Energy sustains life

The need for energy to sustain life drives the

interactions in ecosystems.
All living things need energy for life processes, such
as growing and moving, as well as staying warm.
The Sun is the source of energy in ecosystems.
It provides energy in the form of heat and light.

Plants capture light energy from the Sun

Plants use light energy from the Sun to combine carbon dioxide from the air
and water from the soil to produce glucose, a form of food.
This process is called photosynthesis and takes place as a series of chemical
reactions.
Oxygen is released into the air as a by-product.
A by-product is a waste product, or a product made while making something
else.
We can summarize the process of photosynthesis as follows:

Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll is a special substance in plants that absorbs

light energy from the Sun and turns it into a form that the
plant can use.
It is chlorophyll that gives plants their green color.

Plants turn glucose into starch and other things

Glucose is a sugar and the simplest form of food.

Plants turn glucose into starch, cellulose and other
chemical compounds that they need for processes
such as reproduction and growth.
Starch is a food or energy store.
There is a lot of starch in seeds.
Cellulose is the main building material of plants.
Wood consists of approximately 50% cellulose and
cotton lint 90%.
There is energy in food

Food contains energy.

We call this storage of energy, potential energy.
The food label shown in the photo indicates the
energy content of the food in the can.
Food's energy content is measured in kJ
(kilojoules) or kCal (kilocalories).
The energy stored in food can be measured by
burning a small amount of the food in an
instrument called a calorimeter.
When the food is burned, it releases energy in
the form of heat and the heat causes the
temperature of the water to rise.

How food is converted into energy

We need food for energy.

Energy is released from food through a series of chemical reactions that take
place in our body.
It's almost like burning fuel.
The process by which energy is released from food is called respiration.
Most living things need oxygen for this process.

How respiration is connected with breathing

Respiration requires oxygen.

This is so that our bodies can get
the oxygen they need to release
energy from the food we eat.
When we breathe, our lungs take in
oxygen from the air.
Our bodies use it for respiration.
When we exhale, our lungs get rid
of the carbon dioxide produced by
respiration.
The drawing in of air is called
inhalation.
The blowing out of air is called exhalation.
Different ways of breathing

We breathe through our noses into our lungs, but not all animals breathe this
way.
Different types of animals breathe in different ways.
Whales breathe through holes on top of their heads.
Fish breathe through gills and caterpillars breathe through tiny holes on the
sides of their bodies.

Why do you breathe harder when you exercise?

Respiration takes place in every cell of our

bodies.
When we run or do sports, we need more energy.
This means that respiration takes place faster
and that you therefore need more oxygen than
usual.
Our bodies automatically respond to the need for
more oxygen by breathing harder and faster.

Ecology revolves around interaction

The Earth is home to millions of different things

we call organisms.
The study of their interaction with each other and
with their physical and chemical environment is
called ecology.

How ecologists divide the study into sections

Scientists divide the study of ecological interaction into four levels:

populations, communities, ecosystems, and the biosphere.
A group of organisms that are all of the same kind or species form a
population.
Two or more populations form a community.
 A community and its habitat form an ecosystem.
All the ecosystems on Earth together form the biosphere.

Biotic and abiotic components

An ecosystem consists of living and non-living parts.

Plants, animals, humans and micro-organisms are the living parts that
ecologists call the biotic factors or components.
Temperature, sunlight, rainfall, wind and soil are examples of the non-living
things that ecologists call the abiotic factors or components.
The biotic and abiotic components interact with each other as a system.
A good example is climate and vegetation.
Climate is a combination of temperature and rainfall, and vegetation refers to
the plants that grow together in a given habitat.
The climate determines the vegetation.
Together, the climate and vegetation determine which animals can live and
survive there.

Survival depends on interaction

The way we think about an ecosystem or describe it depends on the

interaction of the living organisms and the interaction of all the living
organisms within their habitat.
How well each individual living organism or a certain population of living
things survives in a habitat or ecosystem depends on their ability to adapt to
cope with change in their habitat or in the ecosystem.
How big is an ecosystem?

An ecosystem is a self-sustaining unit without boundaries.

