AP Biology, Ecology Unit, Week 1
Why are the cattle egrets in relationship
with the water buffalo? What additional
relationships exist in this scene?
Day
Agenda Items




Homework
Monday, 8/30
Are you ready for
AP?
Team Building
Summer
Assignment
Discussion—Asking
questions and
thinking deeply
about why things
are the way they
are
Four BIG IDEAS in
AP Biology
Chapter 1
AP Biology, Ecology, 8/30/10
Tuesday, 8/31
Community Ecology
 Levels of organization
in an ecosystem
 Ecological
Relationships
 Interdependence:
Why are species in
relationship w/ each
other?
 Science is about
asking
questions…why does
a mockingbird mock?
 Observe examples in
nature
Chapter 47
Wednesday, 9/1
Feedback Loops
 How do symbiotic
relationships rely
on feedback
mechanisms?
 How does
population
distribution &
abundance rely on
feedback
mechanisms?
Thursday, 9/2
Applied Community
Ecology—Forest
Field Lab
 Investigate
species
distribution &
abundance in
two forest plots
 Collect
quantitative &
qualitative data
Friday, 9/3
Forest Field Lab cont.
Observation Paper,
Due Friday
Work on
Observation Paper
Forest Field Lab Due
Friday, 9/10


Collect final data
(if necessary)
Analyze results
with lab team
AP Biology Curriculum Details, Community Ecology
Review this page to get a sense of the key concepts and main ideas each week. These are (mostly) derived directly from the
official AP Biology Curriculum. http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/2117.html
Enduring Understanding: Competition and cooperation are important aspects of biological systems (Community Ecology)
Essential Questions: Why do species interact in the ways they do? What is the purpose of relationships? Is interdependence always a
necessity, or can life survive independently?
Key Concepts
 Interactions between and within populations influence patterns of species distribution and abundance
 Global distribution of ecosystems changes substantially over time.
 POSITIVE & NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS
What will you need to know?
 Symbiotic & antagonistic interactions affect the
distributions and abundance of populations
 Competition, parasitism, predation, mutualism,
commensalism affect population dynamics
 Each relationship can be characterized to have positive and
negative effects on interacting populations
 Many complex symbiotic relationships exist in an
ecosystem and feedback control systems play a role in the
functioning of these ecosystems
 A population of an organism has different properties than
the individual organisms that make up the population. The
cooperation and competition b/w individuals contributes
to these different properties
AP Biology, Ecology, 8/30/10
What will you need to DO?
Refine observations and measurements on the effect of
population interactions on patterns of species distribution and
abundance based on data analysis





Observe symbiotic relationships in nature
Collect data on species distribution (forest plot analysis)
Write an observation paper to explore concepts
Read chapter 47
Connect science concepts to problems or scenarios in
nature (observed or otherwise)
AP Biology, Ecology, 8/30/10