2A: ECOLOGY
The Big Picture for Unit 2…
Science is a body of knowledge and skills acquired through systematic experimentation and observation to describe natural phenomena; or, more simply, it is a “way of knowing”. The process of science helps biologists investigate how nature works at all levels, from the molecules in cells to the biosphere. The existence of life on Earth depends on interactions among organisms and between organisms and their environment. There is a great diversity among living organisms yet there are similar characteristics that all organisms share.
· How do Earth’s living and nonliving parts interact to shape ecosystems and affect the survival of organisms?
· How do different organisms get the energy they need to survive?
· How does energy move through an ecosystem?
· What are some of the roles of the organisms in ecosystems?
· How does an organism’s structure enable it to survive in its environment?
· Why do you find similar groups of organisms in similar environments around the Earth.
· Why is the cycling of matter important to life on Earth?
· What factors affect population size and how does the size of a population affect its environment?
· How do human activities shape local and global ecology over time?
· How can we protect/use our natural resources wisely?
Prerequisite Knowledge…You should:
Be familiar with the characteristics of living things.
Suggested Resources…
Note Packets and Homework Packets
Classwork Assignments
Laboratory Activities
Formative Assessments
Websites: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss5/biome/]
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/world_biomes.htm
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0309/quickflicks/
Textbook – Biology (Miller and Levine, 2010) (Sections 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.2, 4.4, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4)
By the conclusion of this unit, you should know the following:
Ecology is the study of organisms and their interactions with the
environment.
1. The environment is a system of interdependent components with living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) factors.
2. There is a hierarchy of complexity into which living things are organized, from the biosphere to the atoms that make up cells.
3. There are a variety of different large-scale ecosystems called biomes each with characteristic flora and fauna; Livingston, NJ is part of a temperate deciduous forest biome.
4. The sun is the ultimate source of energy for most ecosystems. As a result, organisms exhibit different strategies to obtain this energy (directly or indirectly).
5. A food web consists of interconnected food chains.
6. An organism’s role in the ecosystem is its niche. A species is a group of organisms that can breed to produce fertile offspring.
7. All living things get the energy they need from food.
8. Energy relationships can be represented in a graphical depiction called a pyramid.
There are 2 major types of biological molecules that provide energy for
organisms (carbohydrates and lipids).
Elements can cycle in various molecular forms through the biosphere. The
carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and water cycles are examples essential to life.
Matter cycles through food chains but energy must continually be supplied.
There are varying levels of biodiversity found in the different biomes.
There are a variety of interactions that are possible within and among
species.
By the conclusion of this unit, you should be able to do the following:
Describe the study of ecology, the components of an ecosystem, and the methods used to study ecology.
What is Ecology? What makes up an ecosystem? How do scientists study Ecology?
Explain how biotic and abiotic factors influence an ecosystem, focusing on Livingston’s temperate deciduous forest biome.
What impact do the living and non-living components in an ecosystem have on the success of that ecosystem? Relate this concept to Livingston’s biome and the many ecosystems present in the temperate deciduous forest.
Distinguish between the varying levels of ecological hierarchy.
What are the ecological levels of organization? How can you differentiate between each level? (Begin with species and end with biosphere.)
Compare and contrast the terms producer, consumer, and decomposer and identify how each obtains energy and nutrients.
What are the similarities between a producer, consumer and decomposer?
What are the differences between a producer, consumer and decomposer?
How do producers, consumers and decomposers get their nutrients and energy?
Explain why nutrients are important in living systems.
Why are nutrients important to living systems?
Identify components of food chain/webs.
What makes up a food chain? What makes up a food web?
Develop a model of a food web and predict the consequences of change on the proper functioning of the food web.
Can you create a food web? What happens to a food web if one component of the web is altered? Can you relate the consequence to all organisms in that food web?
Differentiate between the concepts of trophic levels and producers and consumers.
What is the difference in trophic levels of producers compared to the trophic levels of the varying types of consumers?
Describe how the availability of nutrients affects the productivity of ecosystems.
How does the availability of nutrients (how easily it is to obtain food) affect how an ecosystem functions?
Apply the term niche to a local organism.
What is the niche of an organism you would find in Livingston? How does this organism do its job and obtain its nutrients in that niche?
Identify the three types (energy, biomass, & numbers) of ecological pyramids.
Can you differentiate between and interpret the three types of ecological pyramids?
Explain where organisms get the energy they need for life processes.
Where do organisms get the energy they need to be able to undergo all the chemical (metabolic) reactions necessary to survive?
Sequence the steps of photosynthesis and cell respiration and illustrate the relationship between the two.
What are the equations for photosynthesis and cellular respiration? Can you create a picture showing how photosynthesis and cellular respiration are related?
Explain the role of bacteria in the N cycle.
What purpose do bacteria serve in the nitrogen cycle?
Explain how decomposition plays a role in the cycling of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen.
What is decomposition? How does decomposition help ensure that carbon, oxygen and nitrogen are cycled within the environment?
Describe how water cycles through the biosphere.
How does water cycle through the biosphere? What is the water cycle?
Compare and contrast the flow of energy and matter through an ecosystem.
What are the similarities of the way matter and energy flow through an ecosystem?
What are the differences of the way matter and energy flow through an ecosystem?
Identify the three types of symbiotic relationships in nature.
What are the different types of symbiotic relationships? Can you identify the different types of symbiotic relationships?
ECOLOGY KEY TERMS
Page # in note packet / Words Found in the Glossary1) Ecology:
2) Species:
3) Population:
4) Community:
5) Ecosystem:
6) Biome:
7) Biosphere:
8) Biotic Factors:
9) Abiotic Factors:
10) Autotroph:
11) Heterotroph:
12) Primary Producer:
13) Photosynthesis:
14) Chemosynthesis:
15) Consumer:
16) Carnivore:
17) Herbivore:
18) Scavenger:
19) Omnivore:
20) Decomposer:
21) Detritivore
22) Food Chain:
23) Food Web:
24) Phytoplankton:
25) Trophic Level:
26) Niche:
27) Tolerance:
28) Habitat:
29) Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP):
30) Biogeochemical Cycle:
31) Biomass:
32) Calorie:
33) Commensalism:
34) Competitive Exclusion Principle:
35) Denitrification:
36) Ecological Pyramid:
37) Keystone Species:
38) Limiting Nutrient:
39) Minerals:
40) Mutualism:
41) Nitrogen Fixation:
42) Nutrients:
43) Predation:
44) Symbiosis:
45) Trophic Level:
46) Vitamins:
47) Zooplankton:
Page # in note packet / Words NOT Found in the Glossary (but are within the textbook)
48) Pyramid of Biomass (p. 78):
49) Pyramid of Numbers (p. 78):
50) Water Cycle (p. 81):
51) Carbon Cycle (p. 82):
52) Nitrogen Cycle (p. 84):
Page # in note packet / Words NOT Found in the Textbook
53) Organism:
54) Environment:
55) Competition:
56) Intraspecific:
57) Interspecific:
58) Biogeochemical Process:
59) Condensation:
60) Energy Pyramid:
61) Fossil Fuels:
62) Groundwater:
63) Parasitism:
64) Precipitation:
65) Primary Productivity:
66) Runoff: