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Unit 5 Ecology
Chapter 11 Living Things in the Environment
Last Updated 12/21/2005
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Things
Teacher Resources Student Extra Credit
| Day 1 |
| Topic 11-1 What is
ecology? 3-1 What is ecology? |
| Objectives Describe how organisms interact with their environments. |
| State Goals |
Classwork-Homework VocabularyEnvironment: everything that surrounds an organism and acts upon it Ecology: study of the relationship between living things and their environments Interact: process of organisms acting upon one another or on the nonliving parts of their environment  Globe
Fearon 11-1 What is ecology? pp. 256-2573-1 What is ecology? pp. 52-53 |
| TEC
Prentice Hall 26-1 Living Things and Their Environment pp.662-664 |
Resources Ecology |
| Day 2 | ||||||||
| Topic 11-2 What is an ecosystem? 3-2 What is an ecosystem? |
||||||||
| Objectives Describe the parts of an ecosystem. |
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| State Goals | ||||||||
| Classwork-Homework
Vocabulary Population: group of the same kind of organisms living in a certain place Community: all the populations that live in a certain place and can interact with one another Ecosystem: group of communities interacting with each other and the nonliving parts of their environment
|
||||||||
| TEC
Prentice Hall 26-1 Living Things and Their Environment pp. 664-666 |
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| Resources |
| Day 3 |
| Topic 11-3 What are habitats and
niches? 3-3 What are habitats and niches? |
| Objectives Explain how organisms may have the same habitat but not the same niche. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework
Vocabulary Habitat: place where an organism lives Niche: organism's role, or job, in its habitat
|
| TEC
Prentice Hall 26-1 Living Things and Their Environment p. 667 |
| Resources Niche Information from
Natureworks. |
| Day 4 | ||||
| Topic 11-4 What are limiting
factors? 3-4 What are limiting factors? |
||||
| Objectives Explain what affects population size. Create a population line graph. Hypothesize limiting factors. Infer the affect of a predator prey relationship. |
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| State Goals | ||||
| Classwork-Homework Vocabulary Limiting Factor: condition in the environment that put limits on the size of a population can grow to Range: area where a type of animal or plant population is found Carrying Capacity: largest population size that can be supported by the available resources of an area
|
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| TEC
Prentice Hall 23-3 Interaction and Evolution pp. 673-677 |
||||
Resources How Many Bears Can
Live In the Forest? |
| Day 5 |
| Topic 11-5 What are biomes? 3-9 What are biomes? |
| Objectives Describe different biomes. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework Vocabulary Climate: average weather of an area over a long period of time Biome: large region with a characteristic climate and plant and animal communities Seven
Major Land BiomesTundra Taiga Temperate Deciduous Forest Temperate Grasslands Savannas Tropical Rain Forest Deserts Globe Fearon
11-5 What are biomes? pp. 264-2653-9 What are biomes? pp. 68-69 Land & Water Paper Folding
Biome
Notes |
TEC
Prentice Hall Chapter 28 Exploring Earth's Biomes pp. 719-726 Biome Project |
| Resources |
| Day 6 |
| Topic Biomes |
| Objectives |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework
Biome Chart Fill in worksheet on temperatures, precipitation, plants,animals, and interesting facts. Use the BrainPOP web site. |
| TEC
Prentice Hall Chapter 28 Exploring Earth's Biomes pp. 727-737 |
| Resources
Using Land Biomes Globe Fearon Enrichment WS 11 p.E-13 |
| Day 7 |
| Topic Desert Biome |
| Objectives |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework Label the Major Deserts of
the World Desert
Aniamls p.24 |
| TEC |
Resources Desert Landforms: Naturescope Desert p.9
Desert Graphics: Naturescope Deserts p.11
