6

Science
Quarter 2 – Module 11:
Ecosystem: Interaction Among
Living Things and Non-Living Things
in Tropical Rainforests, Coral Reefs
and Mangrove Swamps

Department of Education • Republic of the Philippines

Science – Grade 6
Alternative Delivery Mode
Quarter 2 – Module 11: Ecosystem: Interactions Among Living Things and Non-Living
Things in Tropical Rainforests, Coral Reefs and Mangrove Swamps
First Edition, 2019

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Published by the Department of Education

Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones
Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio
Assistant Secretary: Alma Ruby C. Torio

Development Team of the Module

Authors: Nancy N. Torres, Judy C. Villanueva, Jamicah B. Barcenal,
Juliemar D. Lestimoso
Editors: Ma. Ana C. Ebon
Reviewers: Marilou D. Aribas, Ana Maria M. Espende, Eleah Joy T. Poneles
Illustrators: Ronald R. Castillo, Kharlo L. Gambale
Layout Artist: Roxan E. Del Castillo
Graphic Artist: Gilbert Paulo C. Pagapang
Management Team: Ma. Gemma M. Ledesma, Josilyn S. Solana
Allan B. Yap, Lynee A. Peñaflor
Elena P. Gonzaga, Donald T. Ginine
Rovel R. Salcedo, Ma. Lourdes V.Teodoro
Ma. Ana C. Ebon, Raymund L. Santiago

Printed in the Philippines by ________________________

Department of Education – Region VI-WV

Office Address: ____________________________________________

____________________________________________
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 6

Science
Quarter 2 – Module 11:
Ecosystem: Interactions Among
Living Things and Non-Living Things
in Tropical Rainforest, Coral Reefs
and Mangrove Swamps

This instructional material was collaboratively developed and reviewed by

educators from public and private schools, colleges, and or/universities. We
encourage teachers and other education stakeholders to email their feedback,
comments, and recommendations to the Department of Education at
[email protected].

We value your feedback and recommendations.

Department of Education • Republic of the Philippines

Introductory Message
For the facilitator:

You have to let the learners understand that answering this module is very
important. This will help them learn and master the required competencies for
their grade level especially the lessons they missed in school due to some
circumstances beyond control. Explain to them clearly the benefits they will gain
in taking each part by heart. Your guidance and assistance will be helping them a
lot.

It is your role, too, to ensure that every learner will get the necessary help and
support from their parents, elder siblings at home or even from other relatives,
friends and neighbors.

For the learner:

This module can be your best friend and teacher. You will learn a lot from this
because it was designed considering your needs. You have to study each part
religiously. In doing so, you can seek the help of your teachers, parents, elder
siblings or anybody whom you have the trust and confidence with.
The following are the parts of this module that will help you finish your tasks.
Read the following descriptions below to better understand each part.

What I Need to Know

This part will be your guide to learn in the specific lessons

specifically your skills and competencies.

What I Know

This contains a 10-item pre-test that will check what you already
know.

What’s In

In this section, you will be given review questions or exercises that

connect your previous lesson to the new one.

What’s New

It is in this part that the new lesson will be introduced to you in

different ways: a story, a poem, a problem opener, an activity, or a
situation.

What is It

This portion will give you the topic, information and concepts as a
brief discussion for you to learn. You will be also be given specific
instructions on how to go about the lesson.

What’s More

This provides you questions and exercises to help you deepen your
understanding and find practical applications of the concept.

What I Have Learned

This includes a short fill-in the blanks summary of the topic. It is in

this part that helps you generalize your understanding of the concepts.

What I Can Do
 This section includes an activity or exercises that will help you apply
your knowledge into real-life situations.

Assessment

This is composed of a 10-item exercises for you develop your

mastery of the topic to and to assess if you have attained the learning
competency.

Additional Activities

This part will be the last activity for you to enhance your skill of the
lesson learned. It will give you step by step instructions to follow.

Now that you know the content of this module, you are now ready to do take the
following tasks of the module. Do not worry because you can always ask for
assistance of your parents, guardians, siblings and teachers. You will be guided
along the way. You are not alone in taking the challenge.

Remember to answer the given exercises in a separate sheet of paper. When you
are done, kindly return it to your teacher to check and evaluate your level of
competency.

Good luck and God bless.

 What I Need to Know

This module was designed and written with you in mind. It is here to help
you master the different interactions of living things and non-living things in
tropical rainforests, coral reefs and mangrove swamps. The scope of this module
is used in many different learning situations. The language used recognizes the
diverse vocabulary level of students. The lessons are arranged to follow the
standard sequence of the course. But the order in which you read them can be
changed to correspond with the textbook you are now using.

