Unit 2:
Ecology






Laboratory Investigations
 AP Biology Investigation: Animal Behavior
 AP Biology Investigation: Dissolved Oxygen and Primary Productivity
Estimated Time:
15 Days
Essential Questions Addressed
How do organisms use energy to maintain organization, growth, and reproduction?
How do changes in available energy result in changes in population size and disruption to an ecosystem?
How are biological systems from cells to populations, communities, and ecosystems affected by complex biotic and abiotic interactions involving
the exchange of matter and energy?
In what ways do communities interact within their environments that result in the movement of matter and energy?
In what ways do interactions between and within populations influence patterns of species distribution and amount of local and global ecosystem
changes over time?
How does the diversity of a species within an ecosystem influence the stability of the ecosystem?
Learning Objectives

Refine scientific models and questions
about the effect of complex biotic and
abiotic interactions on all biological
systems,
from cells and organisms to populations,
communities, and ecosystems.
[LO 2.22, SP 1.3, SP 3.2]
Justify scientific claims, using evidence, to
describe how timing and coordination of
behavioral events in organisms are
regulated by several mechanisms. [LO 2.39,
SP 6.1]
Analyze data to support the claim that
responses to information and
communication of information affect
Materials and Textbook Correlations
CH 51: Animal Behavior
o 51.1 Discrete sensory inputs can stimulate both simple and
complex behaviors
o 51.2 Learning establishes specific links between experience and
behavior
o 51.3 Both genetic makeup and environment contribute to the
development of behaviors
o 51.4 Selection for individual survival and reproduction can explain
most behaviors
o 51.5: Inclusive fitness can account for the evolution of altruistic
social behavior

CH 52: Water and the Fitness of the Environment (prior knowledge)
o 52.2 Interactions between organisms and the environment limit the
distribution of species

CH 53: Population Ecology
o 53.1 Dynamic biological processes influence population density,
dispersion, and demographics










Activities and Assessments
AP Biology Investigation: Animal
Behavior
AP Biology Investigation: Dissolved
Oxygen and Primary Productivity
completion of Student Study Guides
(Campbell) for relevant sections of
chapters 51 thru 56
multiple choice quiz on CH 51
multiple choice quiz on CH 52
multiple choice quiz on CH 53
multiple choice quiz on CH 54
multiple choice quiz on CH 55
practice “free response” essays from
previous AP Biology Exams (self-graded
with AP Biology rubric)
Unit Exam: CHs 51 thru 55 (MC, short
free-response (SFR), and long free-
Unit 2:
Ecology
Laboratory Investigations
 AP Biology Investigation: Animal Behavior
 AP Biology Investigation: Dissolved Oxygen and Primary Productivity
o
o
natural selection.
[LO 2.38, SP 5.1]
o
o
Connect concepts in and across domain(s)
to predict how environmental factors affect
responses to information and change
behavior. [LO 2.40, SP 7.2]
Design a plan for collecting data to show
that all biological systems (cells, organisms,
populations, communities, and ecosystems)
are affected by complex biotic and abiotic
interactions. [LO 2.23, SP 4.2, SP 7.2]
Analyze data to identify possible patterns
and relationships between a biotic or
abiotic factor and a biological system (cells,
organisms, populations, communities, or
ecosystems). [LO 2.24, SP 5.1]
Justify the selection of the kind of data
needed to answer scientific questions
about the interaction of populations within
communities. [LO 4.11, SP 1.4, SP 4.1]
Apply mathematical routines to quantities
that describe communities composed of
populations of organisms that interact in
complex ways. [LO 4.12, SP 2.2]
Predict the effects of a change in the
community’s populations on the
community. [LO 4.13, SP 6.4]
o
53.2 Life history traits are products of natural selection
53.3 The exponential model describes population growth in an
idealized, unlimited environment
53.4 The logistic model describes how a population grows more
slowly as it nears its carrying capacity
53.5 Many factors that regulate population growth are density
dependent
53.6 The human population is no longer growing exponentially but
is still increasing rapidly

CH 54: Community Ecology
o 54.1 Community interactions are classified by whatever they help,
harm, or have no effect on the species involved
o 54.2 Dominant and keystone species exert strong controls on
community structure
o 54.3 Disturbance influences species diversity and composition
o 54.4 Biogeographic factors affect community biodiversity
o 54.5 Community ecology is useful for understanding pathogen life
cycles and controlling human disease

CH 55: Ecosystems
o 55.1: Physical laws govern energy flow and chemical cycling in
ecosystems
o 55.2: Energy and other limiting factors control primary production
in ecosystems
o 55.3: Energy transfer between trophic levels is typically only 10%
efficient
o 55.4: Biological and geochemical processes cycle nutrients between
organic and inorganic parts of an ecosystem
o 55.5: Human activities now dominate most chemical cycles on
Earth
Estimated Time:
15 Days
response (LFR))
Unit 1:
Unit 2:
Ecology
Laboratory Investigations
 AP Biology Investigation: Animal Behavior
 AP Biology Investigation: Dissolved Oxygen and Primary Productivity
Use visual representations to analyze
situations or solve problems qualitatively to
illustrate how interactions among living
systems and with their environment result
in the movement of matter and energy.
[LO 4.15, SP 1.4]
Explain how the distribution of ecosystems
changes over time by identifying large-scale
events that have resulted in these changes
in the past. [LO 4.20, SP 6.3]
Predict consequences of human actions on
both local and global ecosystems.
[LO 4.21, SP 6.4]
Make scientific claims and predictions
about how species diversity within an
ecosystem influences ecosystem stability.
[LO 4.27, SP 6.4]

CH 56: Conservation Biology and Global Change
o 56.1: Human activities threaten Earth’s biodiversity
o 56.4: Restoration ecology attempts to restore a degraded area to a
more natural state.
Estimated Time:
15 Days