An ecosystem is a community where plants, animals, and other organisms work together to stay healthy and grow.

Take a look at this scene of a forest ecosystem:

Graphic of an ecosystem. A sun shines down on a field with a tree, a rabbit eats the leaves of a plant, a fox is eating berries, a plant is being rained on from a cloud, and there's a pile of decaying leaves and a rabbit covered in fungi and worms.

Look at the scene carefully and think about how different parts of the ecosystem interact.

THINK-PAIR-SHARE

  1. What do you see or notice in this scene?
    Look closely at the plants, animals, and the soil. What are the plants doing? What are the animals doing? Can you spot any tiny creatures in the soil?
  2. What do you think is happening?
    How do you think the plants get what they need to grow? What do the animals eat? How do you think the soil stays healthy?
  3. What else do you wonder about?
    What questions do you have about how this ecosystem works? How do all the parts of this ecosystem help each other?