MCHS Biology
Ecology Unit
Objective #1 Activities
Mrs. Engelbrecht
2010-2011
Ecology—An Introduction
Objective #1
A. I can describe what is studied in ecology.
B. I can write the difference between and give examples of abiotic and biotic factors in the biosphere.
C. I can illustrate how the following words are connected: organism, population, community,
ecosystem, biome, biosphere
Vocabulary Practice
A. Word Parts:
Look up what the word parts listed below mean. Write the meaning next to the word in the chart
below. (Use my old-fashioned dictionaries to help you!)
Word Part
Meaning
eco-ology
abio-ic
B. Guess what the words below mean, using the word parts you defined above. Only fill out the first
column!
Word
ecology
abiotic factor
biotic factor
organism
First Try—Guess
using word parts
Second Try—
Discuss with a
Partner
Third Try—After
Reading
population
community
ecosystem
biome
biosphere
C. Discuss what you thought the words meant with the people at your table. Come to an agreement as
to what you think the word means, and write your table’s definition in the second column. (NO
ARROWS OVER!)
Reading for Understanding—Practice
D. Read the absolutely fascinating passage about ecology on the next page. Don’t write anything—just
read the passage from beginning to end.
E. Re-read the passage a second time, doing the tasks listed below:
1. Underline all of the vocabulary words listed in your chart above.
2. Put a box around any examples of the word.
3. In the third column of the chart above, summarize what you think the word means. Use the
examples in the passage to help you come up with your own definition. Then, discuss what you
came up with the people at your table. Your instructor will review the words with you
after your discussion.
Ecology—An Overview
What do you think of when you hear the word “ecology?” Write the first few words that
come to mind in the space below.
While everyone has probably heard the word “ecology” before, not everyone is clear as
to what it means. Most people think that ecology has to do with all the stuff about the
environment, like not killing trees, saving endangered species, recycling your plastic
bottles and cans, and “going green.” Well, the field of ecology does involve those things,
but it is so much more than that.
Ecology is all about studying connections—connections between organisms, and
connections between organisms and their environment. For example, study the food
web below:
This food web shows how all organisms in an area are connected to each other by
showing which organisms feed off other organisms. The grasshopper eats the grasses,
but the grasshopper is the food source of the grouse. However, this diagram also
represents how organisms in an area are dependent on one another. Let’s say that
humans clearing forested areas to build more houses, industrial parks, and parking lots
has destroyed where elk normally live. Consequently, the elk populations, having
nowhere to live or search for food, slowly start decreasing. This, in turn, will cause an
increase in the population of the grasses (because not as many organisms will be
feasting on them), and cause the grizzly bears to lose a major source of protein from
their diets. Thus, other organisms are dependent on the elks—if they are “pulled out” of
the food web, other parts of the web start to collapse! So, it would be safe to say that
part of ecology is studying how organisms are interconnected with other living
organisms. Since, in science, we can’t just say “living organisms” (because that is easy
to understand), we have a special name for living organisms in ecology—they are called
biotic factors.
However, organisms are not just connected to other biotic factors in ecology—they are
also connected to and dependent upon factors in their environment as well. These
factors in an organism’s environment that those organisms are dependent upon are
called abiotic factors. For example, in the food web above, all of those organisms have
a specific temperature at which they can comfortably live, and they all need a certain
amount of water from rainfall in order to survive. The grasses need a certain amount of
sunlight to carry out photosynthesis and a certain type of soil in which to grow most
efficiently. From these examples, it is clear that organisms are not only connected to
other organisms—they are also connected to nonliving factors in their environment that
affect how well they can survive in that environment.
So far, we have looked at what ecology is on a small scale—a few organisms connected
together in a small environment. However, as was said before, ecology is much more
than this—it involves connections between biotic and abiotic factors in small and large
areas. Ecology starts with the study of individual organisms and their adaptations to
survive and reproduce in their environment. It then looks at how a group of organisms
that are the same species living in the same area (called a population) interact and are
connected. From there, ecology then looks at how many populations living in the same
area (each population consisting of different species) are connected to each other and
any abiotic factors in their environment. These populations living in the same area, along
with the abiotic factors that affect them, are called communities. Ecology then studies
how those communities interact and are connected with each other and the nonliving
factors in their environment—this is studying at the ecosystem level. When ecologists
study many ecosystems together and how they are connected, they are studying
biomes; and when all the biomes are combined together, that makes up something
called the biosphere—the part of the Earth that is living, along with all of the abiotic
factors that contribute to all living things’ survival. Below is an example of a diagram of
the relationship between all the levels, or hierarchy, of study in ecology:
Organism  Population  Community  Ecosystem  Biome  Biosphere
Translating this into words, this would mean:
A group of organisms in the same area make up a population. A group of populations in
the same area, each of which represent different species, makes up a community. Many
communities in an area plus the abiotic factors in which they live make up an
ecosystem, and many ecosystems in one area make up a biome. All of the biomes on
Earth, which represent the “layer” of the Earth that is alive, is called the biosphere.
Using the above illustration as a guide, draw your own picture of how the words above
are connected in the space below. Then, underneath your picture, “translate” it into
words.
As you can see, ecology is much more than just recycling your plastic bottles and saving
the whales. Ecology is, essentially, the study of interactions and interconnections—how
all organisms are connected to each other, and how they are connected to their
environments. In a larger sense, it studies why “no organism is an island;” you cannot
study one organism, population, community, ecosystem, or biome without studying how
it affects another organism, population, community, ecosystem, and biome.
Making Connections & Summarizing Your Understanding
F. Word Sort & Summary
Using the list of words below, decide which words go together (in other words, which words are
related to each other in some way). Then, in the boxes below the words, write those words together in
the same box. After you have done that, then give each box a title that indicates why those words go
together. You must have AT LEAST TWO GROUPS.
ecology
biome
abiotic factors
ecosystem
community
biosphere
population
biotic factors
organism
Connection: _______________________________________
Connection: _______________________________________
Connection: ________________________________________
Using ALL the words and the connections you just made, write 2-3 sentences in the space below that
summarizes how all the words are connected. So, not only do you have to write out the connections
you just made, but you also have to connect all the groups of words you formed.
Working Towards Mastery of the I Can Statements—Practice
G. Answer the questions below. Do them on your own first, then discuss your answers with the people
at your table. The instructor will review the answers after all discussions are finished.
a. What is studied ecology?
b. Fill in the differences chart below:
Abiotic factor
Biotic factor
Difference:
Difference:
Example:
Example:
c. Finish the analogy below:
Organism, population, community, ecosystem, biome, and biosphere are connected JUST LIKE
______________________________________________________________________________________ are connected because
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
d. Make a DIFFERENT picture or diagram of how the words below are connected. “Translate”
your picture into words in the space below your drawing.
Rate Your Understanding of the I Can Statements
Score yourself on how well you have mastered the I can statements using the rubric below:
I can statement
0 = No
evidence of
learning
1=
Beginning
2=
Progressing
3=
Proficient
Ecology—Introduction
1A. I can describe what is studied
in ecology.
1B. I can write the difference and
give examples of abiotic and biotic
factors.
1C. I can illustrate how the
following words are connected:
organism, population, community,
ecosystem, biome, biosphere.
Determine Your Understanding of the I Can Statements
1)Take the Exit Ticket provided by your instructor.
2) Check your answers when you are finished.
3) Mark whatever you did not get correct on your exit ticket.
4) Re-rate yourself on how well you have mastered the I can statements in the rubric above.
5) Staple this page to the back of your Exit Ticket and turn it in to your period’s box.
4=
Advanced