Desert Community Drawing: Naturescope Desert p.40 |
| Day 8 | ||||
| Topic Water Biomes | ||||
| Objectives | ||||
| State Goals | ||||
Classwork-Homework Two
Major Water Biomes
|
||||
| TEC Prentice Hall Chapter 28 Exploring Earth's Biomes pp. 738-742 |
||||
| Resources |
| Day 9 |
| Topic 11-6 What is succession? 3-8 What is succession? |
| Objectives Describe how communities of organisms develop. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework Vocabulary Succession: gradual change in populations of organisms that occurs when the environment changes Climax Community: last community in a succession
|
| TEC
Prentice Hall 27-3 Cycles of Change: Ecological Succession pp. 710-712 |
| Resources How a Field Becomes a Forest How is it
that barren farm land was able to become the forests of today? The answer lies in a
process known as "succession," a natural pattern of ecosystem change that takes
place over time. |
| Day 10 |
| Topic 11-7 What are natural
resources? 3-10 What are natural resources? |
| Objectives Distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework Vocabulary Natural Resources: material found in nature that is used by living things Renewable Resource: natural resource that can be reused or replaced Nonrenewable Resource: natural resource that cannot be reused or replaced Conservation: wise use of natural resource Renewable
Resources trees Livestock vegetables
Nonrenewable Resources Fossil fuels: oil, coal, and natural gas Metals: aluminum, copper, silver and gold Minerals: phosphates, sulfur, sand and diamonds |
| TEC Globe Fearon
3-10 What are natural resources? pp. 70-71 |
| ResourcesNatural Resources Pollution Renewable & Non-Renewable Resources |
| Day |
| Topic |
| Objectives |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework |
| TEC |
| Resources |
|
| BIOMES |
| Biomes
Scavenger Hunt St. Louis Zoo activity. Great information on biome
characteristics. Charts on zoo animals to research. |
 All About
Nature: Biomes-Habitats The Earth has many different environments, varying in temperature,
moisture, light, and many other factors. Each of these habitats has distinct life forms
living in it, forming complex communities of interdependent organisms. A complex community
of plants and animals in a region and a climate is called a biome. |
| Introduction to Biomes
Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global
scale. Their distribution patterns are strongly correlated with regional climate patterns
and identified according to the climax vegetation type. However, a biome is composed not
only of the climax vegetation, but also of associated successional communities, persistent
subclimax communities, fauna, and soils. Maps and pictures of
biomes and plants. |
| BIOMES: LAND |
| Intergalactic
Zoo Design an alien environment. |
| Forest
Diorama Make this diorama based on the real Olympic Rain Forest diorama at the
American Museum of Natural History. |
| Wetlands
Diorama Make this diorama based on the real Wading Bird Rookery diorama at
the American Museum of Natural History. |
| The World's Biomes Welcome to the World's Biomes
Page. This is an introduction to the major biomes on Earth. Biomes are defined as
"the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation
and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment." |
| BIOMES: WATER |
| Microinvertebrates |
| Ocean Drifters |
| BIOTIC & ABIOTIC |
| Making Community
Measurements: Biotic Factors |
| CARRYING CAPACITY |
| Environmental
Biology-Ecosystems The
main concepts we are trying to get across in this section concern how energy moves through
an ecosystem. If you can understand this, you are in good shape, because then you have an
idea of how ecosystems are balanced, how they may be affected by human activities, and how
pollutants will move through an ecosystem. |
| CONIFEROUS FOREST & TAIGA BIOMES |
| Animals of the Taiga/
Coniferous Forest Biomes The Coniferous Forest and Taiga Biome stretches
across a large portion of Canada, Europe and Asia. It is the largest biome in the world.
