HELP Pllease?!?!?

Question

I have a child that I babysit that has to do a project on an ecosystem, the peice of paper he had sent home saya (Ecosystem in a box diorama) which means he has to do it in a shoebox. What can we do as a project cause I am not real sure what an ecosystem really is?!?!?! His mother ask for my help so please answer me!! Thank you so much!

Answer 1

Well I answered your other question, but, um, you could also do a rainforest ecosystem with rainforest animals, lots of trees.

Or, a mountain one, where you draw the mountains in the background, and maybe show the snow melting into a lake, and show forest animals like deer, squirrels, raccoons, etc. I really think the mountain one is your best bet. You can show the clouds snowing on the mountains, then the snow melting down the mountain into a stream to a lake. Then just add some trees, forest animals, etc.

Hope I helped. Good luck!

Answer 2

Here is what I learned about ecosystems from the PBS Bill Moyers website:
"Ecosystems are communities of interacting organisms and the physical environment in which they live. They are the combination and interaction of the plants, animals, minerals, and people in any given area of the Earth. A small bog, a single sand dune, or a tiny patch of forest is an ecosystem. But ecosystems are also forests covering thousands of kilometers, a major river system, a desert. Every centimeter of the planet is part of an ecosystem. Maybe the most familiar natural ecosystems are our backyards or parks near our home."

As for the project the child has to create, here are instructions on how to make a diorama. The ecosystem he chooses could be a desert, or the forest, or the Arctic -- whatever he thinks he could do best.

"A diorama is a mini-world -- an entire landscape in a box, carry case, or window. Here's how to build your own.
Instructions
STEP 1: Decide on a scale. This is key, because a diorama becomes believable to the extent that it looks "real." If you've got a focus (a Barbie doll, a particular plastic dinosaur), use that scale. If not, try 1 foot to 1 inch -- that's standard for classic miniatures and dollhouses.
STEP 2: Collect your materials - human and/or animal figures, palm trees or sugar cubes to build an igloo, or dollhouse furniture and miniature foods for an interior scene.
STEP 3: Decide on a background - you can paint or draw your own or use wallpaper or wrapping paper or anything else you can find. Remember, though, that the background images should be consistent with the scale you've chosen.
STEP 4: Choose a container. Many children's school projects use cardboard boxes or shoe boxes, but you can use just about anything. It should be light but fairly sturdy, especially if you will need to move the diorama around.
STEP 5: Build your diorama working from the back to the front. Start with the background by creating a horizon and sky/ceiling and ground/floor. Then place large objects such as trees. The smallest objects should be placed the closest to the front. Use glue or putty to secure the objects. "

Answer 3

An ecosystem can be thought of as a society. It is an environment where different organisms interact in their "community".

As someone mentioned, a pond is an ecosystem. The sun causes algae to grow. Microorganisms and small fish eat the plankton. Big fish eat the small fish. When the fish dies, they can be eaten by birds, scavenger fish, or microorganisms. Plants exist (including algae) exist and oxygenate the water and help clean the water.

When one element is changed, can effect the rest. Fertilizer run-off from farms cause algae to grow at an uncontrolled rate. This in turn prevents the sun light from reaching the bottom of the pond. Because of the lack of sunlight, the bottom plants die. With no place to hide, the small fish (including the fry of larger fish) are slaughtered by the big fish. With no more small fish, the big fish begin to starve and with no new fry surviving, the entire population plummets.

A forest is an ecosystem. There are trees, soil, predators, herbivores, scavengers, etc.... If all the wolves are taken out of an ecosystem, then large animal herds (lets say deer) can reproduce unprohibited. The drastic increase in the deer population causes the deer to consume more green food than the land provides. This causes other animals that require greens to survive (say rabbits) to suffer. With no rabbits, birds of pray and predators dependant on rabbits to die or move out of the area. The deer in the meantime begin to starve to death or die of disease.

Other ecosystems:

The body is an ecosystem with a delicate balance of bacterias and microrganisms.
The ocean
The desert
Rainforests
Rivers
Human Society (though this probably isn't what they are looking for)
The Earth

I hope this helps

Answer 4

take a shoe box cut up some construction paper into strips and glue it to the inside walls then take a toy alligator glue it to the bottom and say its the everglades

Answer 5

http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html
a pond, an estuary, a forest, a grassland