Set
Cornell Notesand
on pg.
31.1upPathogens
Human Illness
85
13.1
Ecologists
2.1
Atoms,
Ions, Study Relationships
and Molecules
•Topic: 13.1 Ecologists
Study Relationships
Key Concept
•Essential Question(s):
1. What is the importance
of studying the Levels of
Organization?
Ecology is the study of
the relationships
among organisms and
their environment.
31.1 Pathogens and Human Illness
PLEASE TURN IN
“LABEL THAT PIG”
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Pg. 84
What does the word relationship
mean to you?
• examples
31.1 Pathogens and Human Illness
Introduction to Ecology (3m20s)
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Key Concept
Ecology is the study of the relationships
among organisms and their environment.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Ecology is the study of the interactions among living things,
and between living things and their surroundings.
Pg. 84:
If you were
an
ecologist,
what types
of questions
would you
want
answered
about this
Grizzly
Bear?
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
• A bear’s
interactions with
other living
things
• Social
interactions with
other bears?
• What animals and
plants does it
interact with?
• In its surrounding
• Where it lives
• What does it eat?
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Ecologists study environments at different levels of
organization.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Levels of Organization
• Ecologists study nature on different levels, from a local to
global scale
• These levels, reveal the complex relationships found in
nature
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Name those Levels of Organization!
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Organism
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Population
Organism
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Population
Organism
Community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Ecosystem
Population
Organism
Community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Biome
Ecosystem
Population
Organism
Community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Biosphere
Biome
Ecosystem
Population
Organism
Community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
What type of ecosystem is portrayed in this picture?
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
1. An organism is an individual
living thing
Ex: alligator
Organism
Organism
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
2. A population is a group of the
same species that lives in one
area
Ex: alligators
Population
Population
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
3. A community is a group of
different species that live together in
one area.
Ex: alligators, turtles, grass, and birds.
Community
Community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
4. An ecosystem includes all of the
living organisms as well as the nonliving things Ex: All animals, plants,
soil, water, rocks and other nonliving
things
Ecosystem
Ecosystem
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
5. A biome is a major regional or global
community of organisms characterized
by the climate conditions and plant
communities that thrive there.
Ex:
Tropical
rainforest,
grassland,
desert,
deciduous
forest, rain
forest,
taiga,
tundra
Biome
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
With a partner: Create your own Levels of Organization Diagram
Must include: each L.O.O, labels, color, circles, one
paragraph description of your diagram describing what is in
each level
(may NOT use the example provided in class)
*Might be easier to start with an animal you know something about
Pg. 397
Organism: 1 animal (Alligator)
Population: animals (Alligators)
Community: animals and plants (Alligators, turtles, birds, moss,)
Ecosystem: living and non-living
Biome: desert, ocean, chaparral, rainforest, forest, mountains, fresh
water, grassland, savanna, etc…. (463)
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Levels of Organizations
• Ecologists study relationships within each level of
organization and also between levels
– For example, researchers may study the
relationships within a population of alligators, as
well as relationships between alligators and turtles
in a community
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Ecological Research Methods
• Scientists rely on a variety of methods and tools to
conduct research
• Tools can range form a simple tape measure used to find
an organism’s size to a sophisticated computer model of
an entire ecosystem
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Ecological research methods:
1. Observation is the act of carefully watching something
over time.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
–Direct surveys used for
species that are easy to
follow. Ex: You count
how many deer are in the
field
–Indirect surveys are used
for species that are difficult
to track and include looking
for other signs of their
presence. Ex: Looking for
feces or a recent kill
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
2. Experiments:
Lab experiments
• Give researchers control
Ex: You want to test how a fungus reacts to heat.
In your lab experiment you turn up the temperature.
• Done inside
Negative: not reflective
of the complex
interactions in nature.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Field experiments
• give a more accurate picture of how organisms
interact in a natural setting
• performed where the organisms live
Negative: may not help determine actual cause
and effect.
Ex: You want to know the effect deer have on a type of
grass in the forest, so you block off a part of the forest to
keep out the deer. By monitoring the fenced and unfenced
area, you can determine the deer’s effect on the grass.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
If observation and experimentation don’t work…turn to
modeling
3. Modeling allows scientists to learn about organisms or
ecosystems in ways that would not be possible in a natural
or lab setting.
• Computer and mathematical models can be used to
describe and model nature. Ex: GPS transmitter
Ecologists use data transmitted by
GPS receivers worn by elephants to
develop computer models of the
animal’s movements.
GPS
transmitter
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
GPS and Elephant Conservation
• GPS and Anti-poaching Effort(1m44s)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSoI5dvtZcc
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Estimating Population Size Activity
• Objective: Estimate the size of a sample population using
the mark-recapture technique. Be able to apply the
technique to new population problems and compare the
mark and recapture technique to other methods of
population estimation.
13.1 Ecologists Study Relationships
Classwork pg. 84 (398-400 in book)
• Summarize the three general methods used by
ecologists to study organisms
• Come up with NEW examples of each
1. Apply: What ecological research methods would you use
to study bird migration? Explain.
2. Apply: How might an ecologist use modeling to study fire
in a forest ecosystem? What might be some key variable
used to create the model?