Learning Set 3 • How Can Changes in Water Quality Affect the Living Things in an Ecosystem?
3.1 Understand the Question
Thinking about Ecosystems
abiotic:
nonliving parts
of an ecosystem.
biotic: living
parts of an
ecosystem.
habitat: the
place where
an organism
lives and grows
naturally.
community:
groups of
organisms living
together in a
certain area.
The organisms
interact and
depend on one
another for
survival.
biome: a
community
of plants and
animals living
together in a
certain kind of
climate.
Science
Connection
A group of
ecosystems
that have the
same climate
and similar
communities is
called a biome.
You can learn
more about
biomes if you
turn to the
end of this
Learning Set.
An ecosystem is made up of both
nonliving and living parts. The
nonliving parts are called abiotic
components. They include things
like water, soil, oxygen, temperature,
light, and chemicals. The living parts
are called biotic components. They
include organisms like plants and
animals.
The environment around a river can
change a great deal from stream to
stream. It can also change in different
locations along the same river. As the
environment, or habitat, changes,
the types of organisms that live
there also change. Scientists call a
group of organisms living together
a community. To understand
how organisms interact with their
environment and one another,
scientists collect and organize lots of
information about the organisms in
a community and the environment in
which they live.
Update the Project Board
Your class started a Project Board to help you keep track of your
investigations and questions regarding water quality in a community. At the
end of Learning Set 1, you updated the Project Board with information
about water moving in a watershed. After you completed Learning Set 2,
you added the results of your investigations on water quality.
Consider what you might like to know about the biotic parts of the aquatic
ecosystem you have been talking about. What are some ideas you have
about the types of organisms that live in the aquatic ecosystem? Discuss
Project-Based Inquiry Science
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3.1 Understand the Question
what you think you know about how living things interact in nature. Maybe
you have some ideas already about how living things can be impacted
by water quality and how those impacts could affect other organisms in
an ecosystem. Your teacher will help your class to discuss your ideas and
questions and then record them on the Project Board.
What’s the Point?
In this section, you thought about ecosystems. An ecosystem includes all
the living and nonliving parts of an environment. You also considered what
you might think you know about the types of living things in an aquatic
environment. You have updated the Project Board to record the questions
you have and would like to investigate. Your class might have a lot of ideas
and questions about how water quality can affect living things. Once all the
different ideas are recorded, your class can pursue investigations that focus
on these ideas and questions.
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LIVING TOGETHER