DITO NA PO MAGSASAGOT.

PAKIPIRMAHAN
DIN PO NG GUARDIAN/PARENT ANG
PINAKADULONG BAHAGI NG SAGUTAN.
SALAMAT PO!

SCIENCE 7
NAME: SECTION:

Overview
The environment is a collection of living and nonliving things. Mosses grow on rocks, garden snails glide
on garden fences, fish swim in water, and many other things. The living components of the environment are
also called organisms. The nonliving components make up the physical environment of these organisms.

Organisms that belong to the same species and live in the same place form a population. The mosses that
grow on rocks make up a population. Populations that live in the same place and interact with each other form a
community; goats grazing on grass, chickens feeding on grains, and lizards preying on insects make up a
community.

Interactions between organisms and their environment are also a familiar sight: carabaos helping farmers
till the soil, earthworms burrowing in the ground, and birds using twigs to build their nests. Organisms interact
with each other and their environment to meet their basic needs and survive.

Some interactions are beneficial; others are harmful. There are also interactions in which populations of
organisms are neither benefited nor harmed. All these interactions take place in ecosystems.

Ecological Relationships

In the environment, there are plants, animals, and microscopic organisms such as bacteria and fungi. Each
group of organisms of the same kind living in the same place at the same time is called a population.

In figure 1 below, what populations of organisms do you see?

Figure 1. An example of an ecosystem with different organisms

All of the populations interact in a given environment to form a community. In a community interactions
within and among populations may have important influences to death rate and birth rates of the organisms and,
in turn, on population growth and size -- these interactions may have negative, neutral or even positive
influences on interacting populations.
 Some interactions among organisms are easier to determine than others, and some effects can easily be
observed. Study the photographs that follow.

Figure 2 shows fern plants growing on a trunk of a Narra tree.

What kind of relationship do you think do these two organisms have?

Figure 2. Fern plants growing on

a trunk of a Narra tree.

Epiphytes are plants that depend on other plants for support.

Usually, epiphytes grow on trunks and branches of trees. Figure 2
shows an epiphytic fern that attached itself on a trunk of a Narra tree
without harming the tree. The Narra tree is a host that provides a
place for the fern to live. When it rains, the ferns get nutrients from rotting leaves and other organic materials
that collect at the root base of the fern plant. This relationship is called commensalism - one organism benefits
from the host organism, while the host organism is neither positively nor negatively
affected.

Figure 3 shows an insect larva and a leaf of a plant. What kind of

relationship do you think do these two organisms have?

Figure 3. A larva of an insect lives on the leaves of the plant and causes
damage by eating the leaves.

The insect larva (the parasite) gets its nutrients by eating the leaves –
thereby, damaging the plant (the host). This relationship is called
parasitism. A parasite gets its nutrients from a living host harmed by the
interaction. Another example of parasitism is the flea that thrives on a dog.
The dog is harmed by the flea that feeds on its blood.

Animals kill and eat other animals. This interaction is called predation. An animal that kills and eat other
animals is called a predator. An animal that is killed and eaten by its predator is called a prey. Prey animals are
usually smaller and less powerful than the predator that eats them.

In a given community, predators compete with other predators for prey animals. In the wild, a predator’s
prey may be another prey’s predator. This means that while an animal hunts and feeds upon another animal, it
can also become prey to a larger and stronger predator.

Energy Transfer in the Ecosystems

Why does an organism eat another organism?

Plants, animals, and microorganisms eat food to get

energy that enable them to move, grow, repair damaged
body parts, and reproduce.

Plants are capable of converting energy from the

Sun into chemical energy in the form of glucose (food).
The process is called photosynthesis; it uses water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight. Most plants make much more
food each day than they need. Excess glucose is converted into starch by the plants and is stored either in the
roots, stem, leaves, tubers, seeds, or in fruits.
 Are plants the only organisms in an ecosystem that can produce their own food?

There are also microorganisms that can photosynthesize; examples of which are the following:
a.Spirogyra (algae)
B. Cyanobacteria (anabaena)
C. Euglena
D. Diatoms

Humans and other animals are not capable of

making their own food. They are dependent on the
organic matter made by photosynthetic organisms.
These organisms that include the plants and some
microorganisms are considered as producers.

Animals and humans must eat either plants or other animals to obtain energy. Organisms that feed on other
organisms are called consumers. Those that get their energy by eating plants only are called first order
consumers.

Examples of these are:

A. Goat eating grass B. Cows eating grass C. Caterpillar eating a leaf D. Mouse eating corn

Some energy in the first-order consumer is not used by the consumer itself. This energy is made available to
another consumer. A consumer that eats the plant-eaters for energy is called a second-order consumer,
examples of which are the following:

A. Snake eats corn-eating mouse B. Chicken eats caterpillar

A second-order consumer gets only a fraction of energy from the first-order consumer that it fed upon. A
part of this energy is stored and another part is passed on to another consumer. A consumer that eats a second-
order consumer is called a third-order consumer, examples of which are:
a.Hawk eats a chicken
b. Crocodile eats a chicken

Human beings are third-order consumers.

The transfer of energy can be sequenced. The sequence of energy transfer among organisms to obtain
energy and nutrients is called a food chain. A food chain starts with the energy source, the Sun. The next link
in the chain is the group of organisms that make their own food – the photosynthetic organisms
(producers). Next in the sequence are the organisms that eat the producers; they are the first-order consumers.
The next link in the chain is the group of animals that eat the first-order consumers; they are the second-order
consumers. These organisms, in turn, are eaten by larger animals – the predators; they are also called, third-
order consumers. Each food chain ends with a top predator – an animal with no natural enemies.
When plants and animals die, the energy in their bodies can be transferred to another group of
organisms. Consumers that look for and eat dead animals or plants are considered scavengers.

