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 What are Environments?
A living thing’s environment is everything that
is around it. Two animals that live in Georgia are
the right whale and the black bear. The
environments of the whale and the bear are very
different.
The right whale lives in the Atlantic Ocean off
Georgia’s coast. There, the whale has water to
swim in as well as small shrimp and other sea
animals to eat.

Fish and water are some

of the things in the right
whale’s environment.

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 Georgia’s mountains are a good
environment for black bears.

One place the black bear lives is in Georgia’s

mountains. A mountain is a high, raised part of
Earth’s surface. A black bear needs a lot of space to
travel, and these mountains have that space. They
also have the fruit and nuts the bear needs for
food.
An environment can have many living things in
it. Each living thing that shares the environment
may need food, water, and space. The bear shares
its environment with deer, raccoons, trees, vines,
and many other plants and animals. The whale
also lives with other living things.
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS What is found in the
right whale’s environment?
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 Sapelo Island’s Ecosystem
Sapelo Island is one of Georgia’s barrier islands.
The barrier islands are off the state’s coast. Sapelo
Island is home to a variety of living things.
Pine trees near a pond cover part of Sapelo
Island. Great blue herons build their nests in the
trees. Herons are birds that wade in water and eat
the fish they find there.
The trees, birds, fish, and water are all part of
the island’s ecosystem. An ecosystem is made up
of all the living and nonliving things that interact
in an environment.
Salt marshes and pine forests are
two ecosystems on Sapelo Island.

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 The great blue heron’s habitat includes
the water where they catch fish and
the trees where they build nests.

Each kind of living thing in an ecosystem has its

own habitat. A habitat is the place where a kind of
plant or animal lives in an ecosystem. The pine
trees grow in the sandy soil of the island. A short
plant called smooth cordgrass grows in the
saltwater marshes. Red-winged blackbirds live in
the marsh grasses. Many small fish live near the
coast, while larger fish live in deeper water in the
ocean.
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS What are some of the
habitats found on Sapelo Island?

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 A Wetland Habitat
Living things need just the right habitat.
Georgia’s wetlands have the right habitats for
many plants and animals to live. A wetland is an
area that is often flooded. The little grass frog is
one animal that lives in this wet habitat.
The main food for the little grass frog is insects.
Many insects live on plants that grow in or near
water. The wetland has the water, dry land, plants,
and food the frog needs.
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS What does the little grass
frog get that it needs from its wetland habitat?

The little grass frog

is the smallest frog
in North America.
An adult is so tiny
it fits on a dime.

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 The Okefenokee swamp
is a famous wetland in
southeastern Georgia.

The frog could not survive in a desert with little

water. It could not survive in the ocean with no
land. It could not live where it could not find
insects for food. A wetland, such as a swamp, is
the right habitat for the little grass frog.
Georgia’s wetlands also include bogs in the
mountains and salt marshes near the coast. These
different kinds of wetlands are home to other kinds
of living things that are adapted to life in the
water.
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS What does the little grass
frog get that it needs from its wetland habitat?
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 Salt Marshes Out of Balance
When there are not too many and not too few
of any kind of living thing, an environment is in
balance. Some of Georgia’s salt marshes are out of
balance. The marshes are in the coastal plain,
which is an area of low, flat land near the ocean.
The grasses that grow in the marshes are dying.
One reason the grasses are in danger is because of
the large number of saltwater snails. These snails
eat cordgrass. When a snail eats the cordgrass, it
leaves an open cut along the grass. Then fungus
grows on the cut grass and harms the plant. Large
areas of cordgrass die when snails and fungus
cause harm.
Healthy salt marshes
are important for
wildlife and people.

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 Too many snails
in a marsh eat
the grasses faster
than the grasses
can grow.

Where the marshes die, mud often takes the

place of living things. Mud without plants does
not provide shelter for as many living things. For
example, some fish need salt marshes to lay their
eggs. Also, when there are no roots of grasses to
absorb the water, floods can happen more often.
Marshes help clean water before it goes into the
ocean. Without them, the ocean may become
more polluted.
For the marsh environment to be in balance
again, the large number of snails must get smaller.
If there are more blue crabs and turtles to eat the
snails, the marsh might be in balance again.
CAUSE AND EFFECT What is one effect of Georgia’s salt
water marshes being out of balance?
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 The Danger of Drought
Georgia’s piedmont is an area with many hills,
between the coastal plain and the mountains. This
area has a good climate for a large number of
living things. In part, that’s because the area gets
about 40 inches of rain every year.
Any change in climate can make it hard for
plants and animals to survive. One change that
happens in Georgia is drought, which is a long
period of time with very little rain.

