Botkin and Keller (2007:50) define ecosystem as "a community of organisms and its local nonliving environment in which matter (chemical elements) cycles and energy flows." Sustained life on earth depends on ecosystems, not on individual species or populations. Sometimes, the boundaries of an ecosystem are well defined and sometimes they are vague. An ecosystem may be a large forest or a tiny puddle; whatever the size, it must have the flow of energy and the cycling of chemical elements. An ecosystem can be artificial or natural or a combination. With this background in mind, create an illustration that could be used in a high-school environmental science textbook. Select a local ecosystem that is familiar to you and draw the ecosystem. You can also create your ecosystem in a Word document if you do not have means to scan a hand-drawn ecosystem. Based on the ecosystem that you drew or created, answer the following questions:

1. Where is this ecosystem found?

2. What roles are performed by this ecosystem in terms of the surrounding environment?

3. What are the principal characteristics of this ecosystem?

4. What is necessary to sustain this ecosystem?

5. What is the advantage of studying the environment at the ecosystem level? Submit 1-3 pages, double spaced, arial 12 point