House flies, cockroaches, maggots and ants are scavengers (see figure 14). Earthworms feed on dead
grass and leaves if they are above ground. They also feed on fruits, berries, and vegetables. If they are under the
soil, earthworms may feed on algae, fungi, and bacteria.

Once the scavengers are done with eating a dead organism, the decomposers (microorganisms) take
over and consume whatever was left by the scavengers. Decomposers consume any dead plants and animals.

There are different kinds of decomposers performing different functions in the ecosystem. Some
groups of bacteria prefer breaking down meat or waste from the consumers that eat meat.
 Energy transfer in an ecosystem follows a process. The ultimate source of energy for all living things
is the Sun. The producers of the ecosystem take energy from sunlight and convert it into chemical energy. This
energy is passed on to consumers and then to decomposers. The energy flows only in one direction and is not
cycled back.
Materials in the form of nutrients needed by living things are cycled between organisms and the environment.
These materials are used up by the producers to make other forms of materials that are cycled among the
consumers and finally returned to the environment by the decomposers. Energy flows and materials are cycled
in the ecosystem. Indeed, we live in a dynamic world.

Levels of Organization in an Ecosystem

Organism, Species, Individual

An individual is any living thing or organism. Individuals do not breed with individuals from other
groups. Animals, unlike plants, tend to be very definite with this term because some plants can cross-breed with
other fertile plants. For example, a carabao, interacts with its environment, and will only reproduce with other
carabaos just like it.

Population
A group of individuals of a given species that lives in a specific geographic area at a given time. Note
that populations include individuals of the same species but may have different genetic makeup such as
hair/eye/skin color and size between themselves and other populations. For example, all the horses inside the
ranch or all frogs in the fishpond.

Community
This includes all the populations in a specific area at a given time. A community includes populations of
organisms of different species. In the images above, the populations of carabaos, grasses and insects interact in
a defined location. A great community usually includes biodiversity.

Ecosystem
Ecosystems include more than a community of living organisms (biotic) interacting with the environment
(abiotic). At this level note how carabaos and insects depend on other abiotic factors such as sunlight, water, air
and temperature.

Biome
A biome, in simple terms, is a set of ecosystems sharing similar characteristics with their abiotic factors adapted
to their environments. Examples of biomes are tropical rainforest, temperate forest, desert, tundra, taiga,
grassland, savanna and freshwater.

Biosphere
The biosphere is a narrow zone of the earth where land, water, air interact with each other to support
life. It is in this zone that life exists. There are several species of organisms that vary in size from microbes and
bacteria to large mammals. Parts of the lithosphere (solid part), hydrosphere (liquid part), and atmosphere
(gaseous part) make up the biosphere.
PERFORMANCE TASK:

Directions: Look around you. Observe the lawn or backyard of your house. Identify an ecological relationship
that exists. Draw a simple illustration of this ecological relationship. Give a brief explanation of its importance
and suggest ways towards its care. Write your answer on a separate sheet of paper.

Materials:
Long bond paper
Any art or drawing materials of your choice

Directions: Read and understand the paragraph carefully. Identify the correct words that fit in the given
sentences in the box below.

Competition Prey Same Ectoparasites Predation Different

Commensal Endoparasites Predator Commensalism Host Mutualism
Non-symbiotic Orchid on tree bark bees and flowers Symbiotic

Organisms occupy what are called ecological levels of organization. Each level has interactions among
organisms that can be characterized into types of ecological relationships:competition, predation,
commensalism, mutualism and parasitism.(1) __________ is when one organism eats another organism for food.
The organism that is eaten is called the (2) __________. Lions and snakes are called predator. Competition is
when individuals or populations compete for the (3)__________ resources, and can occur within or between
species. (4) __________ is a relationship in which one organism benefits while the other is neither helped nor
harmed. Examples are orchids that grow on the bark of a tree. Orchid is a (5) __________. Parasitism is a
relationship in which one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed, but not always killed. Parasites
can also be (6)__________ such as intestinal worms – that live inside the host. (7)__________ is a relationship
in which both species benefit. When one species receives food in return for transporting the pollen of the other
organism, which occurs between (8)__________ and (9) __________. Mutualism is a (10)__________
relationship.
Directions: Identify the ecological relationships that exist between organisms.
1. Heron and carabao
2. Intestinal worms on human
3. Lion and tiger on the same prey
4. Bee and flower
5. Mango trees and grasses
6. Leeches and water buffalo
7. Birds that live in the hollows of trees
8. Orchids on the bark of a tree
9. Nitrogen fixing bacteria and legumes
10. Hawk and snake
11. Playing basketball among humans
12. Lice and ticks on the fur and hair animals
13. Clownfish and sea anemones
14. Grizzly bear and salmon
15. Barnacles on body of whales
16. Sharks and Remora fish
17. Bacteria and human
18. Ants and aphids
19. Lichens on the bark of a tree
20. Dogs over a bone

Directions: Find the words that are hidden in the grid. The words may be in horizontal, vertical or diagonal in
directions. Write also the definition of the words below. (every correct answer is equivalent to 3 pts)

community niche organism ecosystem biotic

abiotic habitat biome biosphere population

PARENTS/GUARDIAN SIGNATURE