Warm-Up
• Create a NEW Table of Contents for this section,
call it “Ecology”
• Write your homework – leave it to be stamped!
Date
Session
#
3/14 &
3/15
1
Activity
Page
#
Ecosystem Word Splash & Ecology Vocab List
1
Ecosystem Basics
2
Limiting Factors
3
What is Ecology?
Ecology – the scientific
study of interactions
among organisms in their
environment
Essential Question
for this Unit:
What factors make-up an
ecosystem & how do their
relationships maintain balance
and stability within that
ecosystem?
Word Splash
What do you think of when you hear “Ecosystem?”
1. Write as many words/phrases around the word as you can think of…we will share!
2. Now try to create relationships between the words
Ecosystem
Head’s Up…
• A portion of your test for this unit
will be a video clip in which you will
need to be able to identify examples
of the vocabulary from this unit!
Let’s Preview the Vocab List…
Levels of the
Environment
Where does ecosystem fall within the levels of the
environment?
In the diagram place each of the words in the correct
level of environment from largest to smallest:
Species
Biosphere
Individual Organisms
Ecosystem
Population
Community
Levels of the Environment:
From Largest to Smallest
• Biosphere: All the ecosystems on earth
• Ecosystem: A system formed by the interaction
of both living and non-living factors that make
up an environment
• What are those living and non-living factors
called again?
• Biotic – living factors
• Abiotic – non-living factors
Levels of the Environment:
From Largest to Smallest
• Community: all the populations of all of the
species that live in an area at the same time
• Population: all the organisms of a single species
that live in the same place at the same time.
• Species: organisms that share characteristics
and can breed to create fertile offspring
• Individual Organism: one single animal of a
given species
A Different Way to
Look at it…
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Population
Species
Individual
Population
What About Habitat & Niche?
Within an ecosystem, each species
(or population of species) has a…
• Habitat: The place an organism lives
– The habitat supplies all the biotic and abiotic factors
the organism needs to survive
• Niche: an organism’s “role/job” in the ecosystem
– What it eats/how it eats, individual response to
resource changes, what it does to keep the ecosystem
functioning…etc.
If the niche of one organism overlaps the niche of
another organism, it will lead to competition!
An Example…
• Reginald the Red Wolf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L6N2di
E8jc
• What is Reginald’s habitat?
• What is Reginald’s niche?
15 Minute Field Trip
• You will be going outside IN AN ORDERLY
AND QUIET MANNER.
• Describe the school ecosystem:
– What type of ecosystem did we visit – what would it be like
if nothing had ever been built?
– What types of community/populations do you see (or not
see, but know are there)?
– For three organisms identify their niche
Use the Ecosystem on the
Next Slide…
• Describe the ecosystem; what would it
be called?
• List biotic and abiotic factors
• Who are members of this ecosystems
community?
• What are some of the populations that
live in this community?
• Select two organisms: identify their
niche
Think-Ink
Pair-Share
• What do all organisms need to survive
regardless of the ecosystem the live in?
• How might organisms in an ecosystem
interact in order to get the things they
need?
• What does this mean in terms of these
factors affecting the size of a population of
organisms?
Factors Affecting
Populations
• Carrying Capacity: the maximum number of
organisms a given area can support – there is a
limit!
• Limiting Factors:
– Density Dependent Limiting Factors – determined by
organism interactions - competition for food, territory,
mates, shelter; also disease & parasites from living
close together
– Density Independent Limiting Factors – usually abiotic
factors that can’t be controlled – weather,
temperature, fire, drought, flood, human activities
Vocab Preview List…
• Let’s revisit your vocab
preview list…how many words
can we check off already?
Practice with
Limiting Factors
• Complete the reading and questions…start
in class, finish for homework!
• Go through the vocab list – highlight the
words you think you need to focus on the
most…
• Work on your EOG Review Booklet!
Warm-Up
• Update your Table of Contents for today
• Write your homework – have it stamped!
• Get Limiting Factors homework out to be checked!
• Answer on page 4: What qualifies as a relationship
within an ecosystem…list as many examples as you
can!
