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Unit 3 Ecology
Chapter 22 Ecosystems and Biomes
"We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us.
When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love
and respect."
- Aldo Leopold, Sand County Almanac
Created 3/19/2003
Last Updated 8/3/2008
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Previous: Populations and Communities
Next: Living Resources
Teacher Resources Student Extra Credit
22-1
Energy Flow in Ecosystems |
22-4 Biomes and Aquatic Ecosystems |
22-2 Cycles of Matter |
|
22-3 Biogeography |
Day 2
Food
Chains and Webs |
Day 10 Earth's Biome & Ocean Map Science
Explorer page 140 Bodies
of Water Map |
| Day 3 Web
of Life |
|
Day 8
Prentice Hall 758-769 Science
Explorer page 134 |
Day 11
Prentice Hall 696-701 African
Rain Forest Science Explorer pages 18-26 |
| Day 9 Science Explorer pp. 134-138 #
1-26 |
Day 12 Lion King Ecology |
| Day 1 |
| Topic Ecosystems and Biomes Chapter 22 |
| Objectives/ I can... Name and describe the energy roles that organisms play in an ecosystem. Explain how energy moves through and ecosystem. Describe how much energy is available at each level of an energy pyramid. |
| State Goals 12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments. |
Classwork-Homework
On the BoardProducer: organism that makes its own food Consumer: organism that obtains food by eating other organisms Herbivore: consumer that eats only plants Carnivore: consumer that only eats animals Omnivore: consumer that eats both plants and animals Scavenger: animal that only eats dead organisms Decomposer: organism that breaks down the remains of other organisms  Producers, Consumers, and
Decomposers
|
| TEC Food
Webs at Hydrothermal Vents Science Explorer page 115 |
| Resources |
| Day 2 |
| Topic 22-1 Food Chains and Food Webs |
| Objectives/ I can.... Can define and construct a food chain. Can identify the role of organisms within a food chain. Can trace the path of energy through a food chain. Can build a food pyramid and explain how it functions in terms of energy transfer at each level. |
| State Goals 12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments. |
| Classwork-Homework
On the Board Food Web: way of showing how food webs are related Food Chain: way of showing how the energy from food moves through populations of organisms in a community
|
| TEC |
Resources A Food Web Old Prentice-Hall TR 17-18 Galapagos Food Web Introduction
to Food Chains and Food Webs Secondary Fitting Algae Into the Food Web
Food Web Game |
| Day 3 |
| Topic 22-1 Energy Pyramids |
| Objectives/ I can.... Explain and construct an energy pyramid. Show how organisms are related by how they get their food. |
| State Goals 12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments. |
| Classwork-Homework
On the Board Energy Pyramid: way of showing how energy moves through a food chain Energy Pyramids and Food Chains
|
| TEC |
| Resources |
| Day 4 |
| Topic 22-2 The Water Cycle |
| Objectives/ I can.... Name and describe processes involved in the water cycle. Define and describe the nitrogen cycle. |
| State Goals 12.E.2a Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems. |
| Classwork-Homework
On the Board Water Cycle: movement of water between surface and the atmosphere Evaporation: changing of a liquid to a gas Transpiration: process by which water is lost through the stomata Condensation: changing of a gas to a liquid Precipitation: water that falls to Earth: rain, snow, sleet, haik, fog
|
| TECTesting
for Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide Science Explorer page 122 |
| Resources Cycles in Nature Water Cycle color diagram What Do You Know About Water Water Treatment |
| Day 5 |
| Topic Water Cycle Mobius |
| Objectives/ I can.... Describe the water cycle and create a mobius strip model. |
| State Goals 12.E.2a Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems. |
| Classwork-Homework Water Cycle
Mobius Strip 1. Review vocabuklary and steps in the water cycle. 2. Color the pictures and cut out the strips. 3. Twist the strip once and join the ends to make a continuous piece of paper. 4. Tape the ends together. |
| TEC |
| Resources |
| Day 6 |
| Topic 22-2 The Carbon Cycle and Nitrogen Cycle |
| Objectives/ I can.... Explain the carbon cycle. Explain how carbon and oxygen are recycled in an ecosystem. |
| State Goals 12.E.2a Identify and explain natural cycles of the Earth's land, water and atmospheric systems. |
| Classwork-Homework
On the Board Carbon Cycle: movement of carbon between Earth's atmosphere and organisms Deforestation: excessive cutting of forests Fossil Fuel: energy source formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived and died long ago Nitrogen Fixation: process of combing nitrogen with other elements to make usable compounds Nitrogen Cycle: movements of nitrogen compounds between the atmosphere, the soil, and living organisms |
| TEC |
| Resources |
| Day 7 |
| Topic 22-3 Biogeograhy |
| Objectives/ I can.... Explain how the movements of the continents has affected the distribution of species. Name and describe three ways that dispersal of organisms occurs. Name and describe factors that can limit the dispersal of a species. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework Land & Water Paper Folding Prentice Hall
752-753
|
| TEC Organisms
and Continental Drift Science Explorer page 128 |
| Resources |
| Day 8 |
| Topic 22-4 Biomes |
