YEAR 12 ECOLOGY OVERIVEW
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Classification
o What is it?
o How do you classify organisms?
o Levels of classification
o Resources
 EiB pp 1-10
 Biozone:
 The new tree of life
 Features of taxonomic groups
 Features of the five kingdoms
 Classification system
 Classification keys
 Keying out plant species
 Websites:
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http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/animal_1.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks3bitesize/science/organisms_beha
viour_health/variation_classification/revise7.shtml - very basic good
diagrams
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel/enviro
nment/characteristicsandclassificationrev4.shtml - intermediate
with better explanation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway/e
nvironment/0_ecology_organisms5.shtml - species and naming
What are ecosystems
o Features and attributes
 Niche
 Habitat
 Population
 Community
o Gause’s principle
 Window and notch caterpillar investigation
o Resources
 EiB pp 11, 15, 26, 27
 Biozone:
 Components of an ecosystem
 Habitats
 Habitat preference in mudfish
 Ecological Niche
 Ecological Niches
 Powerpoint
 Mix and match activity
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Components of an ecosystem
o Biotic
 Living things
o Abiotic
 Non-living things
o Practical investigations looking at different components and how
they relate
o Resources
 EiB pp 11-13
 Biozone:
 Physical factors and gradients
 Powerpoint
Tolerance range and limiting factors
o What are they
o What affect do they have on individuals
o What affect do they have on whole populations
o Effect on population growth
 Tolerance levels
 Zone of death
 Physiological stress
 Optimum range
 Preferred niche
 Bell shaped curves
o Guest speaker DOC on factors currently affecting ecosystems in
the North
o Resources
 EiB pp 14, 20-23
 Biozone:
 Law of tolerances
 Powerpoint
Adaptations
o How do they affect the survival of an organism in its habitat
o Types
 Structural
 Physiological
 Behavioural
o Resources
 Videos to watch
 Plant adaptations
 Animal adaptations
 EiB p11
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Biozone:
 Animal adaptations
 Plant adaptations
 Adaptations of hydrophytes
 Mangrove adaptations
 Insectivorous plants
Powerpoint

Survivorship
o R strategists
o K strategists
o Survivorship curves
o Resources
 EiB pp 23-25
 Biozone:
 Features of populations
 Density and distribution
 Population regulation
 Population growth
 Life tables and survivorship
 Survivorship curves
 Population growth curves
 Growth in a bacterial population
 r and k selection
 Population age structure
 Powerpoint
 Websites to use:
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http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobookpope
col.html#Population Growth
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/ocr_gateway/e
nvironment/5_population_sustainability1.shtml
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep12tg.htm - activity
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep12a.htm - limiting factors
http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep12.htm - population
dynamics
Community patterns
o Succession
o Stratification
o Zonation
o Trip to Mair park to observe various patterns
o Resources
 EiB pp 36-38
 Biozone:
 Stratification in a forest
 Shoreline zonation
 Zonation with altitude
 Ecological succession
Powerpoint
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Field studies
o Components in various ecosystems
o Counting populations
o Recording data
o Processing data
o Making conclusions/interpreting data
o Formative assessment at pool
o Resources
 EiB pp 20-21
 IoL pp 80-81
 Biozone:
 Designing your field study
 Monitoring physical factors
 Sampling populations
 Quadrat sampling
 Quadrat based estimates
 Sampling animal populations
 Transect sampling
 Sampling a leaf litter population
 Mark and recapture sampling
 Indirect sampling
 Drawing kite graphs
 Recording results
 Transforming raw data
Nutrient cycling
o Food chains/food webs
o Food pyramids
o Nutrient cycling
 Carbon
 Nitrogen
 Water
o Resources
 EiB pp 28-36
 Biozone:
 Food chains
 Constructing a food web
 Energy input and outputs
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 Energy flow in an ecosystem
 Ecological pyramids
 The carbon cycle
 The nitrogen cycle
Websites
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway/g
reenworld/recyclingrev1.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr/biosph
ere/biocompoundsrev3.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/foodc
hains/foodchainact.shtml - activity
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_gateway/g
reenworld/recyclingrev2.shtml
http://www.tfi.org/factsandstats/fertilizer.cfm - nitrogen fertiliser
Relationships
o Inter vs intra
o Species interrelationships
 Mutualism
 Competition
 Exploitation
 Predation
 Parasitism
o Resources
 EiB pp14-19
 Biozone:
 Species interactions
 Mutualism
 Parasitism
 Predator-prey strategies
 Predator-prey interactions
 Intraspecific competition
 Interspecific competition
 Powerpoint
Biodiversity
o Relate biodiversity to environmental change in the habitat
o Actual rocky shore study
o Resources
 Biozone:
 Managing NZ’s biodiversity
 Protecting NZ’s Natural heritage
 Managing forestry resources
 Loss of biodiversity