It is connected to a larger world and to other ecosystems.
An ecosystem usually encompasses a specific, limited area, but can
encompass the entire planet.
It depends on how close we focus to view it.
A pond, rock tide pool or the garden at your home can function as an
ecosystem.
The entire planet is a giant ecosystem.

Two survey methods for the study of ecosystems

For a large ecosystem, it is usually not possible to survey the entire area or
count all the members of a population or community.
Ecologists therefore focus on small areas, called trial areas.

Square footage

A square is a method used to

survey plants or slow moving
animals.
It is usually a frame of one square
meter.

Cross-sectional sampling

A cross section is a line you extend across the area you want to study, usually
an area where conditions or abiotic factors vary, such as from a piece of land
that is always in shadow to a piece of land that is exposed to sunlight gain.
You can use a piece of string, line or a tape measure.
Mark off the line at regular intervals, these are the points where you will count
and record.
Producers, consumers and decomposers

There are 3 nutrient groups in an ecosystem.

Plants are producers. They produce their own food instead of eating other
organisms.
Animals are consumers. They obtain their food from plants, either directly, as
herbivores do, or indirectly, as carnivores do.
Decomposers break down the remains of dead plants and animals. They
recycle important nutrients in the environment. Examples of decomposers are
earthworms, fungi and bacteria.

The producers

There are no trees or grasses in the oceans.

The producers in the oceans are instead algae.
These include sea grasses and giant seaweeds.
However, the most important of all the producers
in the oceans are the microscopic algae, called
plankton.

The consumers

Ecologists group consumers according to what they eat:

Herbivores only eat plants.
Carnivores only eat other animals.
Omnivores eat both plants and animals.
More about herbivores

Ocean herbivores eat microscopic algae in

the oceans.
Terrestrial herbivores eat plant material
such as leaves, wood, nectar, pollen, fruits
and seeds.
Examples are whales, cows, horses, rhinos,
antelopes, some birds, bees and aphids.
Herbivores such as buffalo, which eat
mainly grasses, are called herbivores, while
herbivores such as giraffes, which eat the leaves of shrubs and trees, are
called herbivores.

More about carnivores

Carnivores eat other animals. This includes:

Predators: animals such as leopards that eat other animals, such as
antelopes, that are their prey.
Terrestrial animals: animals that eat dead animals, for example hyenas
and vultures.
Insectivores: Animals that mainly eat insects and other invertebrates
such as earthworms, for example anteaters, moles and shrews.

More about decomposers

Decomposers do not have a glamorous job,

but without them sale ecosystems are
crippled.
Flies lay their eggs in manure and rotting
meat.
It provides food for their worm-like larvae -
maggots.
Maggots are picky, they only eat dead and not live meat.
The energy transfer

Think of a relay race.

A sprinter runs with a baton and passes it to the next sprinter.
It happens almost like this in a food chain, except that the stick is energy and
the runners are organisms that eat.

Plants and algae play an important role in the ecosystem, because they
capture the energy of the Sun through the process of photosynthesis.
This energy is then passed along the food chain from producers to
consumers.
There are always decomposers at the end of an energy transfer chain.
However, decomposers can intervene at any stage in a food chain, when
dead plant or animal material is broken down.
At the end of a food chain, decomposers release the last energy as heat into
the environment.

Trophic levels and the energy pyramid

Each stage of a food pyramid is called a trophic level.

This diagram is called an energy pyramid.

Energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next and each time energy
is transferred, some of it is lost.
 In fact, only about 10% of the energy is transferred from one trophic level to
the next.
The energy transferred is the energy used to build the organism's body.
The rest is used to stay warm and for life processes such as movement and
breathing.

Food webs

A food chain shows the flow of energy as one organism feeds on another.
In an ecosystem, food chains connect to form food webs.

An ecosystem has limited resources

An ecosystem provides resources such as food, water, light, space and

shelter, but the supply is limited.
Plants and animals compete with each other for these resources and an
ecosystem can only accommodate as many organisms as its resources can
carry.
If it cannot remain in balance, it will fail.
Any change can upset the balance.
How the balance can be disturbed

The balance in an ecosystem can

be disturbed by natural and
human factors.
Natural factors include extreme
changes in weather and climate
patterns, such as floods, droughts
and large, sudden changes in
temperature, such as fires.
Human factors include the
removal of organisms from the
ecosystem, such as poaching, and pollution.
Unfortunately, the biggest disruptors of ecosystems are us, humans.