| Objectives/ I can.... Name the six major biomes on Earth. Name and describe the factors that determine the type of biome found in an area. Describe the two major types of aquatic biomes. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework On the
Board Climate: average weather of an area over a long period of time Biome: large region with a characteristic climate, plant, animal communities
Prentice Hall 758-769 |
| TEC Biome Project Link not working
Go to Mrs Kings BioWeb Worksheets Scroll to bottom find Rubrics and click on Biome |
| Resources |
| Day 9 |
| Topic 22-4 Biomes and Ecosystems |
| Objectives/ I can.... Read for information on biomes. |
| State Goals |
| Classwork-Homework
Science Explorer pages 134-138 # 1-26 |
| TEC |
Resources Biome
Project |
| Day 10 | ||||
| Topic Maps | ||||
| Objectives/ I can.... Label a world map showing the locations of the different biomes. |
||||
| State Goals | ||||
| Classwork-Homework On the
Board Seven Major Land Biomes Rain Forest Desert Grassland Deciduous Forest Boreal Forest Tundra Mountains and Ice
On the BoardTwo Major Water Biomes
|
||||
| TEC | ||||
| Resources Biome
Notes Label the Major Deserts of
the World
Desert
Animals p.24 |
| Day 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Topic African Rain Forests | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Objectives/ I can.... Investigate the Rain Forest |
||||||||||||||||||||
| State Goals | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Classwork-Homework
Prentice Hall 696-701
Interdisciplinary Exploration: African Rain Forest Science Explorer pages 18-29
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| TEC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Resources |
| Day 12 |
| Topic Evaluation |
| Objectives/ I can.... Identify a food chain. Identify Producers and consumers. Identify herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers. Identify biotic and abiotic factors. Name three biomes. Discuss balance in an ecosystem. Name a symbiotic relationship. Name three scavengers. List the parts of succession. |
| State Goals 12.B.2a Describe relationships among various organisms in their environments. |
| Classwork-Homework Lion King Ecology Watch the movie and take notes about the questions. |
| TEC |
| Resources |
Teacher Resources
|
| BIOMES |
| Biome
Field Guide Requirements Create a field guide book for a biome. Include a protist,
Fungus, Plant, Sponge, Cnidarian, Worm Mollusk, Arthroppod, Echinoerm, Fish, Amphibian,
Reptile, Bird, and Mammal. Field Guide Rubric |
| 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. |
| Meadow Habitat
Journal |
| 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. |
| Wetlands Wheel |
| 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 |
| BIOMES: 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. |
| BIOME: DECIDUOUS FOREST |
| 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. |
| BIOME: 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? |
| BIOME: FRESH WATER BIOMES |
| Freshwater
Ecosystem |
| 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.). |
| BIOME: GRASSLAND |
| 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. |
| BIOME: SALT WATER |
| 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. |
| BIOME: TROPICAL RAIN FOREST |
| 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. |
| BIOME: 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. |
| FOOD CHAINS & WEBS |
| Build a Bermudan Coral
Food Pyramid Students will be able to construct a pyramid of numbers using data
from a Bermudan coral reef. |
| Food Chain
Mania |
| Food
Webs and Trophic Levels |
| Who Am I?
Students work together to determine the role of ocean producers and consumers within the
ocean food chain. |
| Who Eats Whom In a
Bermudan Coral Reef Students will be able to find out about feeding
relationships on a coral reef and develop a food chain and food web using coral
reef animals and plants. |
| Fighting For
Foxes Read an article
about the Channel Island fox published in the Smithsonian magazine in October 2004.
They create and use food webs to better understand the reasons for the foxes decline. |
| Food
Chains/ Nutrition Pupil Factsheet |
| The
Food Chain What is the
difference between the 'Food Chain' and 'Food Web?' A popular
misnomer, the 'food chain' is not actually a linear chain but a complex web. Energy
is passed from one organism to another in a complex network like a spider's web. |
| SAND |
| Beach
Sands of the World Observe sand samples and find their possible origins. |
| WATER CYCLE |
| Water Cycle
Can list the 3 phases of water and understand how heat contributes to the transition from
one phase to another. Can discuss the various locations where water is stored on Earth and
the processes through which water travels from one location to another. Can describe the
water cycle. |
| 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!! |
| The Watershed Game Many things happen in a
watershed that affect the quality of the water we rely upon. What are they? Would
you make the best decisions in managing your watershed? Examine the issues in each
area of the watershed, then see the impacts of your choices! |
| What Do You Know About Water |
Student Extra Credit
|
 Climate Comparison Chart compare average monthly temperature of two
different biomes |
| 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! |
| Rain Forest Quest |
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