HABITAT VS. ECOSYSTEM

WHAT IS A HABITAT?
A habitat is an enviorment where animals choose to survive and build their homes. They get all of the things that they need to survive in their habitat.

EXAMPLES:

• a desert is a habitat for lizards, snakes, owls, and foxes
• a swamp is a habitat for crocodiles, turtles, and fish
• a forest is a habitat for monkeys, deer, bears, and birds
• the arctic is a habitat for narwhals, penguins, and polar bears
• the pacific coast is for starfish, dolphins, and sharks

WHAT IS AN ECOSYSTEM?
An ecosystem can be many different sizes, it is any group of living and nonliving things that are interacting but don't rely on eachother. Each organism in there has it's own "role to play".

EXAMPLES:

• can be surrounded by plants, animals, and other living things in same area
• could be a size of puddle with organisms in it
• group of living and nonliving things interacting
• ecosystem can be terrarium
• can be a prairie

WHAT GENERAL TYPES OF THINGS WOULD BE IN A HEALTHY ECOSYSTEM?
*in a healthy ecosystem there would be sunlight, water, food, shelter, and plants.

THIS IS A LAKE, WHAT MAKES IT HEALTHY?

• has source of water
• has tree and plants
• has sunlight shining
• animals living in water and land
• plants are in good condition

Habitats and Ecosystem have a lot in common. Their crucial difference makes it sometimes confusing to tell their differences. Habitats are where animals get what they need to survive, and an ecosystem has living and nonliving things that don't rely on each other.