Loss of habitat and loss of species

As humans, we change our habitat to

suit our needs.
The problem is that we are clearing
habitats like grasslands, forests and
wetlands to make way for farms and
cities.
We cut down trees for wood.
Plants and animals lose their homes
and food sources as a result.
When species have nowhere to live
and nothing to eat, they become extinct.
The giant panda lives in the cold and rainy bamboo forests in the mountains
of western China.
Bamboo is their main food source.
These bears are endangered because they have lost most of their habitat.

Pollution and climate change

Factories, power stations and cars

release harmful chemicals into the air.
Burning fuels also increases the
levels of carbon dioxide that traps the
heat of the Sun.
We are not only polluting the air and
our rivers and lakes, but we are also
changing the climate.
Gradually the Earth is getting warmer.
This means ecosystem melting in the
polar regions.
In winter, polar bears hunt seals on the ice sheets.
Because the climate is changing, the ice now melts faster in the spring.
This makes it difficult for the polar bears to hunt or causes them to become
stranded on the ice islands.
 They then starve to death or drown.

A gap in the food chain

Every organism plays a role in the smooth running of an ecosystem.

If one organism is removed from the food chain or food web, it can cause a
disaster.
Organisms need each other.

A good adaption

Prickly pears have thorns that prevent animals from eating them.
Sea chestnuts have spines that prevent predators from eating them.
Stick bugs like the plants they live on.
Root trees have long roots that allow them to stay in sea water.

Organisms are well adapted to where they live.

In fact, they are so well adapted that they would not be able to survive
anywhere else.
We call any feature in an organism's body structure, function or behavior that
makes it fit with its environment and helps it survive, an adaptation.

Water: little and a lot

Water is very important for plants.

Plants have adapted to the availability of water in their habitat.
The aloe's habitat, for example, is dry and therefore has thick, fleshy leaves
that store water.
The water lily does not store water.
It doesn't need a lot of tribal support.
In addition, the water lily's leaves are round and flat.
 They are designed to float on the water's surface, where they absorb the
sunlight.

Hungry plants

Carnivorous plants grow in poor soil with few

nutrients and unlike their neighbors, they need to
supplement their diet with insects.
The gliding flower produces sticky liquids that
look like dewdrops.
The cupping of insects in pitfall traps.

Adaptations in Animals: Adaptations for extreme environments

The camel and the polar bear are wonderfully adapted to living in extreme
habitats.
In the desert and polar regions, many other animals are unable to survive.

The camel

Because of its hump, they can go without

water for a week and without food for
several months.
Their bodies can tolerate high
temperatures and therefore do not need to
sweat.
This is how the camel saves water.
They have too:
Wide feet to spread the load on the
desert sand.
Long eyelashes and nostrils lined with hair, which can close to keep
sand out of the eyes and nose.
Thick, leathery lips for eating tough and prickly desert plants.
The polar bear

The polar bear has a thick coat of white hair

for warmth and camouflage and hair on the
soles of its feet.
Under the skin there is also a thick layer of
fat to keep him warm.
Due polar bear also has small ears to
reduce heat loss and large claws to spread
its load over the snow and ice.

Adaptations to being a predator

The great white shark and the cheetah are two of South Africa's most
spectacular predators.

The great white shark

This shark has an extra sense, it

can perceive the movement of
animals in the water as a
magnetic field.
The upper part of its body is grey-
blue to match the colour of the
water and it attacks its prey from
below.
He has a powerful tail and swims
so fast when he attacks that he
sometimes shoots out of the
water.
His pointed snout and smooth body make him streamlined.
For his crushing bite he has 2 rows of triangular teeth with new teeth ready to
grow in place when needed.

