School › Ecosystems › Ages 6–7
Living and non-living together
An ecosystem is a place where plants, animals, rocks, water and weather all work together. Go on a hunt for living and non-living things and find out who needs whom.
Read
An ecosystem is a place where plants, animals and other living things, the weather and the land all work together.[1]
An ecosystem has living things, like plants and animals, and non-living things, like rocks and the temperature.[1]
Ecosystems can be very big or very small. A little pool left on the beach when the sea goes out is a whole, tiny ecosystem![1]
The Sun gives energy to almost every ecosystem. Plants use sunlight to make their own food.[2]
Animals cannot make their own food. A grasshopper eats plants, a mouse eats the grasshopper, a snake eats the mouse, and a hawk eats the snake.[2]
Every part of an ecosystem needs the other parts. When plants and animals die, decomposers break them down.[1][2]
Try it: Living or non-living hunt
You need
- Clipboard and recording sheet
- Pencil
- A hoop or a loop of string (about 1 metre across)
- A magnifying glass
- Gloves
Safety
An adult checks the area first for broken glass, dog mess and other hazards. Wear gloves, look but do not pick up animals, do not touch mushrooms, and wash your hands afterwards. Leave everything as you found it.
What to do
- Go outside with your teacher and put your hoop down on the ground: on grass, under a tree or by a wall.
- Look carefully inside your hoop. Use the magnifying glass.
- Is it living or non-living? Draw or write each thing in the right column of the table.
- Look for living things (plants, insects, worms, moss) and non-living things (stones, soil, water, a puddle).
- Count: did you find more living or more non-living things?
- Back in class: choose one animal you found. What does it need from the living and non-living things around it?
What happens, and why?
Your hoop is a tiny ecosystem. It has living things, like plants and animals, and non-living things, like stones and water. The living things need the non-living things, and they need each other: every part of an ecosystem depends on the other parts.[1]
Play: Living or non-living?
Is this part of the ecosystem living or non-living? Tap the right group.
Your best score is kept only on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Quiz
Other ages: Ages 10–11 · Ages 15–16