Date: ______Class: ______
A balanced ecosystem is stable. Organisms that die
or are eaten are replaced. There is enough space and resources for all of the inhabitants. / Imbalance in an ecosystem causes change. Too many or few predators, food, or resources cause changes in the ecosystem.
As a pond develops, seeds are flown in by birds. The seeds grow into trees, grasses, and bushes. Land animals come to inhabit the pond. These are the pond pioneers.
Emergent plants have roots under the waterwhile part of their bodies reside above the water line. Emergent plants appear on the edges of the pond first. /
Fertilizer runoff from a farmer’s field causes plants to grow more quickly.
As more plants grow the animals that normally eat them cannot keep up. Pondweed and other submergent vegetation grow all along the bottom.
Over time as pond plants grow, die, and decompose, layers of debris build up on the bottom of the pond. These layers of decaying matter raise the pond floor over the years.
Many pond animals need more open water and migrate to other areas.
After some time, the pond floor is close enough to the surface that emergent plants can grow all the way across the floor. When this happens, the pond becomes a marsh.
New animals move into the area and plants grow even more, the water levels go down.
The marsh continues to fill in with dirt and debris. Eventually trees grow in the water. It is now a swamp.
Over time, the swamp may dry out. Land that was once a pond may become a grassland and maybe even with more time, a forest.
Pond Pioneers:
Emergent Plants:
Submergent Plants:
Swamp:
Marsh:
Grassland:
Predict what might happen if the grassland environment is faced with the following new conditions: less precipitation, increased temperatures, and heavy winds. Draw your prediction below. Labeland each part ofthe drawing and explain why you included it.I included ______because…
Surpassing summary that includes the following: / Proficient summary includes the following: / Emerging summary includes: / Basic summary includes:
? Clear, creative main idea in the first sentence
? Content is complete and accurate
? All important details are included
? Important vocab is used and explained correctly in the writing.
? Details are in a logical order
? Ideas are connected to make the writing flow
? Author wraps up the writing with a well written conclusion / ? Clear main idea in the first sentence
? Content is mostly complete and accurate
? Important details are included but some might be
missing
? Important vocab is used correctly in the writing.
? Ideas are in logical order
? Restated main idea doesn’t differ much from the first
sentence / ? Main idea is unclear — not specifically stated in the
writing
? Some critical information is missing and/or not accurate
? Ideas are in a random order and not logical
? Some vocab is used in the writing.
? Restated main idea is not clear in this writing / ? The main idea is not present in the 1st sentence of the
writing
? Contains only some details
? Multiple errors in accuracy
? Ideas are not in logical order
? Missing specific vocab.
? Missing a concluding sentence with the restated
main idea