The cheetah

The Afrikaans name for cheetah is the

jagluiperd.
It is the world's fastest mammal, but only over
short distances.
He stalks his prey, smaller antelopes such as
the diver, ibex and impala, and then quickly
charges.
Because its prey does not run in a straight line,
the cheetah is very agile, accelerates quickly
and can stop quickly.
Some of its customized features are:
Good binocular vision.
Larger nostrils, lungs and heart than usual for rapid breathing.
Long legs and a narrow, light body for acceleration and agility.
 A long muscular tail as a single weight for balance and as a rudder.
Hard, ridged paw pads and claws that don't fully retract for a good grip
or to be able to step on.
Because the cheetah hunts during the day, its eyes are protected from the
sun's glare by the dark stripes on its face.

Camouflage

We have already seen some animals with colored patterns that help them
blend in with their surroundings.
Any adaptation that makes it difficult to see an animal is a form of camouflage.

Imitation

Like camouflage, impersonation is a form

of cheating but the aim is to make enemies
think the animal is something much more
dangerous than it actually is.
Many caterpillars have scare spots, or false
eyes.
The harmless milk snake conveniently also
looks a lot like the coral snake, which is
extremely poisonous.

Slow change

Adaptations are not just a trait, they are also a process of gradual change.
Adaptations are any change in an organism's structure, function or behavior
that is passed on to the next generation.
Adaptation allows the organism to survive because it adapts to changing
conditions in the environment.
Organisms that cannot adapt to changes in the environment die out.

Extinction

The case of the dinosaurs is a classic

example of a natural extinction process.
These reptile-like animals lived
successfully until about 70 million years
ago.
Then something happened that changed
their environment.
One theory is that an asteroid hit the
Earth, causing fires, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
This would have shrouded the Earth in a blanket of smoke, blocking the Sun's
light and disrupting the food chain.
Although extinction is a natural process, unfortunately it is happening much
faster now than ever.
We, as humans, are responsible for that.
The African wild dog is one of South Africa's endangered species.
The principles of conservation

Ecosystems are home to biodiversity, a wonderful array of organisms, and

provide us with natural resources such as water, minerals, food and
recreation.
Conservation is about sharing ecosystem resources fairly and using them in a
sustainable way so that they will be available for future generations of users.
Conservation also means that ecosystems will not be harmed and the habitat
will not be damaged.
This means that our biodiversity is protected.

Protection and management of ecosystems

Conservationists work to preserve and manage ecosystems.

Protecting ecosystems starts with protecting the habitat.
This is the purpose of national parks and nature reserves.
When the habitat is protected, conservationists make sure it stays healthy.

Control of alien invasive plants

South Africa's ecosystems do not have a

lot of water, because a lot of water is
taken up by alien invasive plants.
These plants spread successfully in
South Africa because they have no
natural enemies that control them.
The problems with alien invasive plants
are the following:
They use a lot of water and rob
rivers and native trees and plants of water.
They crowd out native plants.
They cause destructive wildfires, which are followed by soil erosion.
The Work for Water program in South Africa cleans up habitats by removing
alien invasive plants.

Conservation of wetlands

Wetlands are waterlogged areas of land that provide an important habitat for
water-loving plants and many animals, especially waterfowl.
Wetlands hold water, like sponges.
This means they are natural storage places of water and good for flood
control.
Work-for-Wetlands is a project in South Africa with the aim of caring for
wetlands and restoring damaged wetlands.
What can you do:

Save water.
Reduce energy consumption.
Practice the following three things: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Dispose of
waste in a responsible manner.
Be a responsible consumer. Think about the cost to the environment with the
things you buy and the food you eat.

The smallest living things

Most microorganisms are too small to see with the naked eye.
You can only see them under a microscope.

Viruses

Viruses are foreign organisms.

They cannot do the 7 life processes on their
own and must therefore hijack other
organisms.
Every time you get a cold or the flu, it's a
virus at work.

Bacteria

Bacteria are micro-organisms that consist of

one cell.
Microbiologists are scientists who study
bacteria and other microorganisms.
They grow bacteria on jelly-like plates.
Every dot/droplet on a slide is a bacterial
colony.
There are so many bacteria in each colony that in the event you don't need a
microscope to see them.
Primordial organisms

Like bacteria, protozoa consist of a

single cell, but they are more complex
than microorganisms.
Algae is a type of primordial organism.
Redding is caused by a red algae
population explosion in the ocean.
The salt water of Pink Lake in Australia
turns red when the temperatures are
just right for a certain type of algae.

