State Standards:

5: LS.1: Organisms perform a variety of roles in an ecosystem.

5: LS.2: All of the processes that take place within organisms require energy.


Objectives

At the end of the program, student will be able to:

· Define and identify several ecosystems throughout the world and Ohio.

· Articulate the four major essentials for life that living organisms need to survive in an ecosystem.

· Explain the basic process of photosynthesis and identify its purpose in an ecosystem.

· Understand that all life needs a constant energy flow.

· Identify the difference between a producer, consumer, and decomposer.

· Identify and understand a trophic pyramid and the loss of energy from one consumer level to the next. (primary consumer, secondary consumer, tertiary consumer)

· Distinguish the different types of consumers, i.e. herbivore, omnivore, and carnivore.

· Recognize that energy flow is a cycle and can be replenished in part by scavengers and decomposers back into soil.

· Identify and define dynamic relationships within ecosystems, i.e., symbiotic relationships (mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, competition, and predation).

· Distinguish between an introduced and invasive species and how this affects the flow of energy and relationships in an ecosystem.

· Distinguish between a threatened and endangered species

Lesson Plans: 
5th-Grade-Interactions-within-Ecosystems-Lesson-plan

Video Links: 
Video Lesson - Ecosystems and Their Source of Energy
Video Lesson - Ecosystems and Their Flow of Energy
Video Lesson - Dynamic Relationships Within Ecosystems