The piedmont’s plants

and animals need rain.

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 This lake in north Georgia
dried up during a drought.

Plants and animals need enough water to live,

and a drought limits the amount of water they
get. Animals are affected by drought in two ways.
First, they need water to drink. Second, many
animals eat plants. If the plants die, the animals
have no food. When there is a drought, some
animals may be able to move to places with more
water. But a drought can affect a large area. That
makes finding a new habitat difficult.
Some oak and hickory trees are good at
surviving droughts. When trees survive it
helps animals that depend upon the trees for
their habitat.
CAUSE AND EFFECT What is one effect of
drought on plants?
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 Fire: Harm and Help
Wildfires cause many changes to environments.
Georgia has many fires, but few of them spread to
large areas. Most fires burn less than five acres.
Even though most fires are small, they harm
some parts of the environment. Fires kill trees and
destroy the habitats of many animals. Some
animals must leave the burned environment to
find new places to live. Some animals may not
survive.
Fires cause harm, but they can also help the
environment. When plants burn and turn to ashes,
the ashes add nutrients to the soil. Burned areas
also leave space for new trees and plants to grow.

Ashes from a fire add

nutrients to the soil.

12

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 Fires can help longleaf
pines, which need a lot
of space to grow.

Georgia has
about 8,700
fires every year
underground
with no water
at all.

Not all living things are hurt by small fires.

Georgia’s longleaf pines survive fires very well. In
fact, fires can help them grow. That’s because they
need the kind of open space that is left after a fire.
Some beetles even fly toward smoke and fire. They
need to lay their eggs in the soft bark of trees that
have been burned.
CAUSE AND EFFECT How are longleaf pines
affected by fire?
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 City Habitats
A city is also a habitat. Plants and animals have
habitats in Macon, Savannah, and other cities. For
example, trees and flowers grow in parks and
along streets. The plants have what they need to
survive: soil, sunlight, and water. Birds also have
habitats in cities. Some birds make nests on top of
buildings and find insects or other foods to eat.
MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS What things can be
part of a bird’s habitat in a city?

Habitats for trees

and other plants are
important parts of cities.

14

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 An ecosystem on Georgia’s coast
may include seagulls, red drum
fish, blue crabs, marsh grasses, and
other plants and animals.

Summary
A living thing’s environment is everything that is
around it. All the living and nonliving things that
interact in an environment form an ecosystem.
Each kind of living thing has a habitat, or place
where it lives. Changes in climate, such as
drought, affect plants and animals. Fires can harm
and help living things. When an environment is in
balance, there are not too many or too few of any
kind of living thing.

15

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 Glossary
balance (BAL•uhns) Not too many and not too few of
a kind of living thing (8, 9, 15)
coastal plain (KOH•stuhl PLAYN) An area of low, flat
land near an ocean (8, 10)
drought (DROWT) A long period of time with very
little rain (10, 11)
ecosystem (EE•koh•sis•tuhm) All the living and non-
living things that interact in an environment (4, 5, 15)
environment (en•VY•ruhn•muhnt) Everything that is
around a living thing (2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 15)
habitat (HAB•ih•tat) The place where a plant or an
animal lives in an ecosystem (5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 15)
mountain (MOWN•tuhn) A high, raised part of
Earth’s surface (3, 11)
piedmont (PEED•mahnt) An area, with many hills,
between the coastal plain and the mountains (10)
wetland (WET•land) An area of land that is often
flooded (6, 7)

16

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 Think and Write
1. What is the difference between an ecosystem
and a habitat?
2. MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS Why is it
important for an environment to be in
balance?
3. CAUSE AND EFFECT What are the effects of
a fire on trees and other plants?
4. Expository Writing Research a location near
your house and describe the ecosystem. Be
sure to include both the living and nonliving
things in the ecosystem.

Hands-On Activity
Research one of Georgia’s regions: the mountains, the
piedmont, the coastal plain, wetlands, or the ocean.
Then draw a picture of that region. Include plants and
animals that have their habitats there.

School-Home Connection
Share what you have learned in the Reader with a
family member. Together, find one plant and one
animal in your neighborhood and describe their
habitats.

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