6th Grade Science Guide

6.4: Ecosystems 3 Dimensions & Progressions

Unit 5

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI)

Science & Engineering Practices ● SEP 1: Ask questions or defning problems ● SEP 4: Analyze and interpret data ● SEP 6: Engaging in argument from evidence Cross Cutting Concepts ● CCC 1: Patterns ● CCC 2: Cause and effect

● Food webs are models that demonstrate how matter and energy is transferred between producers, consumers, and decomposers as the three groups interact within an ecosystem. Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to the water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and nonliving parts of the ecosystem. ● Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations. ● Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health. ● Changes in biodiversity can infuence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purifcation and recycling. ● There are systematic processes for evaluating solutions with respect to how well they meet the criteria and constraints of a problem.

K-12 LEARNING SEQUENCE K-2

3-5

9-12

● Plants depend on water and light to grow, and also

The food of almost any animal can be traced back to plants. Organisms are related in food webs in which some animals eat plants for food and other

● Ecosystems have carrying capacities resulting from biotic and abiotic factors. ● The fundamental tension between resource availability and organism populations affects the abundance of species in any given ecosystem ● Photosynthesis and cellular respiration provide most of the energy for life processes. Only a fraction of matter consumed at the lower level of a food

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dependon animals for

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pollination or to move their seeds around.

animals eat the animals that eat