4/13/16 Aim: How Can We
Describe Ecology and the terms
used in the unit.
Do Now: What do you think an ecosystem is?
List some parts of an ecosystem.
What is Ecology?
H.W.: text read pages 79-80 answer the
reading check on page 80
Ecology
The study of
the
relationships
between
organisms and
their
environments.
What is an Ecosystem?
• An ecosystem is a group of organisms and
their environment.
• Examples of an ecosystem are: Pond,
forest, fish tank, desert.
What is Ecology?
• Ecology is the study of
organisms and their
environments.
• An Environment is the
surroundings of an
organism.
• An Organism is any living
thing
What do organisms get
from their
environment?
• Organisms need Food, Gases, Water,
Shelter, and proper Temperature.
What are the two types of
Factors in an ecosystem?
• An Abiotic Factor is any non-living
part of an environment.
• Examples are: Light, water, air, soil,
and rocks.
• A Biotic Factors is any Living part
of an environment.
• Examples are: Animals, plants,
fungi, protists and bacteria.
Thursday 4/14/16
• AIM: What are some relationships in an
ecosystem?
• DO NOW: List at least 4 abiotic and biotic
factors you personally come in contact
with every day
• HOMEWORK: text questions 1 and 2
page 84
What is a Community?
• A community is all of the biotic factors in
an ecosystem. A group of different
populations living in the same place at
the same time
• What is a population?
• A Population is individuals within the
same species living in an ecosystem.
• Examples are: # of bald
What is a Habitat?
• A Habitat is an organisms home.
• Examples are: Under a rock, a nest, hole
in a tree.
• What does a habitat provide?
• All the things the organisms
need to survive.
• Ex: Shelter, food, water.
What is a Niche?
• A Niche is the role an organism plays in an
ecosystem and its environment
• The job of an organism
• – How it obtains food and shelter, finds a
mate, cares for young, and avoids danger.
• Examples are: Decomposer, herbavore in a
field and herbavore in a tree are separate
niches.
Niches of Biotic Factors
• Producer
Make all of the food for
the entire ecosystem
Autotroph
auto: self
troph: feeder
• Consumer
Cannot make their
own food. Must
obtain elsewhere
Heterotroph
hetero: other
troph: feeder
Introduction to Habitat and
Niche. - YouTube
NICHE of Consumers or
heterotrophs
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Herbivores: primary consumers
Omnivores: primary or secondary consumers
Carnivores: secondary consumers
Decomposer
Predators or Prey
Parasite or host
Scavenger
How can different organisms
occupy the same habitat yet
still survive?
Aim: How can we describe
how organisms affect
each other?
• Do Now: Explain the difference between
an Ecosystem, a
community and
population?
Assessment
• 1-Explain the difference between:
A- biotic and abiotic
B-Niche and habitat.
• 2-the occupation of an organism is its
________.
• 3-Food, shelter and water are provided by
an organisms ______
How do Organisms
affect each other?
• Competition:
• when two different species need the
same resources from the environment.
• When two species occupy the same
niche, the competition increases
• Examples are: deer and Elk in
the same forest.
Symbiosis
• Two different species of organisms live
and interact in a close relationship within
the ecosystem
Monday 4/18/16
• AIM: how do organisms effect each other?
• DO NOW: What is symbiosis?
• What does it mean to have a + + symbiotic
relationship?
• HW: Textbook read pages 86-88. RC on
page 88 questions 1 and 2 pg 89
Mutualism(+,+)
• Mutualism is when two different species
help each other out.
• Examples are: Sea anemone and clown
fish; butterfly and flower.
Commensalism Sea Anemone
and Clownfish 3'48 - YouTube
Parasitism(+,-)
• Parasitism is when one organism takes
advantage of another.
• Examples are: Fleas and ticks on dogs.
• Human tapeworm
Commensalism(+,0)
• Commensalism is when one organism
lives on another but does not hurt the
other organism.
• Examples are: Moss on a tree.
Remora fish on shark
Bond Between Sharks and
Remoras 1 - YouTube
Predation (+,-)
• One organism kills another for food
• Predator: hunter
• Prey: hunted
Aim: How can we describe the
different Biomes of
Earth?
• Do Now: Compare and contrast
Mutualism and Parasitism.
• H.W.: Make sure you have last nights HW.
• TONIGHT: Textbook pg 120 q 8 and 9
What are limiting factors?
