| 4. Ecosystems |
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An ecosystem (-eco comes from oikós,
which in Greek means house) is a set of living organisms, the environment
in which they live (the air, the water, the land) and the relationships
that are established among them: food chains and reproduction, for
example. There are water ecosystems, such as seas or rivers, and land
ecosystems, such as forests or jungles.
Human beings obtain many products from natural ecosystems, which we
transform at the same: we cultivate land, we raise animals, we build
roads. Often, however, these actions severely damage ecosystems: they
pollute the air, the water and the ground; they cause the death of
living organisms; they lead to floods and droughts.
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| Relating. People, like all other living organisms,
are beings that have relationships. That means that we are not
completely independent or self-contained beings. Our knowledge
also consists of discovering and creating relationships, for example:
between reality, ideas and words or other signs. |
Create a network. You can create
numerous connections between the parts of nature, which together
are responsible for the ecological balance.
Sit in a large circle. The first player has a ball of yarn in his
or her hand and thinks of a plant: "dandelion", for example.
Who eats dandelions? Someone might say a "rabbit" or
a "caterpillar". The "dandelion" holds onto
one end of the yarn and passes the ball to the "caterpillar".
The caterpillar is eaten by a bird, which then receives the ball
of yarn, and so on connecting the different players. Each part
of nature holds the yarn and tosses the ball to other animals or
parts of the earth, water, etc. until a large network is created
symbolising the connections in life. Of course, you may choose
to represent an ecosystem that is nearby where you live or a large
ecosystem such as the sea. Start the network with small organism,
a crab or seaweed. Think about what plants and animals live in
the sea and what conditions they need.
Depending on the group, the teacher might assign a part of the
ecosystem to each student and then ask questions so that the students
make the connections.
In the end, each student describes the relationship that he or
she has with all the others. What would happen to the ecological
balance if one of the parts was lost?
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Music. Listen to: Symphonie Fantastique:
Scene in the Country by Hector Berlioz. |
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| Drawing. Have you ever
been to a nature reserve? If so, draw a feature of it that impressed
you. If you have never been, draw one as you imagine it. |
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| Exercise. Jungles,
in Wondering at the World. 8.2.7. |
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| © Grup IREF 2003, with the support of the European Commission, DG XXII (Socrates/Comenius 3.2) |
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