You depend on each other and need the nonliving things in your home, like food, water, air, and furniture. Living things need nonliving things to survive. Without food, water, and air, living things die. Sunlight, shelter, and soil are also important for living things.
An ecosystem is a community made up of living and nonliving things interacting with each other. Nonliving things do not grow, need food, or reproduce. Some examples of important nonliving things in an ecosystem are sunlight, water, air, wind, and rocks. Living things grow, change, produce waste, reproduce, and die.