Year 8 Science · Unit 1 · Lesson 19
Foundation Worksheet
Learning Goals
True or false? Fix the false ones
Circle T or F. If a statement is false, correct it on the line.
1. Sunlight, rainfall and soil pH are all abiotic factors.
Correct it:
2. Fungi and bacteria are living things, so they are biotic factors.
Correct it:
3. Only green plants can be producers. Algae are too small to count.
Correct it:
4. A kookaburra that eats a lizard is a consumer.
Correct it:
5. The amount of shade in a park can change which plants grow there.
Correct it:
Sort it
A class listed what they found in a bushland gully. Write each one in exactly one box. Non-living things go in the Abiotic box. Every living thing goes in one of the three role boxes.
Abiotic (non-living)
Producer
Consumer
Decomposer
1. The gum tree and the fungus on the log are both living, but they have different roles. Explain how each one gets its food.
Put the nutrient steps in order
These steps show how nutrients from a dead gum leaf get back into a gum tree. Number them from 1 (first) to 4 (last).
| Step (1–4) | What happens |
|---|---|
| The gum tree’s roots take in the nutrients and use them to grow. | |
| Nutrients from the leaf are released into the soil. | |
| A dead gum leaf falls onto the ground. | |
| Fungi and bacteria break the dead leaf down. |
A schoolyard survey
Year 8 students checked the light and measured the soil moisture at three spots around their school. At each spot they counted how many kinds of plants and small animals they found in a 1 m square.
| Spot | Light | Soil moisture (%) | Kinds of plants | Kinds of small animals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle of the oval | full sun | 12 | 2 | 3 |
| Garden bed near a tap | full sun | 38 | 7 | 9 |
| Under a large fig tree | deep shade | 30 | 1 | 5 |
Source: sample class results.
2. Name the two abiotic factors the students recorded. Which spot had the most kinds of plants?
3. The soil under the fig tree is fairly moist, yet only one kind of plant grows there. The fig tree is a biotic factor. Explain how it changes an abiotic factor under it, and how that affects which plants can survive there.
4. Imagine every animal is taken out of a patch of bushland. Is what is left still an ecosystem? Explain your answer.
True or false
1. True. 2. True. 3. False: any organism that makes its own food is a producer, so algae and some bacteria are producers too. 4. True. 5. True.
Sort it
Abiotic: rainfall, sunlight. Producer: moss on a rock, gum tree. Consumer: kookaburra, wallaby. Decomposer: fungus rotting a fallen log, soil bacteria that break down dead leaves.
1. The gum tree is a producer: it makes its own food by photosynthesis, using sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. The fungus is a decomposer: it cannot make its own food, so it gets it by breaking down the dead log. [2 marks: 1 each]
Put the nutrient steps in order
Reading down the table as printed: 4, 3, 1, 2.
Read the data
2. Light and soil moisture. The garden bed near a tap (7 kinds). [2 marks: 1 both factors, 1 spot]
3. The fig tree’s leaves block the sunlight, so the ground under it is in deep shade (it may also take up much of the water with its roots). Most plants need sunlight to make their own food, so only plants that can survive in low light grow there. Abiotic factors decide which organisms can live in a place. [3 marks: 1 tree causes shade, 1 plants need light to make food, 1 so few kinds survive]
Show What You Know
4. Marking guide (points expected): 1 yes, it is still an ecosystem; 1 an ecosystem only needs living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) parts interacting in an area; 1 living things remain, such as trees and grasses (producers) and soil bacteria and fungi (decomposers); 1 an interaction, such as plants using sunlight and water to make food, or decomposers returning nutrients to the soil for the plants. [4 marks]
Common error to watch for: thinking an ecosystem means “the animals”. Plants, microorganisms, soil, water and sunlight are all part of it.