Science Fenns K-5Grades K to 5
A Texas pond edge with cattails, a heron, fish, mud, sunlight and water, all labeled as living or nonliving.

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Living and Nonliving Parts

How an ecosystem fits together.

Lesson 35 of 41

Try this first

Before we start

Today’s story

Living and Nonliving Parts

Think of a stock tank in a pasture. Cattails grow at the edge and frogs call at night. Fish swim below. Cattle drink at the shore while the Sun warms the water. All of these together make an ecosystem.

An ecosystem has living parts and nonliving parts. Plants, animals and tiny life are living. Sunlight, water, air, soil and temperature are nonliving. They depend on each other.

Every living thing uses both. A plant needs sunlight, water and soil. A frog eats insects and needs water and air. Healthy ecosystems have all of these working together. Here are the steps.

See it

Five steps. Every time.

    Hands on

    Ecosystem in a Jar

    30 minutes plus a week · Do this with a grown-up nearby

    You need

    • a clear jar with lid
    • soil
    • small plants or moss
    • water
    • a sunny window
    • a hand lens

    Do this

    1. Add soil to the jar.
    2. Press in the plants.
    3. Water until the soil is damp, not soaked.
    4. Close the lid and place in indirect light.
    5. Observe each day for a week.
    6. Use the hand lens to look closely.
    Write or draw: A chart with the date, what you see and which parts are living or nonliving.

    Watch for: Water drops form on the glass, then run back down. The plants stay alive without extra water because the jar recycles it.

    Safety: Keep the jar out of hot direct sun. Wash your hands after touching soil.

    Same every time

    Three rules

    Rule 1Living things need nonliving things.

    Water and sunlight are essential.

    Rule 2Living things need each other.

    Plants feed animals, and animals spread seeds.

    Rule 3Remove one part and others change.

    Everything is connected.

    Grandpa Fenn’s notebook

    Say it like a scientist

    ecosystem
    Living and nonliving things in one place that affect each other.
    organism
    A single living thing.
    habitat
    The home of a plant or animal, with food, water and shelter.
    interact
    To affect each other.

    Poppy’s quiz

    Six questions

    Tap an answer. Green means right. You will see why.

    Talk about it

    Say it out loud

    • What evidence shows a nonliving thing is important to a living thing?
    • Name an ecosystem near you. What nonliving parts help it?
    Did you know

    A handful of healthy soil can hold billions of living things, most too small to see.

    Someone who does this

    A wildlife biologist studies animals and the places where they live.

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