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Science Objectives from ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange), Science (2005)Grade: 4Describe the interdependence of plants and animals.• Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals survive in particular habitats. Examples:- Behaviors- migration, hibernation, mimicry;- Body structures- quills, fangs, stingers, webbed feet• Describing life cycles of various animals to include incomplete and complete metamorphosis. Examples: damsel fly, mealworms• Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain. Example: producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and third-level consumer• Identifying characteristics of organisms, including growth and development, reproduction, acquisition and use of energy, and response to the environment
“Connected Planet”Interdependence of Plants and AnimalsMr. Jonathan WoolleyEcology4th Grade
Did you know there are 1.75 million scientifically identified living forms on this planet?! If you include yet-to-be identified organisms, 30 million different forms of life are believed to exist!!!!
To put this into perspective, Tokyo, Japan, the world’s most populated city, has 3O millioninhabitants. Now imagine if each person in Tokyo was a unique organism.
To keep the numbers going… Did you know that there are about 4,000,000,000,000 trees on Earth? There are 1,000,000 ants for every single person (this comes to about 100,000,000,000,000 ants!)?? Also, there is an estimated 100,000,000,000,000 bacterium living inside of each and every one of us. Which just happens to outnumber our own human cells 10 to 1.
As you can see, our world supports a massive amount of life forms. This vast number of unique creatures include fungi, microorganisms, animals and plants. It also includes ushumans. Our lives and existence are all interconnected and dependent on each other…even in ways we have not yet discovered. Ecologists are people who look for these connections.
What do Ecologists do? Video link
One of the best ways ecologists study environments is by direct observation. Throughout this unit we will reflect on what we observe in field journals.
Let’s make our own field journals! Go to this website for instructions!
As we embark on our exploration, don’t forget to look for Connections. Remember, everything is connected somehow!
In field journal, write down plant and animal topics you are interested in. • For Homework~ Write in field journal. • What is an ecosystem? • Ecosystem video • 2. What is your favorite biome? • Explore biomes
Don’t forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other presentations, and move or resize the poll.
Rainforest wins! Video link
In field journals, write/draw some facts you have learned about rainforest ecosystems. List open-ended questions pulled from video What would you like to learn more about?
The term environment in ecology refers to both the physical and biological factors affecting organisms. The physical environment consists of abiotic, or nonliving, factors. These include resources such as light, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and soil; physical characteristics such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, and rainfall; and disturbances such as fire or tsunamis. The biological environment is made up of biotic, or living, factors—anything that is living or was living, as well as things that are immediately related to life. For example, the biotic factors in a rainforest include all of the organisms living in it—plants, animals, fungi, and microbes—as well as animal droppings, leaf litter, and rotting logs.
The interactions between living things and their environment occur at different scales. The most basic of these is the interaction between an individual organism and its environment. The largest scale is the biosphere, which consists of the relatively thin layers of Earth's air, soil, and water that are capable of supporting life together with all organisms that live there. The biosphere extends from roughly 6 miles (10 kilometers) above Earth's surface to the deep-sea vents of the ocean. The biosphere is divided into large regions called biomes (or major life zones) that are distinguished by climate and vegetation patterns. Most studies in ecology focus on interactions taking place at scales that fall in between the extremes of individuals and the biosphere: populations, communities, and ecosystems. Compton's by Britannica. Britannica Online for Kids. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-273214/ecology>.
Vocab List 1Directions: Match each word with its correct definition. • Organism • Environment • Habitat • Ecosystem • Biome • Population • Community • Niche • group of parts that work together as a unit • a group of the same species living in the same place at the same time • a group of living things and the environment in which they live • all the populations that live in the same area • an individual formed to carry on the activities of life • everything that surrounds and affects an animal, including living and nonliving things • place that meets an organism's needs • role of an organism in its habitat • A large naturally occurring ecosystem of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat
The two principal groups of living organisms are plants and animals. From the very early phase of evolution plants and animals have lived together side by side in an intimate relationship. This relationship is also known as the biotic environment or biosphere. In a stable ecosystem the plants and animals form a delicate nutritional interdependence which with minor fluctuations is rebalanced fairly rapidly. In addition to their nutritional interdependence biotic population of an ecosystem have various other types of interdependence like reproduction, protection etc.
The organization and stability of a biological community results from the interactions between its member species. Each interaction between two species directly affects each of them. These effects may be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the species and the interaction. Some interactions have a distinct effect on one species but no effect on another. In addition to their direct effects, some interactions between two species have indirect effects on other members of the community. The connection between all of the direct and indirect effects forms an interactive web that binds the community together. There are four main types of species interactions: competition, predation, commensalism, and mutualism.
