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Natural sciences

Ecosystems and the environmental balance

Educator section

Memorandum

Assignment 11:

  • Lion
  • Blue whale (largest mammal)
  • Bat
  • Pangolin and hedgehog

What do you remember?

(i) An ecosystem is formed by all the living organisms that have a mutual influence on one another and on their environment

(ii) air; water; sun and soil

(iii) organism – matter – energy

(iv) plants (producer); caterpillars (primary consumers); birds (secondary consumers)

(iv) horse; elephant

(vi) Carnivores are meat eaters and herbivores are plant eaters

Leaner section

Content

Activity: to distinguish between herbivores, carnivores and omnivores [lo 1.2, lo 2.1, lo 2.2]

3. MACROCONSUMERS

(a) HERBIVORES

They eat seed-pods, grass, leaves and vegetables. They do not eat meat and therefore do not hunt. Instead, they are hunted by carnivores. Their bodies are adapted to suit their way of life and feeding habits.

They have large ears and can hear exceptionally well. Some of them have stripes (e.g. kudu, nyala, zebra, etc.) to camouflage themselves. Many carnivores only see shades of grey, black and white. As carnivores do not distinguish between colours, kudu and other buck can remain safe while they stand quite still when danger threatens.

Most plant-eaters have very good eye-sight, with the eyes set at the sides of the head, which gives them a wide field of vision. They also have a good sense of smell. Herbivores (e.g. kudu, rabbits, hares, locusts, springbuck, sheep, etc.) are constantly on guard against danger!

Assignment 11

Write a short report on one of the above-mentioned animals, describing its ears, eyes, sense of smell, food and enemies.

MY REPORT ON THE . . .

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

EDUCATOR’S ASSESSMENT

CRITERIA 1 2 3 4
Research done correctly _____ _____ _____ _____
Data meaningful _____ _____ _____ _____
Reporting complete _____ _____ _____ _____

(b) CARNIVORES

The largest group of carnivores are mammals, which include the cat family (wild cats, lions, leopards, tigers and domestic cats) and the dog family (wolves, foxes, jackals, wild dogs and domestic dogs).

They are hunters and can only eat once they have caught their prey (not the domestic dog). Carnivores hear and smell well and have strong, pointed jaws to snap at their prey and tear off chunks of flesh easily. Their eyes are situated in the front of their heads, so they can focus well and judge distance very accurately. They also have strong legs that enable them to be fast and agile when chasing their prey. They can run fast for long distances, without tiring.

Questions & Answers

Explain the following terms . (1) Abiotic factors in an ecosystem
Nomai Reply
Abiotic factors are non living components of ecosystem.These include physical and chemical elements like temperature,light,water,soil,air quality and oxygen etc
Qasim
what is biology
daniel Reply
what is diffusion
Emmanuel Reply
passive process of transport of low-molecular weight material according to its concentration gradient
AI-Robot
what is production?
Catherine
Pathogens and diseases
how did the oxygen help a human being
Achol Reply
how did the nutrition help the plants
Achol Reply
Biology is a branch of Natural science which deals/About living Organism.
Ahmedin Reply
what is phylogeny
Odigie Reply
evolutionary history and relationship of an organism or group of organisms
AI-Robot
ok
Deng
what is biology
Hajah Reply
cell is the smallest unit of the humanity biologically
Abraham
what is biology
Victoria Reply
what is biology
Abraham
HOW CAN MAN ORGAN FUNCTION
Alfred Reply
the diagram of the digestive system
Assiatu Reply
allimentary cannel
Ogenrwot
How does twins formed
William Reply
They formed in two ways first when one sperm and one egg are splited by mitosis or two sperm and two eggs join together
Oluwatobi
what is respiration
Deborah
what is genetics
Josephine Reply
Genetics is the study of heredity
Misack
how does twins formed?
Misack
What is manual
Hassan Reply
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Source:  OpenStax, Natural sciences grade 6. OpenStax CNX. Sep 16, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11079/1.1
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