Course Title:
Lesson Title:
Advanced Plant and Soil Science (13002100)
Distinguishing between biotic and abiotic
TEKS Addressed in Lesson: 130.21(c) (6) (B) http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=5415#Subchapter A
Lesson Objectives: The student will be able to: identify the abiotic factors in different ecosystems.
Tools and Equipment
 Activity sheet titled “Abiotic Factors”
 index cards 4 x 6
 drawing paper
Key Terms / Vocabulary abiotic biotic
Interest Approach/Anticipatory Set
On your board or smart board write the words typical and atypical . Give each student an index card. Ask the students:
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What do the words typical and atypical mean to you? Define them in your own words.
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Review: typical means something that always happens and is expected. Atypical is something that is unexpected or doesn’t happen often.
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Ask students if they’ve ever heard of biology. Define biology as the study of life.
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Ask students what the definition of biotic might be, knowing what they know about biology. Give students time to develop the definition. Define biotic: Living parts of an ecosystem.
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Then ask what they might think the definition of abiotic is. Emphasize the definition of atypical as the opposite of typical. Pause for student time to develop definition. Define abiotic: The nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
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Activity: Give students “Abiotic Factor engagement activity” and have them complete it with their partner. Review.
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Start homework. The students will be asked to draw their backyard or outside area where they live. They are to draw three biotic organisms and three abiotic factors that be found

in their backyard. Ask them not to label the picture. The next day after the power point presentation their classmates will be asked to identify the elements in the drawing.
Teaching Plan and Strategy / Presentation of New Material
An ecosystem is simply an easy way to refer to all the life forms (plant and animal) in a cohesive, relatively independent area, and their relationship to one another. In a perfect world, an ecosystem is in balance.
Ecosystems are rarely in balance, and this is often a cause for alarm. For instance, pollution runoff from a factory can affect marine life in a lake, causing the fish population to plummet.
This destabilizes the entire surrounding ecosystem, and birds and animals that prey on the fish either die off or migrate to areas with more food.
Attempting to counteract damage to an ecosystem requires a complete understanding of all the interrelationships between plants, animals and atmosphere in the system.
The abiotic environment includes all the nonliving factors and processes in an ecosystem.
Sunlight, soil, water, and pollution, for example, are all important abiotic factors of an environment that affect life. The biotic environment, on the other hand, is composed of all the living organisms in an ecosystem, and includes factors such as disease, predators, prey, and human activity. Life depends on both the biotic and abiotic environments for survival.
Light from the sun, an abiotic environmental factor, makes life possible in almost all ecosystems.
Green plants take solar energy and convert it into chemical energy through photosynthesis. As animals eat the plants, the energy moves through the biotic environment and is eventually expended as heat. This basic flow of energy shows how closely abiotic and biotic components are linked. This cycle is called an open system because it relies on the sun, a source outside the earth.
Activity/Application/ Student Engagement /Laboratory
1.
After the class development of the definitions for biotic and abiotic, assign the “Abiotic
Factors engagement activity”.
2.
Give the students the instructions for the Biotic/Abiotic backyard drawing.
Evaluation / Summary
At the end of the class, close the activity with one partner giving their definition for biotic factors with one example and the second partner giving their definition for abiotic factors with one example.
References/Additional Materials / Extended Learning Opportunities/ Enrichment
Postlethwait, John H. and Hopson, Janet L., et al. Modern Biology. 2 nd
ed. Austin, Tx: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston, 2009.

College & Career Readiness Standard
Science XA6
Educational Excellence project for AF NR
Texas A&M University
©Texas Education Agency, 2011