Thursday, September 19th , 2013
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able
to…
•Explain what ecology is
•Identify the levels of
organization that ecologists
study
Entrance Activity:
•Open your book to page 63 and
read the chapter mystery.
•What is mystery you will
be trying to solve in this
chapter?
Ecology – The scientific study of
interactions among organisms
and their environment.
 Comes from the Greek word
“oikos” meaning house.
Nature’s “houses” come in
many different sizes.

Imagine yourself sitting in
your room at home.
 Each of the levels around you
creates a bigger and bigger
house

All life exists



Air (atmosphere)–
Water –
Land -
 To
understand relationships
within the biosphere, you need
to understand all the levels that
life can be observed.
 From Smallest →Largest
◦ Species, Population,
Community, Ecosystem,
Biome, Biosphere
 The
living and non-living factors
determine the survival and growth of an
organism and the productivity of the
ecosystem in which the organisms lives
• Biotic (living) all living aspects of a habitat that
an organisms might interact with
• Abiotic (nonliving)Temperature, precipitation,
wind, nutrient availability, soil type, sunlight
Biotic
Abiotic
1. What is ecology?
2. What does the word NESTED mean?
3. Order the following:
• Population, ecosystem, biome, species,
community
4. What is an ABIOTIC factor?
5. What is a Biotic factor?
Review your biotic and abiotic
connections from yesterday.
One way flow of energy!!
Food CHAINS and WEBS
Arrows point to the movement of
ENERGY!!!
Tuesday, September 23rd , 2014
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
•The movement of energy through an
ecosystem
Entrance Activity:
•In looking at your homework from
yesterday… select one word to
explain and give an example of…
•Which word is it?
•What is your example?
Sunlight is the main source of
energy for life.
 Does Main mean ALL????
Some types of organisms rely
on energy from other sources
such as inorganic chemicals…
 Think about things at the
bottom of the ocean…
PRODUCERS
Def: Autotrophs – Organisms
that use energy from their
environment to make food.
• We refer to Autotrophs as
“Producers” since they
Produce all the energy that is
needed by all other life!
a) Energy from the Sun
• What is the name for the
process of turning light into
food?
• On land, plants are the
main source of
photosynthesis, in the oceans
it is bacteria!
b) Life w/o Light
• What happens when Light
doesn’t reach Life? Is there
just, “no life there”?
Def: Chemosynthesis – a
process where organisms use
inorganic chemicals as their
energy source.
Review:
What are Primary producers?
II. Consumers
Def: Heterotrophs – Organisms
that rely on other organisms
for their food and energy
supply.
• We refer to Heterotrophs as
“Consumers” since they
have to consume other
things to live.
II. Consumers pg. 71
• What different kinds of
Consumers can there be?
• Herbivores –
• Carnivores –
• Omnivores –
• Detritivores -
Can energy or matter ever
be destroyed?
III. Feeding Relationships
KC: Energy flows through an
ecosystem in one direction,
from the Sun or inorganic
compounds, to Autotrophs,
and then to Heterotrophs.
• Think about in terms of
“who-eats-who”….
IN YOUR NOTEBOOK
• Draw a food web that connects and shows the
transfer of energy between at least 5 different living
things.
• Include pictures of each with arrows
• Write a paragraph under it explaining your
connections
HOMEWORK on a
separate sheet
• Write a paragraph that describes how energy
moves through an ecosystem. Use the following
vocab words
o
o
o
o
Energy
Autotroph
Heterotroph
Decomposer
Thursday, September 25th , 2014
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
•Describe energy transfers throughout an
ecosystem
Entrance Activity:
•Draw the following food chain in
your notebook, then label the
organisms as producers, or
consumers. If they are consumers,
what type of consumers are they?
•Also… have out your packets from
yesterday.
III. Feeding Relationships
KC: Energy flows through an
ecosystem in one direction,
from the Sun or inorganic
compounds, to Autotrophs,
and then to Heterotrophs.
• Think about in terms of
“who-eats-who”….
What is energy??
Food chains
• A series of steps in which transfer
of energy happens by eating and
being eaten.
Food chain vs. Food Web
• Which one is more inclusive?
• Which gives a more accurate picture of what is
really happening?
• They link multiple food chains together.
c) Trophic Levels
 Each step in a Food Chain, or
Food Web, is considered a
Trophic Level.
 As energy is passed up each
level… Only 10% of the energy
is handed up to the next
level!!!
ON YOUR CAPTURE
SHEET…
Label each thing as autotroph
or heterotroph
Label each living thing with
producer or consumer
Label each consumer with the
type of consumer it is.
Friday, September 26th
2014
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
Same as yesterday, you do not
need to rewrite it.
Entrance Activity:
•In the picture below…
1) Name the producers.
2) Name the primary
consumers
3) Name the secondary
consumers
YOU NEED YOUR
BOOK!!!!!!!!!
With your grid…
 1. Lightly shade in each of the 100 boxes in the grid
labeled producer. How many units of energy are
available to the producer?
 2. Shade in the top row of boxes in the first-level
consumer grid. How many units of energy are available
to this organism?
 3. Shade in only 1 box in the second-level consumer
grid. How many units of energy are available to this
organism?
 4. Shade in one box in the inset diagram in the thirdlevel consumer grid. How many units of energy are
available to this organism?
Pyramids of energy
 Show the amount of energy available at each trophic
level
Pyramid of Biomass
 Amount of living matter available at each trophic level
Pyramid of Numbers
 Shows the number of individuals
Monday, September 29th , 2014
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
•Explain the complex energy relationships
within an ecosystem.
Entrance Activity:
•Please have out your notebook and a set
of coloring utensils.
•What is the difference between a
pyramid of numbers and a pyramid
of biomass?