• Limiting factors are things that control the
size of the populations of a species.
• Examples are: Predators/prey, food,
water, disease, weather.
Carrying capacity
• The maximum amount of organisms an
ecosystem can successfully sustain
• As carrying capacity is reached,
population size decreases
Skip to slide 39
H.W.: Textbook read pages 688690. Reading check on page 689.
Define and give at least 1
example of a limiting factor
• AIM: What are the characteristics of a
biome?
• DO NOW: Explain the difference between
mutualism and parasitism.
• Homework: Textbook page 691 Reading
check
Biomes
There are 6 major biomes on
Earth.
What is a Biome?
• A biome is an environment with a specific
climate (weather) and ecological
community (organisms) plant and animals
Think about a desert.
• What is the climate in a desert?
• What type of animals do you expect to
find?
• Plants?
• Do these characteristics change when you
go to deserts on different continents?
1. Deciduous Forest
• Four seasons – warm summer + cool
winters.
• Trees lose leaves in fall.
• Very fertile soil.
• Oak, elm, maple, beech
• Deer, squirrels, birds, fox
• Deforestation (cutting down the forest) is
a problem.
2. Coniferous Forest
• Cold and Moist.
• Conifer trees (have needles + produce
cones).
• Poor soil
• Bear, lynx, owls, mouse, beaver.
• Found in mountains.
• Deforestation is a problem.
3. Rain
•
•
•
•
Forest
Hot and wet – lots of rain.
Tropical – near equator.
Trees grow all year.
Large variety of organisms
(biodiversity)
• Parrots, lizards, monkeys, frogs
• Animals live in trees.
• Deforestation is a problem.
4. Desert
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hot and very dry.
Plants store water in leaves and trunks.
Cactus and shrubs.
Lizards, rodents, camels.
Many animals are nocturnal.
Irrigation for farming is a problem.
5. Grassland/Savanna
• Mostly grasses – not enough rain for trees.
• USA – bison, mice, snakes, hawks.
• Africa – lions, zebra, antelope.
• Overuse by farmers and cattle is a
problem.
Aim: How can we describe
Energy roles and
Energy
Flow in an
ecosystem?
• Do Now: 1. Take out H.W.
•
• H.W.:
2.
6. Tundra
•
•
•
•
Cold and dry.
Frozen soil called permafrost.
Small plants, grasses, lichens, moss.
Caribou, wolves, oxen, fox.
Have thick fur to stay warm.
• Oil drilling can be a problem here.
Thursday 5/7/15
• AIM: how does energy flow through the
ecosystem?
• DO NOW: Explain the difference between
a decomposer and a scavenger
• Red bookq 13 pg 136
Thursday 4/21/16
• AIM: How does energy flow through an
ecosystem?
• DO NOW: List the specific climate, animal
and plant life in floral park.
• HOMEWORK: Textbook page 695
questions 1 and 3
Energy Roles and Energy
Flow in an Ecosystem.
All Energy enters an ecosystem
from the sun and is cycled in the
ecosystem through the organisms
which Live there.
Producer
• A producer is an organism which makes its
own food.
• Ex: Plants.
• Any green plant
or algae
Autotroph: self feeder
Make food through photosynthesis
Consumer
• A consumer is an organism which eats
other organisms.
• Heterotroph: other feeder: must get food
from other sources
• There are 5 types of consumers:
– Herbivore.
– Carnivore.
– Omnivore.
– Scavenger.
– Decomposer.
Herbivores
• A Herbivore is an animal that eats Only
plants.
• They are primary consumers
• Examples are: deer, cow, horse, rabbit.
Friday4/22/16
• AIM: How do food webs display energy
flow through the ecosystem?
• DO NOW: Explain the difference between
an autotroph and heterotroph. Which one
are you?
• Homework: Take home test DUE
TUESDAY
Carnivores
• A carnivore is an animal that eats Only
animals.
• Are secondary or higher consumers
• Examples are: Snake, owl, lion, shark.
Omnivores
• An Omnivore is an animal that eats both
plants and animals.
• Examples are: Rat, raccoon, bear, human.
Scavengers
• A Scavenger is an animal that eats dead
organisms.
• Examples are: Vulture, hyena,
ants.
Decomposers
• A Decomposer is an organism which
breaks down dead organisms and wastes
into simple substances and returns them
to the soil.
• Recyclers
• Examples are: Bacteria, fungi.
