Name_____________________________________________

Potecting Ecosystems

Use complete sentences to answer the following questions.

1. Suppose your uncle was planning to throw away a large box that used to hold fruit. List three things you could do with the box to help conserve natural resources.

1. Reuse the box to hold another purchase of fruit.
2. Recycle the box.
3. Reuse the box to hold toys, school papers.
4. Paint the box and use it for a toy, etc.

2. Scientists consider all the Earth’s ecosystems to be interconnected. Give two more examples that show why this statement is true.

1. Plants release oxygen that people and other living things need to breathe.
2. Plants take up water and release it slowly, creating stable weather patterns that help keep ecosystems stable in other parts of the world.
3. If forests are destroyed, large amounts of soil may wash into the ocean, killing off coral reefs and destroying other ocean ecosystems.

3. Sometimes it isn’t easy, or even possible, to restore a damaged ecosystem. Give an example of how such damage might occur. Then tell what people might do to use the damaged area for something else.

Ecosystems could have been damaged by railroad tracks that were put down. Removal of tracks could provide a path for hiking or biking. New plants and animals might come to the area to form an ecosystem.