The various ways of interdependences among the member populations of an ecological community have led to various specializations in structure and function. In a large number of cases such specialization of the population in a community are even more propound, for a community contains not only free living population but also organisms of different species that live together in more or less permanent physical contact. These associations are instances of symbiosis,an expression of the most intimate form of communal life. A brief survey of the interdependence between plants and animals is presented below.
Symbiosis is a close relationship between two different kinds of organisms, or living things. There are three basic types of symbiotic relationships: Mutualism-association between organisms of two different species in which each is benefited. Commensalism- a relation between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter. Parasitism- a relation between individuals of two species in which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other without either harming or benefiting the latter.
Match each term with its correct image • Mutualism • Commensalism • Parasitism
Food Chain Video Lessonhttp://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-chains.htm
A food chain, in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism. Food chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant. Plants, which convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a flesh-eating animal. In a parasite chain, a smaller organism consumes part of a larger host and may itself be parasitized by even smaller organisms. In a saprophytic chain, microorganisms live on dead organic matter. food chain (2013). In Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved April 22, 2013, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212636/food-chain
Let’s play a food chain game! Vocab Quiz 2 http://quizstar.4teachers.org/servlet/quizrepositoryservlet
Life Cycles: Slide Show Game
A life cycle is defined as the complete succession of changes undergone by an organism during its life. A new cycle occurs when an identical set of changes is begun. All organisms go through stages of development. Environmental conditions such as water, temperature, and light affect the development of organisms. Scientists can even describe the life cycle of a star or a plastic bottle.
In most mammals the stages of life go from the fertilized egg, to the fetus, the juvenile, and then to the adult.
Plants go from the seed, to the seedling , to the flowering plant
What is the difference between complete and incomplete metamorphosis in insects? The number of life cycle stages insects go through during their transformation from egg to adult differs. Complete metamorphosis has 4 life cycle stages. Incomplete metamorphosis has 3 life cycle stages.
Complete Metamorphosis The majority of insects go through complete metamorphosis. There are four distinct life cycle stages: egg larva pupa Adult The larva can be worm-like, although you can still see the six legs. The larvae for moths and butterflies are called caterpillars. Maggots are the larval stage of flies. The larvae eat constantly and grow rapidly. A hard, protective case forms around the larva: this is the pupa stage. The pupa stage for a butterfly is called a chrysallis. The pupa stage for a moth is called a cocoon.
Incomplete Metamorphosis Incomplete metamorphosis only has three life cycle stages: egg nymph Adult The nymph looks like a smaller version of the adult, but is wingless. Instead of going into a cocoon, the nymph grows into an adult by shedding its outer layer or exoskeleton. Once wings develop, the nymph has become an adult and will no longer shed its outer shell.
Complete or Incomplete? _________________ ________________________
Adaptations: Behaviors and Body Structures
Being able to adapt is a matter of life or death. Animals who can't adapt - die! For animals, adaptation is the idea that animals have developed features that help them to survive and thrive where they live. Some adaptations are purely physical. Fish have fins to help them swim and gills that let them breathe underwater. Without those two special traits, they would have a very hard time surviving in their watery environment. Animals also adapt through certain behaviors. When threatened, a porcupine extends its quills, making it very hard for a fox to eat them. Source: http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htm
Migration What is migration? At its most basic, migration is the movement of a group of animals from one place to another and, in most cases, back again. Most migration is seasonal. That is what we see when many birds return to Idaho in the spring and leave in the fall. These birds also represent a complete migration because all members of a : species leave. Sometimes not all members of a migratory population leave an area. This is called a partial migration. Red-tailed hawks are a good example of a kind of bird that is a partial migrant. http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season13/animal_migration/facts.cfm
But we humans kind of cheat -we use technology to adapt to change. We can fit in almost any environment on the planet - from icy cold Antarctica to the bottom of the ocean. We design and build better air conditioners, warmer parkas, better diving suits, and lights to see in the dark. Technology lets us adapt quickly to changes in our environment. However, for other animals, adaptation is a slow, steady process which may take hundreds of thousands of years to accomplish. Some of the changes we humans make can lead to the death of entire species of animals. We can change things so fast that we make it hard for other animals to "fit in". They do not have the time needed to develop sufficient means of adapting to the changed environment. Source: http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htm
Creative writing assignment: On the following page, choose an animal that is interesting to you. Go to the website link to learn more about its life. read carefully, and see if you can find what special adaptations these animals have. Now imagine you are this animal. Write a paragraph in which explore these questions: where do you live?" "what do you eat?" “what about the way you look helps you live? “what special behaviors do you have that help you survive?
Giraffe Mountain goat Polar Bear Alligator