• Scavenger: follows living things and waits
for them to die before eating.
• Decomposer: breaks down dead and
decaying matter to release unused energy
back into the ecosystem
Monday5/2/16
• AIM: What are pyramid relationships in an
ecosystem?
• DO NOW: 1- Explain the difference
between a producer and a consumer
• 2-Where does ALL of our energy come
from?
• HOMEWORK: text read pages 86-89.
answer question 3 on page 89
How do consumers extract
energy from the ecosystem?
Producers use sunlight energy to make
glucose
Consumers break down glucose and
make ATP
Producers or autotrophs
• Make the energy for the entire ecosystem
• HOWEVER: producers are living things
– They need to use some of the energy for their
own life processes
– Specifically each feeding level only gets 10%
of the energy in the previous level
Food Chains
• Food chains show ONE path of ENERGY
() from one organism to another.
• Example of a food chain is as follows:
Grain  Grasshopper 
Mouse

Owl
Producer Consumer
Consumer
Consumer
Autotroph Herbivore
Carnivore
Carnivore
Energy Pyramids
• show relationships between these
organisms in a balanced ecosystem
• Bottom=maximum amount
Owl .1%
Mouse 1%
Grasshopper 10%
Grain 100% Suns Energy
Sun
As Energy Flows through the
Food Pyramid from bottom to
top…
1. Size of the organism Increases.
(Predators are larger than prey).
2. Number of the organisms decrease.
(more prey than predators).
3. Mass of the organisms decreases.
(fewer organisms on top).
4. Energy available decreases. (energy is
lost from life process).
What happens to the energy at
each level in the pyramid?
• Some of it is used
• Some is lost as heat
Questions
Raccoon
Frogs
Mosquito Larvae
Algae
1- The mosquito larvae
are: consumers
2- why do algae form the
base of the pyramid?
they are producers
3- Why does the size of
each level decrease as you
move up?
looses energy
need less organisms
Tuesday5/3/16
• AIM: How is food cycled within an
ecosystem?
• DO NOW: Explain why the number of
individuals decreases as you move up a
pyramid.
• HOMEWORK: Textbook pg 89 questions
1 and 2
Pyramid of Numbers
Question
• If an oak tree leaf produces 500 grams of
energy and a chipmunk eats the leaf, will
the chipmunk get all 500 grams of energy?
WHY OR WHY NOT
Why is energy lost at each
trophic level of the food chain?
Because it is used by the
organism
1/10 of energy is used and
released as heat at each trophic
level
Energy Pyramid
Energy Flow
1. The ultimate source of energy for the
ecosystem:
sunlight
2. Energy changes:
light  chemical energy of organics 
heat
3. Most of the energy captured by an organism
is:
used to run it’s metabolism
4. Only about 10% of the energy captured by
one group of organisms is available to the
group that feeds on them
How can we demonstrate
energy or food flow through an
ecosystem?
Food chain song - Google Search
food chain – YouTube
Thursday 5/5/16
• AIM: how are feeding relationships
displayed within an ecosystem?
• DO NOW: Handout pg 23-24
• Homework:
1-Explain how this specific food web would be
effected if the owl population became extinct.
2-Why are there arrows pointing from all organisims
to the bacteria?
What is a food chain?
• Shows the individual levels of energy flow
within an ecosystem.
• Ex: corn-> mouse-> owl
What is a food web?
• A food web shows how energy flows
through an ecosystem.
• Food web contains many food chains.
• More realistic than a food chain
• There are multiple species at each feeding
level
Food Web
a) the greater the biodiversity (variety of
species) in a food web, the greater it’s
stability
b) The more organisms at each feeding
level, the more realistic and balanced
Give Examples of a Food Chain
from the Food Web.
A. Grass  Rabbit  hawk
B. Algae  Fish  human.
What is a Food Web?
• A Food Web shows many paths of
energy in a community.
Organism
Carrot
Grass
Grain
Rabbit
Grasshopper
Mouse
Bird
Fox
Owl
Role
Producer
Producer
Producer
Herbavore
Herbavore
Omnivore
Omnivore
Carnivore
Carnivore
Food
Sunlight, CO2, H2O
Sunlight, CO2, H2O
Sunlight, CO2, H2O
Carrot, grass
Grass, Grains
Grasshopper, grains
Grasshopper, grains
Rabbit, mouse, bird
Mouse, grasshopper