Winters are cold. Summers are warm. Lots of conifers grow here. |
| Investigate
the Coniferous Forest & Taiga Biomes The Coniferous Forest stretches across
a large portion of Canada, Europe and Asia. It is the largest biome in the world. Winters
are cold. Summers are warm. Lots of conifers grow here. |
| DECIDUOUS FOREST BIOME |
| Animals of the
Temperate Deciduous Forest Temperate deciduous forests are forests in
cool, rainy areas; they have trees that lose their leaves in Fall and regrow them in
Spring. Temperate deciduous forests are found in the middle latitudes around the globe and
have four distinct seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. In the Northern Hemisphere,
these forests are found in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the Southern Hemisphere,
there are smaller areas of these forests, in South America, Africa, and Australia. The
growing season in these forests is about 6 months long. |
| Investigate
the Deciduous Temperate Forest The Temperate Deciduous Forest has four seasons of winter, spring, summer, and fall. Animals and plants
have special adaptations to cope with these yearly changes. |
| DESERT BIOME |
| Creatures
of the Desert Identify a mammal, a reptile, a bird, and an insect that live in
the desert. Research information and draw a picture. |
| Deserts
Word Search Puzzle |
| Label the Major Deserts of
the World |
| Desert
Diorama Make this diorama based on the real Sonoran Desert diorama at the
American Museum of Natural History. |
| Investigate
Desert Biomes Have you ever driven through a Desert on a trip to
anywhere? |
| ECOLOGY |
| Ecology |
| Ecology: Environmental Education on the Web "Eco-" means home,
habitat, or environment. "-ology" means what is believed to be true about
science. Ecology is the scientific study of the complex inter-relationships between
living organisms and their environment. A great on-your-own learning site. |
| ENVIRONMENT |
| Environmental
Biology-Ecosystems The
main concepts we are trying to get across in this section concern how energy moves through an ecosystem. If you can understand this, you are in good shape, because then you have an idea of how ecosystems are balanced, how they may be affected by human activities, and how pollutants will move through an ecosystem. |
| FIRE FIGHTING |
| SmokeJumpers
This site is designed to provide an understanding of
the role of Smokejumpers in the USA. Smokejumpers are men and women who
parachute into rough mountainous terrain to fight wildfires in inaccessible areas of the
forests within the USA. This is an elite professional group, made up of people from all
walks of life. |
| FRESH WATER BIOMES |
| Explore-A-Pond Can you populate the pond in
such a way that by week 18 the creatures in the pond are still healthy and thriving? Click on Virtual
Pond |
| Famous Rivers of
the World In every continent there is a famous river. Here are
some of the famous ones. |
| Investigate
Freshwater Ecosystems You'll find a wide variety of animal life in or
around fresh water ecosystems...aquatic birds... amphibians..mammals and of course, a wide
variety of fish. |
| Pond Animals
Ponds are teeming with both animal and plant life. Some animals live in the water (fish,
crayfish, tadpoles, etc.), some live above the water (ducks, insects, etc.), and others
live in the area surrounding the pond (raccoons, earthworms, etc.). |
| GRASSLAND BIOMES |
| America's
Lost landscape: The Tall Grass Prairie The North American grassland began
about 23-25 million years ago during the Tertiary Period, marking the beginning of the
Miocene Epoch, with the second uplift of the Rocky Mountains. |
| Animals of the Prairie
A prairie is a temperate grassland, plains of grass that get hot in the summer and cold in
the winter. Most of the interior of North America was a prairie before European settlement
radically altered the environment with agriculture. Even now, the prairie is a large area.
The animals that live in prairies have adapted to a semi-arid, windy
environment with few trees or shrubs. They can also withstand a great range in
temperature, from well below freezing in the winter to sweltering heat in the summer. |
| Animals of the Savanna
A savanna is a hot, seasonally dry grassland with scattered trees. This environment is
intermediate between a grassland and a forest. Savannas are located in the dry tropics and
the subtropics, often bordering a rainforest. Savannas have an extended dry season and a
rainy season. The animals that live in savannas have adapted
to a great deal of variability in the food supply throughout the year; there are times of
plenty (during and after the wet season) and times of almost no food or water (during the
dry season). Many savanna animals migrate to deal with this problem. |
| Build A Praire Are you up for the challenge? If you choose the right plants and
animals, you can watch the prairie come to life before your eyes! |
| Grasslands Go and explore an Enchanted Learning Site. A grassland is a grassy, windy,
partly-dry biome, a sea of grass. Almost one-fourth of the Earth's land area is grassland.
