Interactions In The Environment

Trace the flow of energy and nutrients through Food Chains, the Mineral Cycle, and the Oxygen/Carbon Dioxide balance.

7 lessons

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Who Eats Whom?

Hook on the food chain.

A food chain is basically nature's menu. It always starts with a plant, because plants are the only living things that can make their own food. Everyone else is just waiting in line to eat!

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Concept

The Food Chain

Explain terrestrial and aquatic food chains.

In nature, plants and animals are deeply connected by what they eat. A food chain is a series of organisms interrelated sequentially via their food. Simply put, it shows who eats whom!

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Practice

Build a Terrestrial Food Chain

Order the organisms to make a food chain.

Drag the organisms into the correct sequence to build a terrestrial food chain.

Drag to reorder

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Cycle

The Mineral Cycle

Explain how nutrients cycle through biotic and abiotic components.

There is a continuous relationship between the biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living) components of our environment. This constant exchange of nutrients is called the mineral cycle.

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Diagram

Cycle of Minerals

Diagram of the mineral cycle.

polished process flowchart, rounded card-style nodes, pastel gradient fills, elegant sans-serif typography, generous whitespace, subtle connecting arrows, light neutral background. The flowchart illustrates the 'Mineral Cycle' with arrows flowing in a continuous loop: 'Green Plants (producers)' to 'Animals (consumers)' and 'Dead plants and animals' / 'Animal Droppings', which point to 'Decomposers (microbes)', leading to 'Minerals', then 'Soil', and back to 'Green Plants'.

Click to zoom

Mineral Cycle

This image shows how minerals move in nature.

Green plants take minerals from the soil and use them to grow. Animals eat these plants. When plants and animals die, or when animals leave droppings, decomposers like bacteria and fungi break them down. This returns minerals back to the soil.

Then plants use these minerals again, and the cycle continues.

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Concept

Balance of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

Explain the dynamic balance of gases.

Our environment is a dynamic system that constantly works to keep the gases in our atmosphere perfectly balanced. Two key processes make this happen: Respiration and Photosynthesis.

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Diagram

Nature's Gas Balance

Diagram showing O2/CO2 balance.

Click to zoom

How respiration, combustion, and photosynthesis balance atmospheric gases.

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