14
Living things
Plants and animals living together
In what ways are plants
and animals important
to each other?
1
Read and find out:
a)
What is a population of living things?
b)
What is a community of living things?
c)
What is a habitat?
d)
What is an ecosystem?
R E A D & T H I N K
Living things of the same
species
which live in the same place are called a
population
. For example, in
a temperate forest you can find a snail population, a fox population, a squirrel population, an oak tree
population and a pine tree population.
All the different populations that live in the same place are a
community
.
The place they live is called a
habitat
. A habitat is defined by the amount of light and water, the
temperature and the type of soil.
The combination of the habitat and its community of living things is called an
ecosystem
.
An
ecosystem
can be as small as a puddle of water, or as big as a desert or tropical rainforest!
Each ecosystem is a delicate balance between the habitat and its community of living things. It has many
food chains. Look at the picture. How many food chains can you see?
