Etymology

• According to the New International Dictionary of the English Language, ecosystem is a combination word stemming from the Greek "oikos," meaning "habitat," and the word system. System is also Greek from "systema," meaning "an organized whole." "Systema" is from "syn" meaning together and "histanai" meaning to stand or set up.
  
  

Considerations

• Ecosystems of living things interacting with their non-living environment vary in size. Geography4Kids.com states that ecosystems can be a large ocean or a small puddle.
  
  

Features

• The living parts of ecosystems are plant and animal life, and the non-living parts include the sun, soil, the earth, atmosphere, climate and weather.
  
  

History

• Its use in the English language dates back to the 1930s, according to Merriam-Webster.
  
  

Significance

• A population of one species may interact with other populations in the environment. All of the populations of the same location and its physical location make an ecosystem. Ecosystems are then parts of the biosphere--the collection of all living things on earth, as described in Inquiry Into Life.