NonfictionSTRATEGIES AND SKILLS Read to ATAGLANCE LA) F ind Out Comprehension e Strategy: Summarize What is an ecosystem? How can we save rain e Skill: Cause and Effect forests, coral reefs, and deserts? Science Vocabulary * consumer, coral reef, desert, ecosystem, food chain, kinkajou, parasite, pollinate, producer, rain forest, saguaro. Writing e News Article Science Strand Life Science Cover Photos: David Muench/CORBIS Photography Credits 1: David Muench/CORBIS. 2: (be) Peter Haigh/Getty Images; (cr) age fotostock/Superstock. 3: Tom Bean/Getty Images; (cl) Michael Fodgen/Oxford Scientific; (cr) age fotostock/SuperStock. 4: (b) BIOS klein & Hubert/Peter Arnold, Inc;; (tr) Tom Brekefield/Getty Images. 5: Digital Vision/PunchStock 7: (P Alamy Images. 8-9: ¢b) 5 (©) Brandon Cole/Alamy Images. 10-1: (b) S. J. Krasemann/Peter Arnold, Inc. 11: (br) age fotostock/ ‘SuperStock. 12-13: (b) Randy Faris/CORBIS. 13: (t!) John Cancalosi/Peter Amold, Inc. 14: Mark M. Lawrence/CORBIS. Poe ee Macmillan McGraw-Hill Published by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill, of McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Compani Two Penn Plaza, New york, New York 10121, Copyright © by Macmillan/McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, network storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Printed in the United States of America 89109 10 09 08 07 06Table of Contents Chapter 1 The Food Chain Chapter 2 Rain Forests Chapter 3 Coral Reefs Chapter 4 Deserts Chapter 5 Saving Ecosystems Glossary INGEN: agers x x orem « gone 3 see os een as 16Chapter 1 THE FOOD CHAIN Living and nonliving things form ecosystems. Ecosystems are communities of plants and animals working together. Plants use the Sun’s energy and change it into food. They use only some of the food they make. They store the rest. These plants are called producers. Producers form the beginning of the food chain. A food chain is the set of steps in which living things get the food they need. Other living things get food by eating the producers. They are called consumers. Consumers are animals that eat producers or other consumers. This adds another step to the food chain.msChapter 2 RAIN FORESTS A rain forest is an ecosystem that gets a lot of rain. Trees in the rain forest grow very tall. These trees produce food. When you think of a rain forest, you might picture parrots, frogs, and snakes. But have you ever heard of a kinkajou (KIN-kuh-joo)? A kinkajou is a furry golden-brown animal with a thick tail. It plays a special part in the rain forest ecosystem. Parrot—_ oe ~ CENTRAL SHELAracre ERICA pscdin) med 55 , ; Pee oO ATLANTIC } +4 OCEAN PACIFIC OCEAN Fra] Rain forestsKinkajous are found in the rain forests of the Amazon and Central America. This animal is active only at night. Then it searches for its special diet of nectar. Nectar is the sweet liquid inside a flower. As the kinkajou drinks nectar, its face is covered with pollen. When the kinkajou visits the next flower, it helps to pollinate the flower. High in the rain forest the kinkajou has few enemies. Yet, farmers, ranchers, and miners are destroying much of the rain forest. They are harming the kinkajou’s ecosystem.Chapter 3 CORAL REEFS Another kind of ecosystem is a coral reef. Tiny animals called coral polyps build the reef. The polyp builds a hard skeleton around its soft body. After it dies, its body rots. Yet its skeleton remains. The skeletons of other polyps stick to it. Little by little, a coral reef forms. Millions of coral polyps make up a coral reef. A reef is home to lobsters, shrimp, sponges, and other animals. PS; PACIFIC OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEAN ATLANTIC OCEANOne of the most interesting animal partners in a coral reef is the sea anemone (uh-NEM-uh-nee) and the clownfish. The sea anemone looks like a flower. Yet its tentacles (or armlike parts) poison very small fish, which it eats. The clownfish has a special coating. It protects it from the anemone’s poison. The clownfish feeds on parasites. Parasites can hurt anemones. The clownfish also drives away other fish that eat the anemone. At night, when the anemone curls up, it makes a safe place for the clownfish to sleep. Today, many coral reefs are threatened by pollution. They are also harmed by careless divers and ships, and by people who break off bits of coral as souvenirs. The clownfish and the sea Pollution may have