Life Science – Mr. Hooper – May 2016

Funnel-Web Grass Spider Organism: a living thing. The environment that provides an organism food, water, shelter and other things it needs to live, grow and reproduce is its habitat.

The living parts of a habitat are called biotic factors. Biotic factors include the plants, animals, protists, fungi, and bacteria in a creature’s habitat. What biotic factors are present in this pond habitat?

Abiotic factors are the nonliving parts of an organism’s habitat. Abiotic factors include water, sunlight, oxygen, temperature, and soil.

All organisms require water to carry out life processes. Water makes up a large part of the bodies of many organisms. We are about 65% water. Water is an essential reactant in photosynthesis.

Most organisms require oxygen to carry out life processes. The air is about 20% oxygen. How do alligators obtain oxygen?How do brown algae obtain oxygen?

The temperatures that are typical of an area determine the types of organisms that can live there. Some organisms alter their environments in order to survive very hot or very cold temperatures.

Soil: a mixture of rock fragments, nutrients, air, water, and the decaying remains of living things.

Soil poster.

Species: a group of organisms that are physically similar and can mate with each other to produce fertile offspring. Population: all the members of one species living in a particular area. All of the pigeons in New York City make up a population. Give an example of a population of living things.

All of the different populations that live together in an area make up a community.

Ecosystem: the community of organisms living in a particular area, along with their nonliving surroundings – the community and abiotic factors together.

Limiting factor: an environmental factor that causes a population to decrease. Examples include: food, water, space, and weather. Carrying capacity: the largest population an area can support.

When populations become crowded, organisms compete with one another for food, water, space, sunlight, and other essentials.

Parasites and disease can also limit the growth in a population. Parasites take nourishment at the expense of their hosts, often weakening them and causing disease or death. Parasitism and Disease

Unusual weather such as severe frosts or drought, natural disasters, seasonal cycles, and certain human activities – such as damming rivers or clear-cutting forests are also limiting factors that can decrease growth of populations. Other Limiting Factors

Decide which level of organization is shown for the above images.

Alligator. Alligator with young. texas_62971_990x742.jpg Blue jay snow. Blue jay spring. Burrowing wolf spider. Clear-cut forest. HI_ jpg? Desert Scrub. Ditch in the Netherlands. Funnel-web grass spider. Funnel-web grass spider. Gannet pair. Morus_bassanus_9.jpg. Photosynthesis. Photosynthesis equation. Pond in North Florida. Soil. Soil poster. Sun behind clouds.

Bacteria community on human tongue. Earthworm. Ecosystem. Flamingo. Flamingo flock. Forest Community. Gannets. Influenza virus. Lions fighting. Mycorrhizae. -underground-secret-to-plant-growth-2/ Reindeer-cover. herd.jpg. Sandhill cranes. Sandpipers. Sowbugs. Streptomyces. Tomato hornworm with wasp cocoons.