Lesson 1-Introduction to Ecosystems

Abiotic factors are those factors that are non-living and never were living. Examples include rocks, water, sand, soil, and sunlight.

Biotic factors are those factors that are living. Examples are trees, animals, bacteria.

Share Your Ideas-

Using the Vocabulary Slide Show and look up the word: Ecosystem

Answer these questions:

What patterns did you observe across several ecosystems?

Was there evidence of any cause and effect in the ecosystems? Where could it be inferred? 

Lesson 2-Resource Availability

Key Concepts

• An individual organism's growth depends on the availability of biological and physical resources

• The number of of organisms in a population depends on the availability of biological and physical resources

• Individual organisms require resources (e.g. food, water, oxygen etc) to grow

• Individual organisms require resources (e.g. food, water, oxygen etc) to reproduce

• Resources can be limited

• Resource availability affects the chances of an individual successfully reproducing

• The number of individuals reproducing affects the number of total individuals in a population

• Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships. 

• Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Anchoring Experience

1. Watch the video below.

2.  Answer the guided questions based on the video.

Uncover Your Ideas-

Students run a model that simulates the effects of resource availability on individual health and population growth. In the model, students represent organisms and marshmallows or packing peanuts represent food for the organisms. Students gather as many resources (food) as possible into cups. However, students in one group have access to twice as many marshmallows/packing peanuts as the other group. This causes the group with more marshmallows/packing peanuts to be more likely to survive and thrive. This activity focuses on the probability of the organisms of each group surviving and thriving.

The graph below is a sample graph of what the data typically looks like... Group 1 has fewer marshmallows and Group 2 has more marshmallows

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Vocabulary Words for this lesson are species, population, individual and resources. Please look these up at the top of the page on the Vocabulary Slide Show

Answer these questions:

Why does the amount of resources available influence the individual organisms as well as populations?

As populations grow/shrink due to resource availability, how might this affect the community of organisms in the ecosystem? 

Check Your Progress 

Uncovering Your Ideas

Students revisit the model they used in Lesson 2 to illustrate the effect of resource availability on individuals and populations. This time, however, parameters of the model are changed in order for students to consider competition. Instead of two equally divided high and low resource groups like in lesson two, the high competition group is much larger (~¾ of the class). This increases competition for the resource and gives members of the low competition group (the remaining ¼ of class or 5 students, whichever is larger) an advantage. This arrangement should result in a larger pile of marshmallows/packing peanuts for the high competition group, but each member of the group has fewer marshmallows/packing peanuts. The low competition group has a smaller pile, but because there are fewer members each has more marshmallows/packing peanuts per member.

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Vocabulary word:

Competition: an interaction between organisms sharing a limited resource (such as food, water, and territory) where both organisms are harmed.

Answer these questions:

What would the results of the model be if some students were to use different utensils, such as a knife? Would they be better competitors or worse?

What would the results be if some students were allowed to use powerful vacuum cleaners instead of plastic utensils?

Do you think that all plants and animals compete equally, or are some better competitors than others?

Can you think of any examples in which different kinds of animals compete for resources but one type of animal is better at acquiring those resources than its competitors?

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Anchoring Experience

Uncover Your Ideas

Use the link to go to a simulation to use to answer the worksheet

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Vocabulary Words to know:

Predation: The act of killing and eating another organism for food.

Predator: A member of a species that eats other organisms.

Prey: An organism that is eaten by a predator.

Which species were predators and which species were their prey?

What happens when a predator population changes?

What would happen in the hare and lynx situation if there was a reduction in resources for the hares (e.g. the amount of hare shelter is decreased)?

Are these patterns in predator and prey populations consistent? How do you know?

How are these patterns related over time?

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Lesson 5-Mutualism

Key Concepts

• The species involved in mutualism vary across ecosystems, but the interactions follow a similar pattern

• If individuals need mutualism to survive and/or reproduce, the number of individuals in a population are affected by this mutualism

• Sometimes a mutualism becomes so important that individuals cannot survive and/or reproduce without the mutualism. This is called interdependence

• Patterns can be used to identify cause and effect relationships.

• Cause and effect relationships may be used to predict phenomena in natural or designed systems.

Anchoring Experience

Students carry out an activity in which they experience the benefits of working together to reach a mutual goal. Students work in pairs in which they depend upon one another to complete a task or obtain a resource. Each partner has a limitation that requires them to depend on the other to meet their shared goal. This activity involves humans working together for their mutual benefit. In nature, however, mutualism occurs between individuals of two different species.

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Share Your Ideas

Vocabulary to know:

• Mutualism: A relationship between organisms of two species in which each organism benefits from the association.

• Interdependence - When two species in a mutualistic relationship rely on each other to survive or to complete their life cycle to the point where both populations are harmed when either of the populations decline.

Check Your Progress-QUIZ 

Lesson 6-