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Taiga Ecosystem      posted 02-19-2011
Ecosystem: Rocky Mountain National Park

Coniferous Forest, Mountainous Ecosystem








Thanksgiving Ecology      posted 11-18-2008
Ecology of the North American Wild Turkey

Darwin, If You Please      posted 07-10-2007
Audiocast: Darwin and the Floating Asparagus
There are many famous ecologists. Charles Darwin was one of them. Some folks disregard his work due to personal beliefs. Be that as it may, knowledge is knowledge and this is school, so... Here is a really neat audio report of Darwin's use of the scientific method in the field of Ecology. It has to do with floating asparagus and seeds inside dead bodies - WOAH!

To access the audio file, click on the link above, then click the "Listen" icon under the picture of the radio commentator, Robert Krulwich.



Got SICK? Your Body and Bacteria      posted 07-10-2007
Audiocast: Bacterial Ecology
Our bodies are ecosystems. Imagine that! Here is an important and accessible discussion of bacterial infections and the good bacteria that gets ZAPPed by antibiotics.

To access the audiocast, click on link above, then on the "Listen" icon next to the commentator's name, Deborah Franklin.



Ocean Ecology Readings      posted 11-20-2006
Introduction to Animal Life in Oceans

1 Oceans, covering more than 70% of the Earth's surface, are so big and complicated that scientists have segmented them into different zones.

2 The intertidal zone (or the littoral zone) is where the ocean meets land. When we take a stroll along the beach, we are in the intertidal zone. As the name suggests, this ocean zone is always between high and low tides. During high tides, the intertidal zone is completely submerged. During low tides, it is exposed to air. Life here is tough because animals must adapt to a constantly changing environment. Barnacles, hermit crabs, starfish, and horseshoe crabs all take up their residence in the intertidal zone.

3 When we travel further from shores, we reach the pelagic zone. Whales and many species of fish live in the pelagic zone. From there, we dive down to arrive at the benthic zone and, then, the abyssal zone. As we go deeper, our surroundings become darker. After we are about 825 feet below sea level, we lose the one last beam of sunlight and find ourselves in complete darkness!

4 Can you imagine a life without light? Well, the gulper eel has a perfect solution - if it can't get light it will simply make light! The gulper eel has an organ on the tip of its tail that glows in the dark. It doesn't use the light to find its way around the deep sea. Instead, it uses the light to trick a fish into believing that there may be food nearby. As the fish gets close enough, the gulper eel ambushes it and swallows it whole!


Copyright © 2006 edHelper
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Name _____________________________
Date ___________________
Introduction to Animal Life in Oceans


1. What percentage of the Earth's surface do oceans cover?
70%
30%
90%
50%

2. Which of the following animals would we most likely to see when we are on the beach?
Hermit crabs
Horseshoe crabs
Starfish
All of the above


3. Which of the following is the correct order of ocean zones, from the surface to the bottom?
Pelagic zone ==> abyssal zone ==> benthic zone
Pelagic zone ==> benthic zone ==> abyssal zone
Abyssal zone ==> benthic zone ==> pelagic zone
Intertidal zone ==> abyssal zone ==> benthic zone

4. How deep can sunlight reach below water?
825 meters
825 kilometers
825 feet
825 yards


5. Which of the following about ocean zones is not true?
The intertidal zone is where the ocean and land meet.
The pelagic zone is below the benthic zone.
The pelagic zone is above the abyssal zone.
The abyssal zone is deeper than the benthic zone.

6. How does a gulper eel catch prey?
It beams lights from the tip of its tail to trick a fish into believing that there is food nearby.
It flicks out its long, sticky-tipped tongue to capture prey.
It uses its tail to discharge up to 650 volts of electricity to kill prey.
It uses the flaps of skin around its snout to trick a fish into believing that there is food nearby.



Animal Life in Oceans

1 When we look at the satellite picture of our globe, we see a vast area of blue that covers over 70% of the Earth's surface or about 130 million square miles. The blue signifies the largest biome on our planet - oceans.

2 Although oceans occupy a big part of the Earth's surface, they only house 200,000 or 10% of the Earth's animal species. In contrast, the rain forest biome takes up just 3 million square miles, but about 1 million or 50% of animal species have their home there. Despite a rather small selection of animals, marine life is amazingly diversified. Many of the oddest-looking animals, such as octopuses and viperfish, are found in oceans.

3 On land, we have mountains, volcanoes, plateaus, plains, canyons, and other natural wonders. Underwater, we have the same landscapes. On land, the highest point is the peak of Mount Everest at 29,035 feet. Underwater, the deepest point is the Challenger Deep of Mariana Trench at 36,198 feet. On land, we experience earthquakes and volcano eruptions. Underwater, marine animals live through identical life-threatening events. On land, we have sunrise and sunset, and sunlight shines on every place for at least a couple of months a year. Underwater, sunlight cannot reach places deeper than 825 feet and many marine animals live in complete darkness all year round!

4 Regardless of whether an animal lives on land or in the ocean, survival is the number one priority for all animals. The usual tactics of using camouflage or traveling in large groups are practiced by many marine animals. For example, most fish have dark backs but white undersides. This coloring pattern, known as countershading, protects fish in two ways. First, their dark backs help them blend in with the dark water beneath, so a hungry predator swimming above may not spot them. S

Biomes of North America      posted 02-22-2006
National Park Service Website
One of the 7th grade science units is Ecology. Depending on time and the new science standards, the Ecology unit may include an in-depth study of a specific ecosystem within one of the earth's defined BIOMES. The biomes found in North America include Grassland, Desert, Taiga, Tundra, Deciduous Forest, and Temperate Rain Forest. General information on biomes can be found in the websites listed in the Biome Project category. Most ecosystems are part of our National Park System and can be explored at:
http://www.nps.gov











The 3D Peephole Ecosystem Model      posted 03-21-2005
3rd Quarter Project
This model is completed at home on the students own time using materials they furnish themselves.

