Who do you depend on?

School days can be very busy. From getting ready in the morning, to working all day in class, to playing sports before going to bed at night, some days are full of activity.

Some people count on others for support during a busy day, like a child needing an adult to drive them to school, or a teacher explaining how to solve a math problem.

You probably have people or things you depend on. You also may have people or things who depend on you!

Make a list of people or things that you depend on to get you through your day. You may have a family member or a friend who depends on you. Not all things that people depend on must be living. It could be as simple as the water heater that provides hot water for a shower.

How many people, animals, or things depend on you every day?

Record your answers on paper, digitally, or orally. You can use several methods to record your answer, including either the following Number Line or the fillable or printable Number Lines provided.

Try using the following interactive Number Line to record the following two numbers:

• the total number of people or things that you depend on to get through your day
• the number of people, animals, or things that depend on you every day

If you would prefer, you can use the following fillable or printable Number Lines chart instead to record your two numbers.

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Acknowledgements(Opens in a new window)

Living and non-living things

This learning activity highlights people, places, or innovations that relate directly to the province of Ontario. Enjoy the exploration!

Humans need many non-living things to survive. Think about the air that people breathe or the water people drink. Air and water are non-living things.

Animals rely on non-living things as well. Explore the following image of a food chain.

The image you just explored shows a simple food chain. Notice how the sun, which is non-living, begins the food chain. The sun provides the water plants with energy, which becomes food for a snail, which becomes food for a small fish, which then becomes food for a larger fish, and so on. In this food chain diagram, how many animals depend on the non-living sun for survival?

Select the correct answer, then press ‘Check Answer’ to see how you did.

Interdependence

During Minds On, you recorded your thoughts around who and what you depend on for survival and who depends on you. Let’s take a closer look at this community. A community is a group of living things in a habitat that depend upon each other for survival. You may have mentioned that you depend on an adult to provide you with a warm home and food to eat. You may have younger siblings or pets that depend on you.

Altogether, you are part of a larger community.

Let’s look at a different community, one from a natural habitat. Have you ever seen a badger or a coyote?

A badger is a short-legged furry mammal that can be found in many places around the world. Some badgers are brown or golden, while others are gray or black. North American badgers are gray and have a distinctive black and white striped face. North American badgers are smaller than European badgers. Badgers eat both plants and meat. They are very good diggers, and use their strong muscles and sharp claws to dig burrows and find food underground.

Coyotes are a relative of dogs and wolves that are about as big as a medium-sized dog. They can be found all over North America. Coyotes are not picky about food. They hunt and eat small prey like rabbits, squirrels, and mice. They will also eat insects and fruit, as well as garbage and food left out by humans.

Badgers and coyotes are both animals that can be found in Ontario.

North American badgers are an endangered species. They are found in Southwestern Ontario, mostly along the North shore of Lake Erie, and in one small part of Northwestern Ontario.

What do a badger and a coyote have to do with one another? These two animals rely on each other in a very interesting way.

Both the coyote and badger rely on each other, because they both like to eat groundhogs. The larger coyote chases prey on the grassland. The smaller badger hides in groundhog burrows, waiting for the groundhogs to return home. The coyote chases the groundhog and hopefully catches it. If the coyote is not lucky, the groundhog goes to its home, where the badger is waiting for it. Caught between two predators, the groundhog becomes a meal for one of them. The complementary hunting strategies used by these two animals increases the chances of getting food for both species, and ensures that at least one of them will eat.

Press ‘Complementary’ to learn its definition.

Complementary

These two animals depend or rely on each other. This is an example of interdependence; how living or non-living things can depend on each other. Badgers and coyotes are part of a community, which is a group of interacting species that share a common habitat. The groundhog and the grass the groundhog eats are all part of the same community.

What do you think might happen if either the coyote or badger was no longer in this habitat?

Record your answer in a method of your choice.

Press ‘Interdependence’ to access its definition.

Interdependence

Interdependence among living things

Living things also depend on other living things for help. Earlier in the learning activity, we learned how the coyote and badger rely on each other when hunting for food.

There are three ways (or methods) in which living things depend on each other.

Explore the following images and descriptions as clues to determine the different methods of interdependence.

Use the information you gained from the previous images to select the missing word from the drop-down menu and complete each sentence.

Press the following tabs to learn more about the three different ways in which living things depend on each other illustrated in the preceding pictures.

Survival requires interdependence

All plants and animals, including humans, depend or rely on something else to survive.

This interdependence, or relying on another living or non-living thing, ensures the survival of organisms.

Examine the following image or visit a nearby park or school yard. Take a piece of paper and pencil or audio/video recording device and make a list of all the living and non-living things you encounter. You can also record your findings in the fillable and printable document that follows.

Safety reminder

Before beginning your research, explore the following video that explains the scientific research process. This will help guide you as you work your way through this activity.

Check out the following video to learn about the steps of the Scientific Research Process.

Are there more living or non-living items?

How are the living and non-living items similar or different?

Knowing what the difference is between living and non-living things helps clarify how they are dependent on each other for survival.

Complete the The Interdependence of Living and Non-Living Things in your notebook or using the following fillable and printable document. If you would like, you can use speech-to-text or audio recording tools to record your thoughts.

Reflection

As you read through these descriptions, which sentence best describes how you are feeling about your understanding of this learning activity? Press the button that is beside this sentence.

Now, record your ideas using a voice recorder, speech-to-text, or writing tool.