Unit A: Interactions and Ecosystems

Key Concepts:

• Interactions and interdependencies (symbiotic relationships, food chains/webs, etc.)

• Environmental Monitoring (How do we track changes in an ecosystem?)

• Environmental Impacts (How do natural processes and the actions of society impact an ecosystem?)

• Environmental Management (What can be done to preserve and reclaim natural habitat?)

Key Concepts:

• Interactions and Interdependencies (How do predator/prey relationships impact ecosystems?)

• Producers, Consumers, and Decomposers (How do animals and plants get energy?)

• Nutrient Cycles and Energy Flow (How do food chains/webs show the flow of energy in an ecosystem?)

• Environmental Impacts. (How do human actions impact natural cycles?)

Key Concepts:

• Interactions and interdependencies (How do ecosystems evolve through succession?)

• Environmental Monitoring (How are living things distributed in an ecosystem?)

• Environmental Impacts (What are the consequences of bioinvasion?)

• Environmental Management (How do humans play a role in bioinvasion, distribution, and succession?)

Key Concepts:

• Endangered Species (What are the different levels of species at risk? How do we determine this?)

• Extinction (How does the loss of a species impact an ecosystem?)

• Environmental Monitoring (How do we use indicator species to assess the health of ecosystems?)

• Environmental Impacts (What events, natural or human-caused, impacted the population size of species?)

• Environmental Management (How do humans help or harm populations of endangered species?)