IBDP ESS SL Worksheet

Make your own system diagram

This exercise is an opportunity for you to draw a system diagram. You will work in pairs to
construct a system diagram of an open ocean ecosystem. The passage is taken from David
Attenborough’s book entitled, “The Living Planet”.

1. Read the extract below and underline any words you do not understand. We will discuss them
in class before you start on the main exercise.

“If coral reefs are the jungles of the sea, then the surface waters of the open ocean must be its
Savannah’s and plains. There, year after year, over vast areas, the phytoplankton blooms. Like
grass, its abundance varies with the season, for, like all plants, it requires not only light but
phosphates, nitrates and other nutrients. These come from the droppings and dead bodies of the
multitude of creatures that live on the surface. But unlike droppings of cows in a field, they do not
remain on the pasture. Instead they fall steadily and gently down through the water to accumulate
as ooze on the sea floor, far below the reach of the floating algae. But when seasonal storms stir
the seas, the fertilizing ooze swirls upwards. Suddenly the phytoplankton can grow again and it
does so with great vigour. By the time the calmer months have passed, the algae have flourished
and increased so greatly that they have exhausted most of their chemical food and the waters are
once again impoverished. So the plankton dies back and will remain at a low level until the annual
storms once again refertilise the water.

The shoals of anchovy and herring, sardine and flying fish that graze these vast meadows are
hunted by packs of voracious, carnivorous fish, just as herds of antelope on the plains of Africa are
preyed upon by cheetah and lion. Some of these marine hunters, like mackerel, are not greatly
larger than their prey. Others, such as the 2-metre-long barracuda, take not only the plankton-
feeders, but also the smaller hunters. Biggest of all are the great sharks and that group of
magnificent ocean-going fish, the tuna. Both shark and tuna are high-speed swimmers, as they
have to be if they are to catch their prey. They reach a comparable size and have very similar
body shapes, but it is the tuna and their near relatives, the billfish, that most closely approach
swimming perfection.”

2. Make a colour key for inputs, storage and outputs for the open sea ecosystem. How will you
show transfers of materials and energy within your ecosystem?
3. Construct a system diagram for the ecosystem described by David Attenborough.
4. Use the similarities described between the open ocean ecosystem and the African Savannah
ecosystem to construct a similar system diagram for the Savannah. You may include any extra
information that you know to try and make it more complete.