Date
Session
#
4/16 &
4/17
2
Activity
Page
#
Relationships in an Ecosystem Part 1
4
Lynx Eats the Hare Game Results
5
Predator-Prey Relationships Packet
6
Relationships
• Relationships between organisms fall into 3
main categories:
– Competition/Cooperation – competition
between organisms for limited resources OR
cooperation to gather those needed resources
(usually between the same species)
– Symbiosis – any close relationship between two
different species that does not involve predatorprey interaction
– Predator-Prey - organisms of one species killing
and eating those of another species
Relationships:
Competition
How does this relationship help maintain balance
& stability in an ecosystem?
Let’s Find Out…
Animal Fight Club – What could they be fighting
for?
http://www.animalfightclub.com/
Relationships:
Cooperation
How does this relationship help maintain balance
& stability within an ecosystem?
Let’s Find Out…
Elephants Show Cooperation on Test
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXcRw6Piaj8
Relationships:
Symbiosis
• There are 3 types of symbiosis:
– Mutualism: Both species benefit from the
relationship
– Commensalism: One species benefits, the
other does not benefit or get harmed
– Parasitism: One species benefits, the other
is harmed
Relationships:
Symbiosis
How do these relationships help maintain balance
& stability within an ecosystem?
Let’s Find Out…
Symbiosis Self Quiz
Example of…
• The clownfish takes
shelter among the
tentacles of the sea
anemone, and the
sea anemone is not
affected.
Example of…
• Sea Lampreys
attaching to native
fish species in the
Great Lakes and
living off the fish’s
body fluids
Example of…
Remora have an
adhesive disk which
they use to attach
themselves to whale
sharks. They clean the
whale shark’s skin and
then get to feed on the
remains from the
whale shark’s food.
Example of…2
Oxpecker birds travel on
the backs of large
mammals such as the
rhino and feed on the
parasites that are
burrowing into the
animal’s backs.
Rhino & bird =
Rhino & parasite =
Example of…
A pinworm living in the
lower intestines of about
half of all of the humans in
the U.S. and Europe. They
feed off of whatever you
may eat, but sometimes to
the point where they can
make you sick.
Example of…
Crocodiles have horrible
dental hygiene so the
crocodiles hold their
mouths open to allow
the Plover to clean it’s
teeth, and the Plover
gets the added benefit
of a free lunch!
Example of…
Demodex mites live in the
eyebrows of about 65% of
people, and up to 98% in
older people because we
produce sebum…their
favorite treat. Demodex
eat the sebum, but don’t
bother their host. Do your
eyebrows itch yet?
Example of…
Fleas feed off of and live
in the skin of your
pets, meanwhile your
pets scratch and bite to
try to get rid of them.
Example of…
An epiphyte plant that grows
high up on the tall trees of
the rainforest. If it wasn’t
for the host plant the
epiphyte wouldn’t be able
to reach the sunlight…the
host tree doesn’t mind it’s
tenant.
Example of…
Algae being held in place by
a fungus…together they
are called a lichen. Algae
feeds the fungus nutrients
that it creates through
photosynthesis while the
fungus holds the algae in
place so that it can gather
the sunlight to perform
photosynthesis in the first
place.
Relationships:
Symbiosis
How do these relationships help maintain balance
& stability within an ecosystem?
Relationships:
Predation
Predator: Those that are doing the eating
Prey: Those that are being eaten
Relationships:
Predation
How does this predator-prey relationship
help maintain balance & stability in an
ecosystem?
Let’s investigate the answer to this
through the “Lynx Eats the Hare”
Game
Lynx Eats the Hare
1. You will play with your table group.
2. Use the big whiteboard as your 15” game
board. The whiteboard represents the area
inhabited by the hare population.
3. Read the directions and fill in the data table
as you play.
4. After you finish 20 generations, graph the
results and answer the Post-Lab Questions.
Lynx Eats the Hare
ROLES:
Reader/Leader – Reads ALL of the directions
BEFORE you start the game so you know what
you are in for & ensures the game is being
played correctly.
Supply Manager – retrieves & returns game
board, cards & directions
Data Technician – records data in data table for
others to copy after the game
Data Assistant – helps ensure data is recorded
accurately for each generation
Predator-Prey
How does the predator-prey relationship help
maintain balance & stability in an ecosystem?
• Predators eat prey and maintain health of the prey
populations
• Predators eat the old, sick, weak – those “less fit” to
survive the help the evolution of the species
• Works like a cycle: As the population of prey
increases, then the predator population will increase
as their food source increases – they are able to eat
more prey, and in turn decrease the prey population
once again
Relationships:
Predation
More Practice!
Start now, finish for
homework…