Matter & Energy in Ecosystems
Aligned to MS-LS2 — Next Generation Science Standards.
What this lesson teaches
Organisms depend on each other and their environment. Matter cycles (carbon, water) and energy flows through food webs. Changes to one population ripple through the whole system.
Worked example
If a disease wipes out rabbits, foxes that eat them decline, while plants the rabbits ate grow unchecked — interdependence means one change affects many.
Practice questions
- Predict the effect of removing a predator from a food web.
- How does carbon cycle through an ecosystem?
- Why do ecosystems need both producers and decomposers?
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Materia y energía en los ecosistemas
Los organismos dependen unos de otros y de su entorno. La materia se cicla (carbono, agua) y la energía fluye a través de las redes alimentarias. Los cambios en una población se propagan por todo el sistema.
Ejemplo: Si una enfermedad elimina a los conejos, los zorros que se alimentan de ellos disminuyen, mientras que las plantas que los conejos comían crecen sin control — la interdependencia significa que un cambio afecta a muchos.
Teach this lesson today
An AI tutor that guides with questions instead of just giving answers — all K–12 core subjects, every child in the family.
Start free — no card required