

Sunlight provides energy for plants to grow.

Wind carries seeds from plants to other places to grow.

All living things need water to survive and grow. Some animals live in water.

Living things need oxygen for respiration.

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3 Classify the biotic and abiotic factors in activity 2.

4  Copy and complete the sentences.

sunlight oxygen wind water O W

W
a. The helps seeds travel. Scientists estimate
there are over
b. Living things need to grow. Some animals and
8 million species
plants live in this.
of animals and
c. Living things need for respiration. plants on
Earth.
d. provides energy for plants to grow.

An ecosystem is healthy when there is balance

and biodiversity. This means there are lots of
different animal and plant species which make
the ecosystem stronger. The biotic and abiotic
factors are important.
Human activity and environmental changes can
affect the balance of an ecosystem. When the
balance changes it can cause many problems.

Language learning lab

We use going to to talk about future events. Complete the sentences with is going
to, are going to, isn’t going to or aren’t going to.
a. The temperature is getting hotter. The ice melt.
b. The water is polluted. The fish get sick or die.
c. The grass is dying. The animals have any food to eat.

5  Look at the picture in activity 2. Imagine the river hasn’t got any water.
What changes are going to happen in this ecosystem?
The animals are going to ... The plants are going to ...

At home Go for a walk in a natural area or park near your house.

Make a list of the biotic and abiotic factors you find.
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 How can we protect ecosystems?

The ecosystems of the Earth can be protected through responsible

use. Some human activities can damage our ecosystems.

Humans spray chemicals on their crops Overfishing is when humans take

to kill insects. These chemicals are called too many fish from the sea. This
pesticides and affect the food chain. When affects the food chain because bigger
it rains, the pesticides travel to streams animals don’t have enough fish to eat.
and rivers which make fish and plants sick.
Humans leave plastic
rubbish on the ground
or in the water which is
called litter. Animals get
trapped in it. Sometimes
they eat it and get sick or
die. Dangerous chemicals
from litter can pollute the
soil and water.

When we build cities,

animals and plants lose
their natural habitat.
Transport and factories
cause air pollution in cities.

Deforestation is when
humans cut down a lot of
trees in one place. Animals
lose their habitat.

CU LTURE
Rachel Carson was an American scientist. In 1962, she
wrote a book called Silent Spring about the dangers of using
chemicals on plants and how they can enter the food chain.
Imagine you can write a book about an environmental
problem. Which problem do you choose?

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1 Watch. What can we do to protect our ecosystems?

Use public
transport.
When we cut
Remember
a tree, we
to recycle.
can plant a Buy local or organic
new one. food when
We must take you can. Grow your
only what we own fruits and
need. Taking too vegetables!
much is bad for
the balance of
our ecosystems.

2  Copy and complete.

car ecosystems tree rubbish

Be a habitat hero.
Be a habitat hero. Be a habitat hero.
Take only what you need. Use the bus, not a .
When you cut a , It keeps our air clean
plant another seed. and can take you very far.

Be a habitat hero. Be a habitat hero.

Keep your planet clean. Protect our
Don’t put on the ground, because when they’re gone,
in the rivers or the sea. you’re really going to miss them!

3 Listen and check. Say the Be a habitat hero chant. 003 

4  Make a poster. Show how we can be a habitat hero!

At home Show your poster to someone at

home and explain what it means.
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 Why are ecosystems important?

Healthy ecosystems are important because they can clean the water, clean the
air, keep the climate stable, provide living things with food and other products and
keep the soil healthy. Ecosystems also provide habitats for plants and animals.

Tropical rainforest ecosystems only cover about 6% of the Earth but

they’re very important.
O W
• Rainforests clean the water and air because they filter carbon
dioxide and pollutants from the atmosphere. W
• A lot of medicines come from rainforest plants. The Amazon
• More than 50% of the land animals on Earth live in rainforests. rainforest is more
• Many foods, like bananas and pineapples, grow in rainforests. than ten times
bigger than
1  Which of these do we get from rainforests? Spain!

mangoes apples rubber plastic coffee beans wheat

Grasslands have got soil

Forest with many nutrients. Farmers Pond ecosystems
ecosystems provide use grasslands for agriculture help keep water
trees. People can and livestock farming. They clean. They provide
build houses and grow many crops, like cereals a habitat for plants
make paper with or corn. Animals, like cows or and animals that live
wood from trees. sheep, eat the grass. in water.

2  Think of one reason why these ecosystems are important to us. Write them in
your notebook.
a. rainforests b. forests c. grasslands d. ponds

3  Do research. What kind of ecosystem can you find near you? What food or
materials can you get from that ecosystem?

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Science lab
Which location has got the most air pollution?

Hypothesis

I think the has got the most air pollution.

Materials
• 4 plastic plates
• magnifying glass
• masking tape
• permanent marker
• petroleum jelly

Step 1 Step 2
Use the permanent marker to label Spread a thin layer of petroleum jelly
each plate with a different location on each plate.
around the school.

Step 3 Step 4
Use the masking tape to hang the Use the magnifying glass to
plates in their location. Wait three observe the different particles that
days and collect your plates. were collected.

Watch. Compare your results with a classmate. Fill in the worksheet.

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 Review

1 Complete the diagram.

Ecosystems
pond
Is it a water ecosystem?
No Yes
urban
Has it got many trees?
Yes No
forest
Has it got many
buildings, roads
and people? grasslands
Yes No

2 Choose an ecosystem. Copy and complete the table in your notebook.

Name of An animal that A plant that Why this How we can

ecosystem lives here grows here ecosystem is protect this
important to us ecosystem

3 What’s the difference? 4 Do the quiz.

a. biotic / abiotic
b. producer / consumer 5 Do the WebQuest.
c. recycling / litter

WebQuest
What do you know about deserts? When you
finish your WebQuest, answer true or false.
a. The desert is hot in the day and night.
b. Plants grow in the desert.
c. Snakes and lizards live in the desert.
d. No humans live in the desert.

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 Reflect

1 Check. Copy the chart and colour the stars.

I can ... I can ... I can ...

classify explain talk about
animals and what an the main
plants. ecosystem is. characteristics
of five types of
ecosystems.

I can ... I can ... I can ...

understand test which name some
how animals location has ways we
and plants are got the most can protect
connected by air pollution. ecosystems.
food chain.

Key:
I’m not sure.
I need some practice.
I understand.

2 Keep an ecosystem journal. When you visit a new natural area:

make notes about the draw or paint find out how

biotic and abiotic factors a picture of people are
you find there what you see protecting the area

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