Unit A

1. Unit A Interactions & Ecosystems

2. Knowledge I can: • Explain how humans interact with their environment • Ask science-specific questions about our relationship with the environment • Recognize issues with how we treat the environment • Follow the movement of energy and materials around an ecosystem • See how the environment affects the things living in it • Describe how human knowledge can impact an environment

3. Skills I can: • Ask science-based questions • Design an experiment when given a question • Conduct an investigation • Analyze and interpret my qualitative and quantitative data • Work collaboratively with my peers

4. Attitude I can: • Show interest in science • Appreciate how different ideas from all over the world mix together to bring about understanding • Take my time and consider various approaches to investigations, problems and issues • Begin to recognize my impact on the environment • Work safely in the science classroom and lab

5. Focusing Questions • How do human activities affect ecosystems? • What methods can we use to observe and monitor changes in ecosystems? • How can we assess the impacts of our actions?

6. Vocabulary Terms • abiotic • acid rain • adaptation • bioaccumulation • biomass • biotic • carbon cycle • carnivore • commensalism • condensation • consumer • decomposer • ecological footprint • ecology • food chain • food web • ground water • habitat

7. More Vocabulary • prey • producer • run-off • scavenger • sustainability • symbiosis • transpiration • water cycle • herbivore • indicator species • mutualism • niche • omnivore • parasite • pollution • precipitation • predator http://science.discoveryeducation.com/concept.cfm?CID=58749b38-c3b0-4212-baf0-c5681e505171

8. Unit A: Interactions & Ecosystems

9. Imagine a World Without Fishes Suppose a developer built a housing community within a natural forested area with a stream — disruption to the area would destroy habitats and kill many species including fish. This would reduce the biodiversity of the area and remove potential natural resources. Think of all the ways you interact with fish. Who and what would be affected?

10. Your Turn: • As a class make a list on the whiteboard of the potential effects of losing fishes on the world. • How are humans affected? • How are ecosystems affected? *see student worksheet p. 5 Life Systems of Fishes

12. Unit Scenario • You are an ecologist hired to work for the Government of Alberta. You have been assigned the contract to research an Alberta animal. • An ecologist is someone who studies the relationships between living things and their environments • Science is broken into several different disciplines, and it requires research into a wide variety of areas. It will be your job to evaluate your animal and its ecosystem, and determine why and how it is successful in Alberta. • Research guidelines Introduction: Who is the ________________________ • Description & image • Habitat (physical where? wetlands vs. prairie vs. habitat) • Ecosystem Details (abiotic & biotic factors) • Niche or Roles (producer/consumer/decomposer) • Interactions • Food Web • Affected by Humans

13. Animals Native to Albertaall images courtesy of http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/kids/animal-facts/animals.asp?region=alb

14. Definitions Living things all interact with their environments in some way, shape or form. Brainstorm with a partner, or use a dictionary, to explain what the following terms mean: Interaction Ecosystem Ecology

15. Definitions Interaction • Contact between at least two things • example 1 – Eric throws rock at Travis • example 2 – rock falls off cliff onto Travis • Action on each other Ecosystem • all the interacting parts between a biological community and its environment • means both living and non living things Ecology • the study of environments • how organisms interact with each other and the environment • the study of living things and the way they live in their environment & ecosystems

16. Learning Concepts • Illustrate how life-supporting environments meet the needs of living things for: • Nutrients • Energy sources • Moisture • Suitable habitat • Exchange of gases

17. Habitats A habitat is the natural area in which a plant or animal species lives. Four basic needs that must be met for living things to survive are: Science Log and Research What habitat does your organism occupy?

18. Concept 2: Ecosystems Learning Concept • Analyze an ecosystem • Identify biotic and abiotic components • Describe interactions among these components • Ecosystems function based on the interactions of living and non-living things • Vary in size and complexity

19. Biotic factors are living organisms/components while abiotic factors are non-living components. (page 38)

20. Is the illustration of a fish tank above a true representation of an ecosystem? Explain, then discuss with a partner. http://www.tank-fish.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/fish-tank-saltwater.jpg

21. Science Log and Research • Identify as many biotic and abiotic factors you would be able to find in your organism’s ecosystem.

