Name: _______________________ Date: _____________________________ Period: ________________
Ecology Unit Homework Project: Design A Zoo
Objective:
You have just been hired by a wealthy environmentalist to design a natural zoological park. Your design should focus on
educating humanity about the true realities of nature and the ecological problems that threaten our earth.
The park is going to be unlike any other zoo in the world; the organisms will be housed in exhibits by the biome that they
inhabit. Representative species of animals and plants from each biome will live together just as they do in nature. This
means that population interactions will occur exactly as they occur in the wild (for example predators will be able to hunt
prey). You will pick out the organisms and outline the potential interactions between these organisms. Each zoo will
represent one biome (terrestrial or aquatic).
You will have the opportunity to choose one of the following biomes in class. The earth’s aquatic biomes are: marineopen oceans, artic ocean, coral reefs, estuaries; freshwater- ponds/lakes, streams/rivers, wetlands. The earth’s terrestrial
biomes are: desert, rainforest, savanna, temperate forest, grassland, tundra.
Assignment Directions:
This project is divided into five assignments that will be completed for homework over the next week.
Description
Assignment 1 - Choose the biome that your zoo will located in. Include a map to show
where in the world the biome is located. This section should include a graph of the annual
rainfall and temperature as well as a written description of the abiotic factors that are
present in this region. All maps and graph should be original.
Assignment 2 - Describe the biotic factors in your zoo’s biome. You should include 10
biotic factors. Provide a description of the habitat and niche of each organism (both plants
and animals). Provide both the common and scientific name for each organism. See
example below.
Assignment 3 – Describe 1 example of each of the following biological interactions:
predator/prey, mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism. The organisms that are used in
this assignment do not have to be from the list in assignment 2, but they should be from
the biome that your zoo will be located in. Make sure that you provide a definition of
each relationship and an explanation of why the organisms that you chose fit into that
category.
Assignment 4 – Create a food web for your zoo. Include pictures of each organism and
characterize each organism as a Producer, Consumer, Heterotroph, Autotroph. You should
also state whether the organism is a Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore, and/or Decomposer.
Assignment 5 – Create 1 energy pyramids for your zoo. To do this, start with a food chain
from your food web from last week. You will need to arrange each trophic level into
pyramid form to show the amount of energy that is lost from one group to the next. Your
pyramids should include pictures of all organisms represented, labels showing producers,
primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, and the percentage of energy found at each
trophic level.
** Each section should include references in correct MLA format. Please use the following website to help you
cite your references (citation maker) http://secondary.oslis.org/resources/cm/mlacitationss
Name: _______________________ Date: _____________________________ Period: ________________
Assignment Grading Rubrics & Checklist:
Assignment 1 Checklist
 Choose a biome
 World map of location of biome
 Description of Abiotic factors
 Average Temperature and Rainfall Graphs
Assignment 1Grading Rubric
Map is neat and
Temperature graph
accurate
is neat and labeled
correctly
Rainfall graph is
neat and labeled
correctly
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Written
description of
abiotic factors is
complete and
accurate
0 1 2 3 4
Citations are
present
Total
0 1 2 3 4
Assignment 2 Checklist
 List and describe 10 biotic factors
 Description of habitat
 Description if niche for each organism
 Common and scientific name of each organism; should be underlined or in italics
Assignment 2 For example :
Common name
Scientific Name
Oak tree
Quercus alba
Assignment 2 Grading
10 examples of
Scientific names
biotic factors are
for each organism
provided
are provided
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Habitat
Deciduous Forest
Niche
Producer; autotroph
The description of
the habitat for
each organism is
correct
A description of
the niche for each
organism is
complete and
correct
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Citations are
present
Total
0 1 2 3 4
Assignment 3 Checklist
 1 Description of each biological interaction
 Definition of each of the biological interaction
 Explanation for each biological interaction from biome
Assignment 3 Grading
Predator/Prey
Mutualism
description and
description and
explanation are
explanation are
correct. One
correct. One
example is
example is
provided
provided
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Commensalism
description and
explanation are
correct. One
example is
provided
0 1 2 3 4
Parasitism
description and
explanation are
correct. One
example is
provided
0 1 2 3 4
Citations are
present
0 1 2 3 4
Total
Name: _______________________ Date: _____________________________ Period: ________________
Assignment 4 Checklist
 Hand drawn Food web (pictures from computer or hand drawn)
 Characters of each organism on your food web
o Producer or consumer
o autotrophic or heterotrophic
o herbivore, carnivore, omnivore or decomposer
Assignment 4 Grading
All organisms
Picture of each
from
organism is
assignment 2
included
are included in
web
Organisms are
labeled
correctly as
producer or
consumer
Organisms are
labeled
correctly as
autotrophic or
heterotrophic
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Organisms are
labeled
correctly as
herbivore,
carnivore,
omnivore or
decomposer
0 1 2 3 4
Citations are
present
total
0 1 2 3 4
Assignment 5 Checklist
 1 energy pyramid, each describing one food chain
 Pictures for each trophic level of the pyramid
 Labels for all pictures in pyramid
 Energy levels at each trophic level
Assignment 5 Grading
Pyramid is present Pictures of all
organisms are
provided
0 1 2 3
0 1 2 3 4
All organisms are
labeled as a
producer, primary,
secondary or
tertiary consumer.
0 1 2 3 4
The percentage of
energy found at
each level is
correct.
Citations are
present
0 1 2 3 4
0 1 2 3 4
Total