caused © anemone help each other. this diseased coral.Chapter 4 DESERTS The driest ecosystems on Earth are deserts. Deserts get little rain each year. Water is hard to find in the desert. But there is plenty of sunlight there. Even in this dry place, living things can survive. The Sonoran (suh-NOR-uhn) Desert goes from Arizona and California into Baja California and Mexico. The little rain that does fall there gets soaked up very quickly. PACIFIC OCEANPlants must find ways to survive the high temperatures. The giant saguaro (suh-GWAHR-oh) cactus is one plant that does this. The saguaro has a thick, waxy coating to help it store water. Root hairs let it soak up as much as 750 liters (about 200 gallons) of water after a rainstorm. Insects, bats, and birds eat the saguaro’s pollen and nectar. Foxes and squirrels eat its fruit. These animals help the cactus survive by carrying seeds to other areas. There, new plants will grow. The giant saguaro is also home to some animals. Woodpeckers use their beaks to make nest holes in the saguaro. Each year these birds build a new nest. The old nest is then used by other birds. This woodpecker feeds on nectar and insects in the saguaro cactus blossom.The Sonoran Desert is also home to many reptiles. Rattlesnakes are found there. The Gila monster is one of only two poisonous lizards in the world. It lives in the Sonoran Desert. This lizard has a fat tail that can store water. Its thick, scaly skin keeps the Gila monster from losing water. This large lizard also uses the poison in its teeth to kill animals that attack it.The growing cities of the southwestern United States threaten the desert. These cities compete for water with the plants and animals. Another threat to the desert is the stealing of wild saguaro cacti. These cacti are dug up and sold for use in gardens.Chapter 5 SAVING ECOSYSTEMS All of these ecosystems are in danger. Pollution of air, water, or land is one cause. Scientists around the world are studying and learning more about Earth’s ecosystems. The more they learn, the better able people will be to save them. You can help by reusing and recycling things. You can also ask people not to buy coral or other plants or animals from ecosystems in danger. These small acts can make a big difference.consumer (kuhn-SEW- muhr) any living thing that eats other living things (page 2) coral reef (KAWR-uhl REEF) coral colonies close to the ocean’s surface (page 8) desert (DEZ-uhrt) a place with little rain (page 10) ecosystem (EK-oh-sis- tuhm) all the living things and nonliving things in an environment, and how they interact with one another (page 2) food chain (FEWD CHAYN) the set of steps in whch living things get the food they need to survive (page 2) kinkajou (KIN-kuh-joo) a furry rain forest animal (page 4) parasite (PAR-uh-site) a living thing that benefits from living in or on another living thing (page 9) pollinate (POL-uh-nayt) to move pollen from the male part to the female part of a flower (page 7) producer (pruh-DEW-suhr) a living thing that makes food (page 2) rain forest (RAYN FAWR- ist) thick forest that gets a lot of rain (page 4) saguaro (suh-GWAHR-oh) the largest kind of desert cactus (page 11)Amazon, 6-7 Arizona, 10 Baja California, 10 cactus, 2-3, 11, 13 California, 10 clownfish, 9 consumer, 2-3 coral polyp, 8 coral reef, 8-9 ecosystem, 2-14 food chain, 2-3 Gila monster, 2-3, 13 kinkajou, 4, 7 Mexico, 10 nectar, 7, 11 parasite, 9 poison, 9, 12 pollen, 7, 11 pollution, 9, 14 producer, 2-3 rain forest, 4-7 reptile, 2-3, 12 saguaro, 11, 12-13 sea anemone, 9 Sonoran Desert, 10-13 South America, 6 tentacle, 9 woodpecker, 11Responding to Science . Which ecosystem did you find the most interesting? Why? (Reader’s Response) 2. What is a food chain? (Recall) 3. Why might people find it hard to live in the Sonoran Desert? (Apply) Cause and Effect Read the book again. [Cause —> effect Then take part in a group “science talk.” In a cause-and-effect chart, list what is harming each of the three ecosystems (cause) and what is happening as a result (effect). Writing in Science News Article You are a reporter for a newspaper. Your job is to write about why the rain forests, coral reefs, or deserts are in danger (cause), and what might happen to them as a result (effect). Use the cause-and-effect chart from your science talk to organize your ideas. Expository WritingPay GR L » Benchmark 28 www.macmillanmh.com Macmillan tee UT