Unit 2: ECOLOGY!!!!

Ecosystems: Everything is Connected

Dead leaf falls from a tree into a stream

Bacteria and fungi start to eat the leaf

Insects will start to physically break down the leaf

Motion of stream will also break down the leaf

Caddisflies will catch and eat the pieces

Algae and river plants will also eat the leaf

Predator insects eat insects that ate the leaf

Birds will eat the predator insects

While nesting in trees, these birds excrete droppings that provide nutrients that can be used by the tree to form a new leaf.

What is an Ecosystem?

Def: all the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment.

Examples

An Oak forest in NE Pennsylvania

A coral reef in the Pacific Ocean

Coral Reef

Oak Forest

Vacant Lot

Components of an Ecosystem

Biotic and Abiotic factors

Organisms

Populations

Communities

Ecosytem

Def: All the living and nonliving things in an area

Biotic Factors

Biotic Factors:

The living parts & ONCE living parts of an ecosytems

Includes all the Plants and animals

Biotic Factors

Include:

Dead Organisms

Dead parts of an organism

Leaves

An organism’s waste products

Abiotic Factors

Def: The non-living parts of an ecosystem

Includes:

Air

Water

Rocks

Sand

Light

Temperature

What’s in an Ecosystem?

All the living and nonliving things in an ecosystem

Examples:

Garden

Log

Garden

Log

Rainforest

Rain

Tree Frog

Human Tourist

Spider Monkey

Soil

Moist Air

Rocks

Monkey Poop

Dead Toucan bird

Waterfall

Sunlight

Dead branch

Rainforest

Rain

Tree Frog

Human Tourist

Spider Monkey

Soil

Moist Air

Rocks

Monkey Poop

Dead Toucan bird

Waterfall

Sunlight

Dead branch

Desert

Sand

Cactus

Gila Monster

Mountain

Moonlight

Dead Rattlesnakes

Urine

Clouds

Temperature

Hair

Gravel

Desert

Sand

Cactus

Gila Monster

Mountain

Moonlight

Dead Rattlesnakes

Urine

Clouds

Temperature

Hair

Gravel

Activity

Pick two ecosystems to compare and contrast.

Find the similarities and differences between abiotic and biotic factors in your two ecosystems

Time: 4 minutes

Drill Time!

Complete Homework #5 on page 11

Independent, silent workTime: 4 minutes

Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Def: The variety of living things in an ecosystem

Types of Biodiversity

High Biodiversity

• An ecosystem that has a large variety of plants and animals

• Think: Different

Low Biodiversity

• An ecosystem that has very few different plants and animals

• Think: Same

High or Low Biodiversity?

Over 1,00 species of insects live in just one kind of rainforest tree, and the rainforest contains over 250,000 different kinds of plants

High or Low Biodiversity

Many plants and animals have difficulty surviving in the scorching heat of the desert

High or Low Biodiversity

Wetlands support a wide variety of species. Plant life flourishes in the wetlands

Drill Time

Complete Practice #6 and Homework #6

Low volume group workTime: 4 minutes

Bill Nye the Science Guy

A short video (23 minutes) on biodiversity

Fill out video worksheet slip

Don’t forget your NAME!!