In many areas, grasslands separate forests from deserts. Deep-rooted grasses dominate the
flora in a grassland; there are very few trees and shrubs in a grassland, less than one
tree per acre. There are many different words for grassland environments around the world,
including savannas, pampas, campos, plains, steppes, prairies and veldts. |
| Illinois Praire Page
French explorers and trappers, upon viewing the extensive grasslands of
mid-America for the first time, called them "prairie." Their word had the
meaning of a natural meadow. Prairie is a vegetative community dominated by native grasses
and featuring many colorful flowers. |
| Introduction
to Exploring the Praire What was Iowa like 150 years ago? |
| Investigate
Grassland Biomes Did you know that Grasslands are found on every
continent except Antarctica? |
| Northern
Praire Biological Resources Information on the biotic resources of the
Great Plains. |
| Praires: Rediscovering a
Fragile Frontier Contains an overview of the many endangered plants and
animals that once inhabited the tallgrass prairie, the continent's largest connected
ecosystem. |
| Praire
Links The following is a list of some of the resources that are available
to prairie enthusiasts on the Internet. |
| Tall
Grass Praire in Illinois "The Prairie State" is a frequently
used nickname for Illinois, yet few people know what a prairie is or have ever visited
one. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of prairies. Prairies are an important
part of this state's heritage, and in the past few years there have been numerous
conferences, radio programs, popular articles, books and scientific papers on
prairies. This article provides an introduction to the fascinating world of
prairies. |
| LIMITING FACTORS |
| How Many Bears Can
Live In the Forest? In this activity, the black bears are the focus in order to
illustrate the importance of suitable habitat for wildlife. |
| POPULATION |
| Population Clock
Check out the population of the
world and the United States. The populations displayed on the clock are not intended
to imply that the population of the world is known to the last person. Rather, the clock
is our estimate of the world population size and an indication of how fast it is growing. |
| U.S. Census
Bureau What is the population of the United States? Check out all of the
sources from the 2000 Census. |
| PREDATORS and PREY |
| Predator
and Prey Learn
about animal predators and their prey. A Web Project by Second Graders at the
Beswick Academy. |
| QUIZZES & TESTS |
 Food Chain Quiz To make your way up the ladder
you must score 100%. To do this you will have to answer all the questions
correctly. If you answer incorrectly our helpful science worm will give you the
question again.. See if you can score 100%. |
| SALT WATER BIOMES |
| Oceans of the World
96 page unit |
| Ocean Animal Printouts
Click on an animal to go to a printout. |
| Coral Reef
Animals Coral reefs are warm, clear, shallow ocean habitats that are rich
in life. The reef's massive structure is formed from coral polyps, tiny animals that live
in colonies; when coral polyps die, they leave behind a hard, stony, branching structure
made of limestone. |
| Investigate Marine Ecosystems
Come discover marine creatures from the tiny zooanthellae
that make the coral reefs home to the giant mammals of the vast seas. |
| Life on the Reef
Marine biologists from across the U.S. have gathered in the Bahamas to study creatures
along one of the world's largest barrier reefs. |
| SOIL |
| Beneath Your Feet
Soil Investigation Experiments |
| SUCCESSION |
| From
Forest to Farm Analyze an essay timber harvesting and forest regeneration in
Petersham, Massachusetts. |
| How a Field Becomes a Forest How is it
that barren farm land was able to become the forests of today? The answer lies in a
process known as "succession," a natural pattern of ecosystem change that takes
place over time. |
| TROPICAL RAIN FOREST BIOME |
| Animals of the Rain Forest This web site was developed by
the 1999 6th grade class at Midlakes Middle School. It came about as a direct result
of our involvement in the Jason X Project. The kids actually researched up to 50 facts and
wrote papers on their animals. |
| Investigate
Rain Forests of the World Did you know there are two types of rain
forests-- the temperate and the tropical? |
| Journey Into Amazonia
What mysteries does Amazonia hold? That's just what
scientists at the American Museum of Natural History want you, Sam Smith, to find out. If
you're ready to explore the wilds of the Amazon jungle, journey on, adventurer! |
| Zoom
Rain Forests
Zoom Rainforests is a comprehensive on-line hypertext book about tropical and temperate
rainforests. It is designed for students of all ages and levels of comprehension. It has
an easy-to-use structure that allows readers to start at a basic level on each topic, and
then to progress to more advanced information as desired. |
| TUNDRA |
| Animals
of the Arctic The world
has many different animals. In the Arctic we have many animals that are unique to the
north that we would like to tell you about. We have chosen some of the most unique
arctic animals there are. |
| Arctic
The Arctic is a very cold, windy, and often snowy biome located around the North Pole.
