E Is For Ecology (1979)

[Music] This is an E. This E is for energy. And this is an E. This E is for ecology. E. And the star of this movie is the ecology E. Heat. Heat. [Music] La. [Music] Just checking out my ecology. M the sun's energy is so warm. Now watch this. This is one of my favorite parts of ecology. As the sun warms the air, the air soaks up little teeny drops of water. So small you can't even see them. It's cooler up here, so clouds [Music] [Applause] form. That was a cycle. C Y C L E. A cycle goes round and round. See the water goes up, the water comes down. The water goes round and round. A cycle. This is called the water cycle. [Music] Now, I'd like to introduce you to my best friends, plants and animals. Now, the sun and the wind and the rain are not alive, but a plant is alive. And hey, cut that out. Plants have to breathe, too, you know. Gosh, I'm sorry. I was just playing around. I didn't know plants could breathe. Yes, they do. They need air and water just like you. But they can do something with air and water that you can't do. A plant can make its own food. Gosh. The plant can take sunlight and water and air and make its own food to stay alive and to grow. And when the plant is finished with the air, it breathes out, too. Just like my truck. That's right. And the air the plant breathes out after making its food can't be reused again by the plant for making food. Uh-oh. What happens when the plant needs new air to make food? Ah, that's where you and all the other animals come in. [Music] You see, the air the plant gives off after making food is the kind of air the animals like and call fresh air. And the air that the animals breathe out is good fresh air that the plant can use again to make new food. So, so the plant uses the animal air and the animals use the plant air and the air goes round and round. That's right, a cycle. This is called the air cycle. And the air cycle is connected to the water cycle because plants and animals need water and air to stay alive and healthy. The trouble with your truck breathing out is that not much of the air gets reused or recycled. It just stays bad air. [Music] Oh. H maybe my friend energy can think of something for the truck. [Music] Excuse me, we're hungry. Oh, right this way. Plants are the only way animals can get food. Some animals eat other animals, but the first food comes from plants. But there's one more thing that a plant needs to grow strong and healthy. a very delicate balance of certain special chemicals called elements. The plant gets these elements with its roots. When the plant gets old and dies, the elements are still in the plant. Now, some little animals do their work. Worms eat the dead plant, and tiny little living things called bacteria eat the dead plant. And the elements go back into the ground to be used again. See, another cycle. The elements are reused. They recycle. People and other animals also need these elements to be strong and healthy. When animals use the elements, they must be put back in the ground for new plants to use [Music] again. Three cycles. Now see how many cycles we have. There's the water cycle, the air cycle, the cycle of the elements and see how the cycles are connected to each other. Plants and animals all working with each other, helping each other. That's ecology. And people must remember, whatever they make or use should be able to be recycled. Recycle everything. Otherwise, you could hurt me. I've written a song. Recycle, recycle, recycle, recycle, recycle, recycle. Just like the air and the water and those tiny elements. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle. [Music]