Ecosystems are built from interacting, interdependent parts. Parts of an ecosystem that are nonliving are called abiotic. Abiotic parts of an ecosystem include things like water, sunlight and nutrients.
Other parts of an ecosystem are alive. These living, or biotic, parts may include plants, animals and
photosynthetic microorganisms like algae. Biotic and abiotic (living and non-living) parts of an ecosystem
are always interacting with and changing each other.
Healthy ecosystems are resilient. This means that they (and the populations of living things within them)
can withstand damage and recover quickly after natural disturbances (like droughts or floods) or humancaused disturbances (like pollution or deforestation). In this Biograph Virtual Lab your challenge will be
to build a model of a long-lasting, resilient pond ecosystem.
You will use ToolBlox programming blocks to first observe and then build and test your own simulated
pond ecosystems. Before you build your pond ecosystem you’ll need to understand how the different
types of fish in the simulation move and get the energy they need to live and reproduce. Let’s get
started!