When referring to the Arctic, people usually mean the part of the earth within the Arctic
Circle (an imaginary circle around the Earth, parallel to the Equator and 23 degrees 28
minutes from the North Pole, that is, above about 75 degrees North Latitude). Although
there is no land at the North Pole, the icy Arctic Ocean is teeming with life ranging from
the microscopic (like zooplankton)
to the huge (like whales). |
| Investigate the Tundra Biome How cold is cold? The Tundra Biome is at the top of the world -- around the North Pole! |
| Tundra
Enchanted Learning Site. The tundra is a cold, treeless area; it is the coldest biome. The
tundra is characterized by very low temperatures, very little precipitation (rain or
snow), a short growing season, few nutrients, and low biological diversity. The word
tundra comes from the Finnish word tunturia, which means "treeless plain."
There are two types of tundras, Arctic tundras and alpine tundras. |
| WEB QUESTS |
| Saving Polluterville: An
Ocean Pollution Investigation In this WebQuest, you
or your small group will become an investigative team, in search of pollution's impact on
the ocean and pollution solutions. Each member of your group will take a special
investigation role. Your investigation will help you convince the town of
Polluterville to stop polluting. Let the investigation begin! You may complete this
on your own taking on all three parts, you may work with a partner and divide the work
equally, or you may work as a team of three with each one choosing one of the roles. |
|
 Bermuda Wave Height
Graphing Activity Calculate average wave heights and plot the data. |
| Biomes
and Adaptations Print
the worksheet and use internet to research answers to questions |
| Biome Chart: Fill in worksheet on
temperatures, precipitation, plants,animals, and interesting facts. Use the BrainPOP web site. |
| City
Temperature Data Collection Choose two
cities. Use the Internet to collect information about the daily high and low
temperatures experienced recently by your chosen cities. Collect information about
your chosen cities for five days. Try to choose cities in different biomes
. Compare the temperatures in a line graph. |
| Coral Reef Poems
Ideas for Poem themes from coral reef concepts and terms. |
| Create a
Food Web This is a COOL
site! An interactive worksheet. You know that a food web is
made up of two or more interconnected food chains, and that it shows the food
relationships among organisms in a community. Let's see you create a food web. Click
and drag the animals, plants, and arrows to form a possible food web. Arrows
should be drawn from food source to food consumers. At the end of this activity, you
can discard excess pictures into the Recycle Bin and then right-click to print your food
web. If you move your mouse pointer on the picture the name will pop-up. Bring in your food web for me to see for extra credit! |
| Food
Web Mystery Who done it? You find the remains of a dead bird. Find out what killed the bird and more. |
| Food Webs Your task - to put
together a food web for an African grassland using the plants and animals. print it
out and bring it in. Choose from African
Grasslands, Australian
Grasslands, or Antarctic |
| Make-A-Rainforest Book Vanishing
Treasure Trove-Rainforests Mailbox Feb/Mar 94 p.4-13 |
| Rainforest
Animals You are working for a zoo that is
creating a rainforest animal exhibit. You will create a list of rainforest animals, choose
5 of them and research information. Design and draw a habitat for your chosen
animals. Create educational signs for the exhibit. |
| State of the States Worksheet The 2000 Census revealed some
interesting facts and trends. No states lost any of their population, but the population
is shifting to the west and to the south. To learn more about how the US changed
during the last decade complete the State of the States Worksheet using Table 1: Resident Population of
the United States |
| Water Cycle in a 2-Liter Bottle All of the earth's water goes
through a cycle in which the water changes its location or physical state through
different processes. In accordance with the law of conservation of matter, water is not
created or destroyed it just changes form. Water can be found in all three states of
matter during the cycle: solid (ice caps), liquid (lakes) and gas (water vapor). Use
two 2-Liter bottles to create your own water cycle. Neat activity!! |
| Water Cycle Questions & Diagram Brain Pop Worksheet about the water
cycle. Use the word bank to fill in the blanks and the water cycle diagram. |
| Water Science Print this page out for your
answers. Click on the links to investigate water sites where you will
answer questions and play the Water Shed game. |
| Web
of Life Identify food web species and create
color-coded food web. Use p. 10-12 |
| Wildfires
Search Search for information about wildfires in a particular state or group of
states. Create a chart with the following information about each fire:
location, acreage burned, cause of the wildfire, and one other fact about the wildfire. |
| World Population 1950-2050 Create a World Population Graph
using the data provided. |
Fire On the Mountain