22. Example:

23. Learning Concept • Analyze ecosystems to identify producers, consumers, and decomposers • Describe how energy is supplied to and flows through a food web • All of the organisms within an ecosystem have different roles. These roles are called niches. • Organisms can have more than one niche and knowing the niches of an organism can help to explain why they act and interact the way they do. • To determine an organism's niche, you need to identify what it eats, where it lives and how it interacts with the other organisms in the same ecosystem.

25. Science Log and Research • From the above definitions, identify which category or categories your organism fits.

26. Learning Concept • Describe and give examples of energy and nutrient storage in plants and animals. http://www.ftexploring.com/me/me2.html

28. Learning Concept • Interpret food webs, and predict the effect of any changes to any part of a web

29. Food Webs & Food Chains • Both food webs and food chains show how food energy moves through an ecosystem (pg 42 & 43) •  A food chain is: a sequence of feeding relationships among organisms as they pass on food energy • A food web is: a network of feeding relationships among organisms • Energy flow is the movement of energy, which starts with the sun, passing from one organism to the next • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TE6wqG4nb3M&feature=related

30. Science Log and Research • Use the following food web and indicate where your organisms would most likely fit in. Why? http://www.cabap.org/featured/producers-and-consumers-herbivores-carnivores-omnivores-and-decomposers-are-related-in-food-chains

31. Work with your classmates to develop a food web on the bulletin board • Identify a single food chain using the yellow yarn, and illustrate and label the food chain below • What major component(s) are/is missing from the food web on the bulletin board? • Plants • Decomposers • Sun • What happens to the food web if ____________________ is removed?

32. Learning Concept • Describe how matter is recycled in an ecosystem through interactions among plants, animals, fungi, bacteria and other microorganisms.

34. Energy flows within ecosystems and is illustrated in both food webs and food chains • Matter and energy are biotic abiotic factors (circle one) • Matter is recycled within ecosystems in a variety of ways, but other materials are also cycled through the ecosystem. http://fanart.lionking.org/Artwork/

35. Learning Concept • Describe the process of cycling carbon and water through an ecosystem • Carbon cycle • Water cycle • http://www.absorblearning.com/media/item.action;jsessionid=039028B2F227911D9123229A250EDF8E?quick=12i

37. Explain: What is the carbon cycle? • Plants take in carbon to take in their own food • Animals eat the food (produced by plants) • Animals and plants released CO2 cellular respiration • Necessary for life • The cycle in which carbon is used and reused throughout the ecosystem (definition)

38. http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/facilities/multimedia/uploads/alberta/watercycle.htmlhttp://www.biology.ualberta.ca/facilities/multimedia/uploads/alberta/watercycle.html

39. Explain: What is the water cycle? (p. 51) - Continuous movement of water through an ecosystem • Involves evaporation, transpiration, condensation, & precipitation • Illustrate and provide an explanation for each of the following terms: • Condensation • evaporated water building up in clouds • change in state from g  l • Evaporation • the process where liquid changes to a gas • Transpiration • plants suck up water and “sweat” it • water loss through the stomata (on the leaves) • Precipitation • when water is released from clouds – from atmosphere to the earth in the form of snow, water, hail or sleet

40. Concept 3: Human Impacts Learning Concept • Identify intended and unintended consequences of human activities within local and global environments • http://nationalzoo.si.edu/education/conservationcentral/walk/walk6_broadband.html

42. Bioaccumulation • Define bioaccumulation: • The movement of pollutants through levels of the food chain • Highest concentration in the top predators

43. Science Log and Research • How has human activity impacted your organism? Decide whether this has intended or unintended consequences. Examples: tourism, farming, urban expansion, oil and gas industry, etc … • How the bighorn sheep are affected by pollution? • human impact, bighorn sheep • tourism impact, animal

44. Learning Concept • Monitor a local environment, and assess the impacts of environmental factors on the growth, health and reproduction of organisms in that environment • See notes: Bears: The Story of Duke & handouts • See notes: The Carbon Cycle: Teacher’s Guide

45. Learning Concept • Describe the relationships among knowledge, decisions, and actions in maintaining life-supporting environments. • EcoTipping Points Mini Books (separate powerpoint) • Council of All Beings • Managing our Ecosystems