Fungus

Mold is fungus.
Mushrooms and toadstools are also fungi.

Focus and measure

Viruses are indeed very small.

Microorganisms are measured in micrometers.
A micrometer is one thousandth of a millimeter.
Most bacteria are only a few micrometers long.
Primitive organisms are about 50 to 100 times larger and viruses are about a
thousand times smaller.
To see individual microorganisms, you need a microscope.
A microscope is an instrument that makes things appear much larger than
they actually are.
We call the process of making bigger, enlargement.

HIV and aids

It invades the cells in a person's body and takes

over the immune system and begins to destroy it.
Because the body is no longer able to fight
disease, the virus can cause a whole syndrome of
symptoms and infections, such as tuberculosis,
diarrhea and skin ulcers.
 There is no way to get rid of the MI virus once it has set in, but antiretroviral
medications prevent it from multiplying.

TB

TB bacteria usually invade the lungs but can also

attack other parts of the body.
The symptoms of TB are cough, weight loss and
coughing up blood.
Antibiotics are used to treat TB, but to be successful
as a cure, the patient must take the full course of pills,
even if he or she feels better.

Malaria

Malaria is a febrile disease that begins

with a mosquito bite.
In subtropical parts of the world, many
mosquitoes carry a protozoan parasite
that is injected into the bloodstream of
any human or animal bitten by them.
The primal organism infects the body and makes them sick.
The symptoms of malaria are headaches and a fever.
The best way to prevent malaria is to avoid being bitten, but it is not easy.
When people travel to malaria areas, they often take preventive medication.

Waterborne diseases

Wherever there is no running water and

sanitation and when natural disasters such
as earthquakes or floods occur, there are
always outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
Waterborne diseases are caused by
drinking or washing in water contaminated
with certain micro-organisms.
Cholera and diarrhea are two common
examples of waterborne diseases.
The symptoms are stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
The most important thing in the treatment of these diseases is to prevent
dehydration/dehydration by drinking lots of fluids, by mouth or in severe cases
with intravenous nutrition/drip.
Many children in developing countries still die from waterborne diseases.

Where disease-causing microorganisms are found

Disease-causing micro-organisms are found almost everywhere, such as on

the buttons of ATM machines, on the handrails of stairs and lifts, and in public
toilets where they are found on toilet seats, handles and taps.
Dink aan geld wat van hand tot hand aangegee word.
Think of how people with flu and colds sneeze and cough in public places.
 A sneeze is designed to clear your nose of bacteria and viruses.
Even if you don't have a cold, a sneeze can release a hundred thousand
micro-organisms into the air in a very fine spray.

Effective methods to prevent the spread

Two of the best ways to prevent the spread of disease-causing

microorganisms are:
Covering your mouth with something when you sneeze or cough.
Washing your hands often, especially before eating or after going to
the toilet.
Hospitals rely on sterilization to kill microorganisms.
Common sterilization methods are heating and treatment with chemicals.
When you put a disinfectant on a wound, you are sterilizing it.

Microorganisms can be helpful

Most microorganisms are harmless and many of them are useful.

We can think of them as nature's little factories.

Nature’s recyclers

Some microorganisms play an essential role as decomposers in ecosystems.

They break down waste and dead plant and animal matter and recycle
nutrients for the soil.

The food industry’s fermenters

Bread, cheese, yogurt, amasi, soy sauce, ginger beer and beer.
None of these foods or beverages would have been possible without the help
of microorganisms.
People use sourdough and bacteria for baking bread, brewing beer and
fermenting milk.
The microorganisms carry out a fermentation process, turning carbohydrates
into acids, alcohol and carbon dioxide.

The medicine world’s antibiotic makers

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat

infections caused by bacteria.
Many antibiotic chemicals are made by
mold to fight bacteria.
Penicillin is a common antibiotic.