This module is about:

● Lesson 1. Identifying interactions among living and non-living things in
tropical rainforests, coral reefs and mangrove swamps.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Identify interactions among living and non-living things in tropical
rainforests, coral reefs and mangrove swamps.
 What I Know

Directions: Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your answer on
your answer sheet.

1. What kind of interaction is shown between fishes and other marine

organisms under the mangrove roots in mangrove swamps?
a. competition
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
d. predation

2. What kind of interaction is shown when one organism kills another

organism for food?
a. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. parasitism
d. predation

3. What kind of interaction is shown when monkeys in tropical

rainforest compete for food with other animals?
a. mutualism
b. commensalism
c. competition
d. predation

4. Which of the following represents the ecosystem?

Ecosystem

a. Living Community

b. Living Community
Ecosystem

c. Living Community

d. All of the above

5. Which of the following pairs of organisms shows commensalism?
 a. butterflies and flowers
b. ferns attached to a tree
c. flatworms in coral reefs
d. all of the above

For Items 6-10, identify the types of interaction existing between

organisms. Write mutualism, predation, commensalism, parasitism or
competition. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

1. ________6. It occurs when a mosquito bites the skin of a wild pig.

2. ________ 7. Two different organisms living together without harming
each other.
3. ________ 8. It occurs when a snake eats a rat.
4. ________ 9. An interaction in which one organism kills a smaller
organism for food.
5. ________ 10. This is a beneficial interaction for both organisms. For
example the fungus gets food from the algae and the algae get a
place to live in.
Lesso Ecosystem: Interactions
n of Living Things and Non-
1 Living Things in Different
Ecosystems

Living things such as plants and animals need one another to

survive. There are interactions existing between these organisms. In fact,
some of their relationships are very important in their survival within the
ecosystem. There are interactions where organisms live together without
harming one another; there is also an interaction where both organisms
benefit in the relationship. There are some organisms that depend on
another organism for food, production and reproduction, while others
compete for survival. There is also an interrelationship in which one
organism kills smaller organisms for food. These interactions are
maintained by the organisms in the different ecosystems to survive.

What’s In

Identify living things and non-living things found in tropical rainforests,

coral reefs or mangrove swamps. Write your answers on your answer
sheet.
crab crocodile sea turtles parrots

tropical shrubs trees mud saltwater

carbon dioxide sunlight oxygen

Living Things Non-living Things

 What’s New

Activity 1
Study the illustration below. Identify the interaction that exists among
organisms. Write mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, predation or
competition. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

Fishes and other marine species under

the mangrove roots

1. ______________________________

Oysters on mangrove swamps

2.
______________________________

3.

The corals receive oxygen from the algae;

the algae get protection from it.

______________________________
4.

Rat eaten by a snake

_______________________________

5.

The bees get to eat; the flowering

plants get to reproduce
______________________________
 What is It

The Ecosystem is an environment where both living and non-living things

exist and interact with one another. The interrelationships that exist in the
tropical rainforest, mangrove swamps and coral reefs ecosystem are parasitism,
commensalism, mutualism, predation and competition. Parasitism is a kind of
interaction where one organism, the parasite, depends on another organism for
food, production and reproduction. Commensalism is an interaction where
organisms live together without harming one another. In Mutualism both
organisms benefit in the relationship. Competition is an interrelationship wherein
organisms compete for survival. Predation is a kind of interaction in which one
organism kills smaller organisms for food.
The information below shows the examples of the different interactions existing
in tropical rainforest, coral reefs and mangrove swamps.

TROPICAL RAINFOREST CORAL REEFS MANGROVE SWAMPS

ECOSYSTEM
ECOSYSTEM ECOSYSTEM

PARASITISM

mosquitos bite and flatworms in reefs mistletoe growing on a

suck the blood of mangrove tree
forest animals

COMMENSALISM

orchids attached to Suckerfish attaching oyster and a mangrove

the trunk of a tree. themselves to sharks pneumatophore

MUTUALISM

bees or butterfly and The corals receive mangroves protect

flower oxygen from the small fingerlings in
algae; the algae get return increasing the
protection from it. nutrient cycle

COMPETITION

grass, shrubs, flowers, starfish and snail fishes and other

trees growing in one competing to eat coral marine species under
area the mangrove roots

PREDATION

snake eats a rat Rays eat crabs Crocodile eats smaller

fish
 What’s More

Activity 1.1
Choose the letter of the correct organisms involved in the different
interrelationships that exist in the coral reefs ecosystem, mangrove
swamps and tropical rainforest. Write your answers on a separate sheet.

