Unit 2:   Ecology

Major Topics in this Unit: 

• Levels of Organization

• Biomes

• Food Webs, Chains, and Trophic Levels

• Ecological Pyramids

• Biogeochemical Cycles

• Community Interactions

• Succession

• Population Growth

• Limiting Factors

Essential Questions:

1. What is the difference between biotic and abiotic things? 

2. How can we organize all living things in an ecosystem? 

3. How do all living things interact with each other in an ecosystem? 

4. How is matter, such as carbon, nitrogen, and water all cycled throughout an ecosystem? 

5. How does energy flow through an ecosystem?

6. How do populations change over time? What types of things can cause a population to change?  

7. How can ecosystems recover after disturbances? 

Vocabulary for this section: 

    Vocab for Ecology

Notes for this section:

Notes on Intro, Food webs, community interactions and Succession:

Notes on population ecology:

Helpful Links:

What is a species? (Article and video)

Snow geese Population Overview Video

Animal Tagging Video

Virtual Reality Biomes

Amazing Biome Comparison Tool

Community Interactions:

    Great review of interactions

    Good review of interactions

Plant Competition:

Mutualism and Commensalism:

Build an Insect:

Wolves can change a River:

Keystone Species: 

5 Invasive Species:

Sea Lamprey Invasive species

Can we fix invasive species? 

Human Population Animation:

MT. ST. Helens Video and another good descriptive one 

Nitrogen Cycle Help

Eco Pyramids and Trophic Level Interactive