In this chapter we will look at two of the main ways that science quantifies the changes and interrelationships within environmental systems: the ways in which matter and energy flow from one organism to the next.  And in one way, it’s very simple: they eat each other.  That’s how the matter which makes up one plant or animal becomes a part of another.  It’s also how living things get the energy that another has stored up. But in order to understand the complexities of systems, it’s important to be able to name and talk about the parts of the system, and the relationships between them.  And of course, the environment isn’t just the biotic, it’s the abiotic also – the rocks, the wind, and the soil.

So that’s where we’ll start.  What is matter, what is energy, and how does it move around in the environment?

Learning Outcomes