What Makes an Ecosystem Healthy or Unhealthy?

Multiple Choice

What are the key differences between healthy and unhealthy ecosystems?

• Healthy ecosystems have diverse species

• Unhealthy ecosystems have no plants

• Healthy ecosystems are always wet

• Unhealthy ecosystems are always dry

Open Ended

Explain how ecosystem balance aids organism survival.

Multiple Choice

What does the term 'balance' refer to in an ecosystem?

• Ecosystem parts working together

• The number of organisms in a habitat

• The amount of sunlight in an area

• The size of the ecosystem

Open Ended

What was one example of a biotic-biotic interaction and an abiotic-biotic interaction from the clip.

Categorize

Options (6)

fish

pond water

rain that falls on the pond

air above the pond

water lilies

frogs

The illustration shows biotic and abiotic factors in a pond ecosystem.
Classify each factor as either a biotic factor or an abiotic factor of the pond ecosystem.

Biotic Factors

Abiotic Factors

Fill in the Blanks

If all of the plants in this ecosystem died, the other organisms would have to _____ away from the area or they would _____, because they cannot make their own food.

Multiple Choice

What do the arrows represent in this diagram?

• who is being eaten
• the flow of energy
• the decomposition of organisms
• what things can change into

Multiple Choice

High biodiversity is 

• having a lot of the same organism.
• having a few of the same organism.
• having a lot of variety of different organisms.
• only having one of each organism. 

Multiple Choice

This picture is a great example of ____________ biodiversity.

• high
• moderate
• low
• hhhmmmm there is no way to know without counting.

Multiple Choice

Why is "A" less biodiverse than "B"?

• Image "A" is more biodiverse.

• Image "A" has many corn plants and this makes it have high "rich" biodiversity.

• Image "A" has a lot more plants than image "B"

• Even though "A" has a lot of corn plants they are all the same species and makes this a low "poor" biodiverse area.

Multiple Choice

When there is higher biodiversity

• more organisms are likely to die because they can't adapt to environmental changes.
• there is less diversity.
• there is more diversity and higher sustainability of life.
• there is more diversity and lower sustainability of life

Fill in the Blanks

Ecosystem biodiversity is the number of different

in an area.

Multiple Choice

What are the signs of a healthy ecosystem?

• Thriving Plants

• Healthy Animals

• Clean Water

• Lots of Types

Fill in the Blanks

Phenomena that can bring about changes in ecosystems; these can be natural like a volcano eruption or caused by humans, like an oil spill.

Multiple Choice

What are the signs of an unhealthy ecosystem?

• Dying plants

• Missing species

• Polluted water

• One species takes over

Multiple Choice

How can humans reduce our negative effect on ecosystems?

• recycling
• logging
• deforestation
• introducing invasive species

Open Ended

Why is a food web a more realistic picture of how organisms in an ecosystem interact than a food chain?

Multiple Choice

What is the significance of balance in nature as depicted in the image?

• It helps maintain ecosystems

• It leads to extinction

• It has no impact

• It is only important for humans

Multiple Choice

What is the impact of removing wolves from Yellowstone National Park?

• Overpopulation of elk

• Increase in beaver population

• Decrease in tree growth

• Increase in songbird habitat

Multiple Choice

Based on the information in the graph, what most likely caused the changes in this forest community?

• Primary succession after a tornado

• Primary succession after a glacier retreating

• Secondary succession after a volcanic eruption

• Secondary succession after a forest fire

Open Ended

Using the information in the graph, list one reason why the Bison and elk populations have changed since the re-introduction of the grey wolf

(reasoning: after the reintroduction of the grey wolf, the elk population... and the bison population... because...)

Multiple Choice

Is the statement 'An ecosystem is healthy if there are lots of plants, even if all are the same' true or false?

• True

• False

• Not sure

• Depends on the ecosystem

Multiple Choice

What is the importance of planting native species?

• Support local insects

• Increase pollution

• Attract non-native animals

• Require more water

Categorize

Options (4)

Algae

Mussels

White bass

Bacteria

Use the chart describing organisms found in Lake Erie to classify each organism as a producer, consumer, or decomposer.

Producer

Consumer

Decomposer

Multiple Choice

This type of pollution does NOT have one identifiable source because runoff moves over or through the ground.

• nonpoint source

• point source