Ecosystems Unit 13

3. Teaching resources

Unit summary:

■■ The biosphere refers to any part of the Earth where life exists. Ecology is the science that
studies the interaction between living things and their environment.
■■ Organisms from different species interact in an ecosystem and live in populations. Each
species lives in a specific place or habitat.
■■ The number of different species within a habitat determines its biodiversity.
■■ Different populations form a community or biocenosis. The physical environment that
surrounds them is called the biotope. Together, they form an ecosystem and are part of
the Earth’s ecosphere.
■■ The factors of an ecosystem can be biotic or abiotic.
■■ The relationships between members of an ecosystem can be classified as intraspecific or
interspecific.
■■ The trophic levels represent the way food is obtained. The three ways they can be expressed
is by food chains, food webs and trophic pyramids.
■■ Depending on the biotope, ecosystems can be either aquatic or terrestrial.
■■ There are two types of aquatic ecosystems: freshwater ecosystems, with low salinity, and
marine ecosystems, with high salinity.
■■ In terrestrial ecosystems, organisms have adapted to survive changing environmental
conditions.
■■ Biomes are regions of the Earth that have a similar climate and similar ecosystems. The
Earth has two cold zones, high mountains areas, two temperate zones, and one hot zone.
■■ Soil is the top layer that covers the Earth’s surface. It is made up of rock pieces that have
been modified through mechanical, chemical and biological processes.
■■ Human activities modify the environment and cause the loss of biodiversity due to these
actions: overuse, pollution, habitat destruction (through deforestation and erosion) and
global climate change (causing desertification).
algaida editores, S.A. Authorized photocopiable material.

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