Model

Construct a model of a specific ecosystem within a shoe box.

Walls
The walls of the box are two dimensional – they have both height and width but no depth. As such the walls of your biome model are a perfect place to represent landscape including plants (producers) and climate (soil, water, air, sun).
Requirements: the walls must not be recognizable as cardboard shoe box sides. In other words, they must be covered or painted, have drawings, paintings, pictures and /or stickers added. Make sure to show abiotic features and producers!

Ceiling
The box top is the ceiling/sky/canopy of the ecosystem. It is also a good place to add cut-out sections where light can come in. The cut outs should compliment the biome. For example – a desert sky at night will have stars and, perhaps a moon. A rain forest will have a canopy of leaves and vines with small portions of sky visible. Grasslands might have puffy white clouds. Remember that the negative spaces (where clouds aren’t) are the ones you want to cut out.
Requirements: Any ecosystem-appropriate cut-out that will allow sufficient light in.

3D Space
This where you will put 3D representations of plants, animals and abiotic features typical of your chosen ecosystem. Make sure that each is described in your presentation or research paper (whichever is required 3rd quarter).







Biome Project Paragraph Content      posted 03-21-2005
Note: The research paper is NOT required EVERY YEAR. Please speak to the Mrs. Sheppard if you have any questions.

This is the paper that was distributed to students to help them "build" their paper from their 14 research question answers. This is the rubric Mrs. Sheppard will be using to grade the papers so follow it to a "T".

The Research Paper
Basic Layout

Paragraph 1: Introduction
The purpose of the introductory paragraph is to “Tell them what you are going to tell them”. Write a much abbreviated description of the high points of each of the topic paragraphs that will follow. For this research paper the first paragraph will answer these questions:
1.What is the ecosystem featured?
2.What specific location (within that ecosystem) will be highlighted?
3.What are two interesting facts about the living things in this ecosystem that makes it interesting to study?

Paragraph 2: The Biome
The second paragraph will contain all the information about the featured ecosystem. This section of the paper will include answers to the following questions:
1.What is the name of the ecosystem (sometimes refered to globally as a biome)?
2.Where in the world is the biome located?
3.Where in North America is the biome located?
4.What are the abiotic features of the biome (e.g. air, water, soil, sun)?
5.What special adaptations do animals and plants need to succeed in this biome?

Paragraph 3: The Ecosystem
Paragraph three provides a description of the specific ecosystem within the featured biome. This section will provide answers to the following questions:
1.Where is the ecosystem geographically located in North America? (example: Northwestern California)
2.What is the name of this ecosystem? (Example: The Humboldt Redwoods State Park)
3.What are the plants that are specific to (live only in) this ecosystem?
4.What are the animals that are specific to (live only in) this ecosystem?
5.What is the history of this ecosystem? (Human and ecological)

Paragraph 4: Interactions of Biotic and Abiotic Features
Interactions of the living and non-living features of the ecosystem are key to its success. This is the paragraph in which the following questions should be answered:
1.How are plants adapted to live with the abiotic conditions of this ecosystem?
2.How are animals adapted to live with the abiotic conditions of this ecosystem?
3.What is the ratio of producers to consumers?
4.What eats what and who eats whom?
5.How do the living things in this ecosystem maintain a sustainable balance?

Paragraph 5: Conclusion
The concluding paragraph of the report summarizes information presented in the previous three paragraphs.





Grasslands Ecosystem      posted 02-22-2005
Tallgrass Prairie National Park
Grasslands Ecosystem




Desert Ecosystem      posted 02-19-2005
Ecosystem: Death Valley National Park

Desert Ecosystem





Tundra Ecosystem      posted 02-19-2005
Ecosystem: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

Tundra Ecosystem








Deciduous Forest Ecosystem      posted 02-19-2005
Location: Great Smokey Mountains National Park


Deciduous Forest Ecosystem








Temperate Rain Forest Ecosystem      posted 02-19-2005
Ecosystem: Redwood National Park

Temperate Rain Forest Ecosystem






Ecology Notes and Definitions      posted 03-21-2004
An understanding of this information must be evident in the research paper and Peephole Biome!

Ecology Notebook

Ecology is the study of relationships of organisms to their environment and each other. It is organized in a hierarchical pattern including species, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere.

A population is two or more of the same species in a given area.

A community consists of all the populations in a given area. The more populations there are, the more biologically diverse the area is. Communities are organized by trophic level – who eats whom (or what). The trophic levels include the autotrophs (producers) and the heterotrophs (primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers).

Producers are autotrophs - those organisms that are able to produce their own food usually by capturing and converting light energy to chemical energy through the process of photosynthesis. Without producers no other organism could survive. Examples include the algae, phytoplankton, grasses, and mosses.

Primary consumers are those organisms that eat only producers. Most are called herbivores. Examples include cows, horses, sheep, giraffes, elephants, seed eating birds, most insects, some bacteria, and some fungi.

Secondary consumers are those organisms that eat primary consumers. These are either insectivores (if they survive primarily on insects), carnivores (if they survive primarily on fleshy animals) or some other –vore but not herbivores.

Tertiary consumers are those organisms that can eat secondary consumers. Homo sapiens can be considered tertiary consumers along with the big cats like lions, tigers and bears. Humans and bears are omnivores – they survive on a diet consisting of the nutrients found in animals and plants.

Ecological Succession is the observed process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. Change is caused by the impact that established species have on their own environments.