| Ecosystem
What exactly is an ecosystem? How is it different from a biome? Here
is one way to think about it:
- Individual plants or animals living together are called a population.
- Several populations are called a community.
- Several communities form an ecosystem.
- Ecosystems sharing the same climate make up a biome.
- All earth's biomes form the biosphere.
What these groups all have in common is interdependence. Living things
do not exist in isolation. They constantly interact with each other and
with their environment and are dependent upon each other for survival.
The parts that make up an ecosystem are plants, animals, and the environment
in which they live, including soil, air, water, sunlight, minerals, and
nutrients. All of these parts interact in energy and nutrient cycles.
Enemies to ecosystems are human activity and pollution. How we interact
with an ecosystem can have impact thousands of miles away. For example,
monarch butterflies that live across the United States migrate to parts
of California and Mexico during the winter. In California, many sites
historically frequented by monarchs have been destroyed by human development.
Destroying habitat in California could potentially bring about monarch
butterfly decline throughout North America.
Sample some of the following activities to learn more about ecosystems.
Places To Go | People
To See | Things To Do | Teacher
Resources | Bibliography
Places To Go
The following are places to go (some real and some virtual) to find out
about ecosystems.
Logan
Canyon in Springtime
Utah is famous for its beautiful mountains. Take a virtual tour of Logan
Canyon's mountain ecosystem and see ponds, rivers, trees, plantlife, animals,
and more.
 Great
Salt Lake
Visit the Great Salt Lake. Our state's famous lake is a terminal lake.
What is that? How much saltier is it than the ocean? Are there any fish
in the Great Salt Lake? Why does it sometimes smell so bad?
Would you have thought that there would be a major wetlands area near
Moab? The
Scott Matheson Wetlands Preserve is also called the Moab Slough--a
"respite from the desert environment". Birdwatching is best before mid-November
and after March. Naturalist-guided walks are held every Saturday morning,
8:00 am, March through October.
Wetlands
and Riparian Zones
Virtually explore portions of Utah wetlands. Did you know that there are
7 different kinds of wetlands? Find out what they are and if Utah has
all 7 types.
 Take
a virtual tour of the Bear
River Migratory Bird Refuge This refuge is part of the wetlands ecosystem
in northern Utah near Brigham City. You'll learn about the plants and
animals at the refuge and the value of wetland areas.
Have you been to the Bonneville
Salt Flats? This flat, white, barren destination is very unique and
shouldn't be overlooked. If you can't actually visit the flats, then learn
about it from the internet.
 Virtual
Yosemite
This website claims that it is "the closest you can get to Yosemite Valley,
without actually traveling there." See for yourself. There's a webcam,
and the image is updated every 3 minutes during daylight hours. The photos
are so beautiful that they look like they've been painted. How many ecosystems
are represented in Yosemite Park?
Explore
the Riparian Forest
Visit this virtual forest, find the hidden animals, and click on them
for more information.
Ponds
of Butchart Gardens
Ponds are unique ecosystems. Virtually explore these Candadian ponds,
and then get involved with local ponds. UEN is really "into" ponds! Check
out their ExplorA-Pond projects.
 Teton
Back Country
Part of the spectacular ecosystems in Wyoming. The middle school students
who created this virtual tour saw an unusual insect while they were in
the Tetons exploring. Find the photo of the insect and see if you can
help them identify it. You can contact the students and tell them what
you think the insect is by selecting "Posting Board" from the menu on
the right of the tour.
Tony
Grove, White Pine Lake & Mount Naomi
The students at Mount Logan Middle School have been busy. They created
many of the virtual tours at UEN's Virtual
Field Trips site. This one explores mountain lake ecosystems in Logan
Canyon. Just like these students, you can learn to make your own virtual
tours. There's a virtual
tour to demonstrate how to make a virtual tour, and your teacher can
sign up for free UEN classes to
learn more.
People To See
These people can help you learn about ecosystems.
- Forest rangers
- Ski patrol members
 Smokey
Bear --Do you realize that his name is not Smokey THE Bear. It is
just Smokey Bear. (The same way that it's not Santa THE Claus). August
9, 1944 is Smokey Bear's official birthday.
Invite a person from the Bureau
of Land Management to speak to your class.
Scientific
American: As the Environmental Expert
Find answers to an interesting assortment of questions from why the sky
is blue to what causes thunder.
Things To Do
National Wildlife Foundation
Find out how to start a schoolyard habitat. Your schoolyard can provide
unique, hands-on, outdoor learning opportunities by turning it into a
habitat-based learning site.
Make a terrarium. It is a self-enclosed, self-contained ecosystem.
 Animals
of the World Scavenger Hunt
Where in the world do some animals live? Learn about the natural habitats
of ten of the world's animals -- including some animals you may have never
heard of! There are two versions: one for beginners and one for experienced
surfers.
Galveston
SurfCam
Galveston is a city in Texas right on the Gulf of Mexico. Check out the
photos of what the current surf conditions are on this little part of
the ocean. Notice that the times for high and low tide are listed. See
how the images change with the tide. Hurricane and tropical storm season
is September to January. Check back to see what the surf looks like during
a storm. The photo is refreshed every 60 seconds.
 Sound
Safari
Sounds from endangered habitats--listen to different animal vocalizations.
Some fish actually make strange noises. Listen to the noise that the northern
puffer fish makes. It lives in the coral reefs of the Caribbean. Listen
to lemurs in the endangered rainforests of Madagascar.
What's It Like Where
You Live?
See how classrooms around the United States have been participating in
projects to explore worldwide biomes.
The
Evergreen Project : Just For Kids : Biomes
Is a biome the same as an ecosystem? Check out their biome
map.
 Ecosystems
Mountains, tundra, temperate forest, marine, desert, tropical dry forest,
cold climate forest, grassland, savannah, tropical rainforest, taiga,
chaparral... Find out how many different ecosystems there are in Utah.
Which one do you live in?
 Utah
Cameras
Wow! From this page, you can click on a map to select a place in Utah
where they have a web camera set up. See how many ecosystems are represented.
Since these photos are constantly refreshed, you can also check on the
weather around the state. Maybe it's snowing in Logan. If you click on
the image for the Salt Lake area, it takes you to a map for many more
selections within the valley--you can even check on traffic from some
of these cameras!
Living Things
Learn about the relationship between people and their ecosystem.
Teacher Resources
Hotlists from UEN provide internet sites to visit to find out
more about specific topics--inthis case, ecosystems!
Online activities are a listing of internet sites with fun, interesting,
and educational tasks attached to each one. (You can learn how to use
this WWW Activities tool created
by UEN for Utah educators).
Lesson Plans/Webquests/Activities
Bibliography
- Kalman, Bobbie. What Is a Biome? New York : Crabtree Pub. Co., c1998.
- Nabhan, Gary Paul. Cultures of Habitat : On Nature, Culture, and Story.
Washington, DC : Counterpoint, 1997
- Savan, Beth.Earthquakes and EcosytemsReading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley,
1992.
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