Ecosystems for kids
See it on Peabody
- Planet Earth: open the Biomes view (under Nature) to see rainforest, desert, grassland, tundra and more as colors on the globe, and tap anywhere to name where you are.
- The Wild places view splits the planet into hundreds of regions, each with its own mix of plants and animals.
- The Forests view shows where the trees grow.
Five facts about ecosystems
| Fact | What to know |
|---|---|
| Living and nonliving | An ecosystem has living parts (plants, animals, fungi, microbes) and nonliving parts (sunlight, water, air, soil, rock). |
| Producers | Plants and some tiny ocean organisms are producers. They use sunlight, water and air to make their own food. |
| Consumers | Animals are consumers because they eat other living things. Herbivores eat plants, carnivores eat animals, and omnivores eat both. |
| Decomposers | Fungi, bacteria and worms break down dead plants and animals. That puts nutrients back in the soil for new plants to use. |
| Food chains | Energy starts with the Sun, passes into a plant, and then to the animal that eats it, and on to the animal that eats that one. Many chains linked together make a food web. |
Try it at home
- Jar ecosystem hunt. Look under a log or in the grass with a grown-up. Draw what you find and sort it into producers, consumers and decomposers.
- Build a food chain. Pick an animal and draw what it eats, then what eats it. Start with the Sun.
Questions parents ask
What is an ecosystem in simple words?
It is a community of living things and the nonliving things around them, all in one place and all affecting each other.
What is the difference between an ecosystem and a biome?
A biome is a very big kind of place, such as desert or rainforest. An ecosystem can be any size, from a puddle to a whole biome, and is about how its living and nonliving parts work together.
What happens if one animal is taken out of an ecosystem?
Other living things that ate it, or that it ate, can be affected. That is why scientists study how the parts connect.
What are some examples of ecosystems?
A pond, a forest, a coral reef, a desert, a grassland, the ocean, a backyard and even a rotting log.
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Checked against how Peabody works on 29 October 2026. Written with help from AI, from Peabody's own code and library. Peabody is a learning app, not an assessment: if you're worried about your child's learning, talk to their teacher. How Peabody's pages are made.