Dedicated to AP Bio.

Preview audio:

storyj.mp/adi34trncbtb

Hello everyone, I'm Mother Nature and I'm here today to give you guys a tour of the beautiful lake, pond, and river biome.

As Mother Nature, it is my job to take care of the Earth and all the creatures on it--including you--but the aquatic biomes have always been on of my favorites. They're home to the most diverse life in the world, and today I get to show you some of it.

Our first stop for today is going to be the river biome. Remember: a biome is a section of the Earth with the same environment, and that this is just one of many!

I'll introduce you guys to my friend, Phil the Fish. He's really quiet, so he probably won't say much, but I'm sure he'll love you guys.

Let's go!

It's important to remember that rivers come in all different shapes and sizes, some are freshwater, while others are salt water.

They are also the most diverse environment between themselves, lakes, and ponds!

The fish you see below are omnivores, meaning that they feed on both plants and other animals.

The plants you see next to them are called autotrophs, because they can make their own food!

Oh look! I think I see Phil the Fish off in the distance, let's swim up to him and say hi.

Hello Phil! How are you doing today?

Fine. Bored.

See ya.

The important thing to notice about Phil is the black dots on his back! These small dots are an animal called mussels.

These mussels provide protection for Phil, and Phil provides a home for the mussels. This is called a mutualistic relationship, because both animals are helped in a good way!

Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to Phil the Fish and the river biome!

We will now be moving into the pond biome, which is much smaller compared to the rivers! Here is where will meet my other friend, Abby the Algae!

Oh, I'm pretty good, thank you for asking! Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to come by today...

Hi Abby, how's everything going today?

No worries! I was just wondering if it's okay to tell our lovely audience about you and how important you are and then we'll be on our way!

Oh wow! Thank you for thinking I'm so important! And of course!

The great thing about ponds is that they are very common in your everyday neighborhood! However, because they're so small, they also have a small amount of organisms.

Although this doesn't change the fact that plants play a very important role in their pond community, which we will learn about through Abby the Algae!