Interaction in Organisms Involved

Coral reefs
1. Mutualism a. The corals receive oxygen from the algae; the
algae get protection from it.
b. Barnacles staying on the skin of turtles.
2. Commensalism a. Worms living in the guts and flesh of fish.
b. Suckerfish attaching to the skin of sharks.
Interaction in
Mangrove swamps
3. Predation a. The oysters living in a mangrove.
b. White heron (tagak) eating fish.
Interaction in
Tropical Rainforest
4. Competition a. The trees, grasses and flowers growing in one
area.
b. A snake feeding on rats.
5.Parasitism a. The mosquitos sucking the blood of forest
animals.
b. The orchids attaching to the trees.
 What I Have Learned

Based on your present environment, describe what is ecosystem in 5

sentences on your answer sheet.

Give examples of different interactions that exist among living and non-
living things in your environment.
 Mutualism

 Commensalism

 Parasitism

 Predation

 Competition

What I Can Do

Directions: Answer the following questions. Write your answers on a

separate sheet.
● What are the interrelationships that exist among organisms in the
tropical rainforest, mangrove swamps and coral reefs?
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
● List down the interaction among organisms that you like most and
explain your answer.
_____________________________________________________________________

● Are the interactions among organisms important? Why or why not?

____________________________________________________________________
 Assessment

Choose the letter of the best answer. Write your chosen answer on a
separate sheet.
1. Which groups of organism are found in the mangrove ecosystem?
a. mussels, fish, corals
b. worm, rat, fish
c. butterfly, snake, bird
d. mangrove trees, crocodile, fish

2. What kind of interaction is shown when orchids are attached to a

branch of a tree in a tropical rainforest?
a. commensalism
b. parasitism
c. mutualism
d. predation

3. What kind of interaction is shown when both organisms benefit in

the relationship?
a. mutualism
b. predation
c. parasitism
d. commensalism

4. What kind of relationship in mangrove swamp is shown when

oysters and barnacles are attached to the roots of the mangroves?
a. competition
b. mutualism
c. predation
d. commensalism

5. It is an environment where both living and non-living things exist

and interact with one another.
a. ecology
b. ecosystem
c. community
d. population

6. One example of competition in tropical rainforest is when the shrubs

and trees are growing together in one area. What do they compete
for?
a. They compete for sunlight and soil nutrients.
b. They compete for the oxygen and carbon dioxide.
c. They compete for the chemicals and oxygen.
d. All of the above
 7. Which of the following pairs of organisms has harmful interaction?
a. azolla and anabaena
b. orchids in a tree
c. bee and a flower
d. a snake and a rat

8. Why is the relationship between the corals and the algae in the
coral reefs considered mutualistic?
a. The corals benefit in the interaction and not the algae.
b. The corals receive oxygen from algae, the algae get
protection from it.
c. The corals receive oxygen from algae while the algae are
harmed.
d. The corals and algae live together without harming each
other.

9. It is a kind of relationship where one organism depends on another

organism for food, production and reproduction.
a. parasitism
b. mutualism
c. predation
d. commensalism

10. Which of the following pairs of organisms show a parasitic

relationship?
a. butterflies and flowers
b. ferns attached to a tree
c. barnacles attaching to the body of a whale
d. flatworms in coral reef

Additional Activities

Using the concept map on the next page, identify the type of interaction
that exists in mangrove swamps, coral reefs and tropical rainforest. Give
examples of organisms involved by writing the interaction or organisms
on the blank boxes.
 mutualism

parasitism
Tropical rainforest
competition

Fern in a tree

predation

Corals and algae

Flatworms in reefs

Interaction of organisms Coral reefs

in the different ecosystem competition

commensalism

predation

mutualism

parasitism
Mangrove swamps
competition

commensalism

predation
 Answer Key

What’s New What’s In

What I Know Activity 1
a
Living Things Non-living
d
1.competition
c
2.commensalism piranha oxygen
a
3.mutualism sea turtles sunlight
b
4.predation crocodile mud
Parasitism
5.mutualism parrots carbon dioxide
Commensalism
Predation tropical shrubs saltwater
Predation
Mutualism

What's More Assessment

Activity 1.1 1. d
1. a 2. a
2. b 3. a
3. b 4. d
4. a 5. b
5. a 6. a
7. d
8. b
9. a
10. d
References
Curriculum Guide in Science S6MTIIi-j-5, p.91

Evelyn Castante-Padpad 2017. The New Science Links Worktext in Science

and Technology 6. 856 Nicanor Reyes, Sr. St, Manila Philippines. Rex Book
Store, INC.
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