Procedure
1. Go to Lowe’s and grab one bag of each of the 3 types of
fertilizer: P enriched, N enriched, and p and n enriched
 2. Get 4 of the same size pots
 3. Place the same amounts of the three different fertilizers in
the first 3 pots
4. Place the same amount of dirt in all 4 pots
5. Place 25 grams of grass seed in each pot.
6. Water each pot with .5 Liters of water everyday for 3 weeks.
7. Every 3 days, measure the length of the longest blade of
grass for each pot
8. Record data into a table
9. Repeat steps 1-8 2 more times for more accurate results
10. Use whichever fertilizer produces the longest grass.
Silently… in your notebook, write out
your answer to the following questions:
1. What is the difference
between a pyramid of biomass
and a pyramid of numbers?
2. What unit would you use for
each one?
Pyramid of Biomass
 Amount of living matter available at each trophic level
Pyramid of Numbers
 Shows the number of individuals
Untamed Science
Tuesday, September 30th , 2014
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
Explain how changes in one level of an
ecosystem affects other factors in the
ecosystem.
Entrance Activity:
•Please grab a chapter mystery from the
stool on your way in the door. Read
through the directions and environmental
report. After reading it… DON’T ANSWER
THE QUESTIONS, instead, try to
summarize what the report has said.
LAKE WASHINGTON
HOT!!
Higher Order Thinkin!!
Pg. 79, the cycle of matter…
Changing of matter (biogeochemical
processes)
 Biological: Any activities performed
by living organisms
LIKE…EXAMPLES
Changing of matter
(biogeochemical processes)
Geological Processes:
Matter movement above or
below the earth by geologic
forces:
Volcanoes, rock formation
CHANGING OF MATTER
(BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES)
Chemical and Physical Processes
Clouds, rain, flowing water, lightning
CHANGING OF MATTER
(BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES)
Human Activity:
Mining and burning of fossil
fuels, clearing of land, burning of
forests, use of fertilizer
Water Cycle
After you finish, answer the following
questions:
What is evaporation and how does it relate to the water
cycle?
What is transpiration and how does it relate to the water
cycle?
What is precipitation and how does it relate to the water
cycle?
What is runoff and how does it relate to the water cycle?
Homework:
Read AND OUTLINE
take notes on a separate piece of paper…
• Pgs. 82-86
• BE SURE TO INCLUDE THE FIGURES
Tuesday, October 1st , 2013
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
Describe how carbon , nitrogen, and
phosphorus cycle among the living and
nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Entrance Activity:
•Have out your water coloring activity
and review it please…
CARBON
NITROGEN
PHOSPHORUS
Critical for life and are necessary for all
things to survive.
With your group…
You are going to read about your cycle
ON YOUR HALF SHEET
• List and define important vocab from your section
• Be able to describe the important the steps of the cycle.
Wednesday, October 2nd , 2013
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
Describe how matter cycles among the living
and nonliving parts of an ecosystem
Entrance Activity:
•Please have open your book to the cycle
you were in charge of starting on page
82...
•What different forms does your
nutrient take within your cycle?
In groups of 3…
• Using your book, arrange and connect the
squares for the nitrogen/carbon cycle
• Copy down your diagram into your
notebook, then come up and switch
Thursday, October 3rd , 2013
___________________________________________
Daily Objective:
By the end of today I should be able to…
Demonstrate my knowledge of ecosystems
Entrance Activity:
•Have out your cycles that I gave you
yesterday. We will finish up with filling
them in.
YOU MUST HAVE YOUR
TEXTBOOK TODAY!!
CHAPTER 3 TEST
TOMORROW!!
Limiting nutrient
 If one of the nutrients are in short supply, the
ecosystem will cease to produce…
 In soil…

when the nutrients are used up, farmers can
apply fertilizers which put back some of the nutrients
(like nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium)
 In aquatic ecosystems…

Nutrient poor ocean: nitrogen

Nutrient poor lakes and streams: phosphorus