IB Environmental Systems &

Societies SL

HAEF Psychico College

Topic 1 : Systems & Models

What is a system?
an assemblage of parts and their
relationship forming a functioning
unit.

What are the components of a

system?
The Earths systems comprise
interactions between the living
( Biotic ) and non-living ( Abiotic )
constituent parts. As in any system
these interactions involve INPUTS,
PROCESSING of the inputs to create
OUPUTS.
So Photosynthesis comprises inputs, a process and outputs
Lets look at the example of
photosynthesis:

Farm

A lake ecosystem

The Savvanah

Gaia

Types of System
Systems are classified into 3 main
types:
OPEN
CLOSED
ISOLATED

OPEN SYSTEMS
Open Systems: exchange matter and
energy with their surroundings.

OPEN SYSTEMS
Most systems are open, including
ecosystems.
In forest ecosystems plants fix energy
from light entering the system during
photosynthesis.
Nitrogen is fixed by soil bacteria.
Herbivores that live within the forest
canopy may graze in adjacent ecosystems
such as a grassland, but when they return
they enrich the soil with faeces.

CLOSED SYSTEMS
Closed Systems: exchange energy but
not matter.
Closed systems are extremely rare in
nature. No natural closed systems exist on
Earth but the planet itself can be thought
of as an almost closed system.
Light energy in large amounts enters the
Earths system and some is eventually
returned to space as long wave radiation
(heat).

Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2 was a human attempt to
create a habitable Closed system on Earth.
build in Arizona at the end of the 1980s
Biosphere 2 was intended to explore the use
of closed biospheres in space colonization.
Two major missions were conducted but
both run into problems. The Biosphere never
managed to produce enough food to
adequately sustain the participants and at
times oxygen levels became dangerously low

ISOLATED SYSTEMS
Isolated Systems: An isolated
system exchanges neither matter nor
energy.
These do not exist naturally. Though
it is possible to think of the entire
Universe as an isolated system.