1. Warmup
Work with a partner to check each other’s understanding of these vocabulary by using each in a sentence. Record any vocabulary you’d like to be explained more today.
Succession: Primary, Secondary, Climax Community
Pioneer Species, Opportunist Species
Factors: Abiotic, Biotic, Limiting
Population Growth
Relationships: Competitor, Predator, Symbiotic (Mutualist, Commensal, Parasitic)
Ecology, Biosphere, Biome
Carbon Cycle, Nitrogen Cycle
Energy Pyramid, Food Web, Food Chain
Equilibrium, Negative Feedback Systems, Predator-Prey Relationships 1

2. BIOSPHERE CHALLENGE & Review
JANUARY 27TH, 2010
BIOSPHERE CHALLENGE & Review 2

3. Self-Sustained Ecosystem 13

4. Self-Sustained Ecosystem 24

5. Self-Sustained Ecosystem 35

6. Biosphere Challenge Rules
Once the competition starts, no air, water, food, or other material can be added to or taken away from your ecosystem. In other words, your container must be air-tight.
The biosphere who’s top consumer survives the longest wins.
The living conditions for the more sophisticated animals must be humane. 6

7. Biosphere Challenge Tasks
Break into design teams. Each team will:
Elect a leader who will assign and supervise work on different tasks.
Identify whether you want a terrestrial or aquatic ecosystem.
Identify good species choices.
Describe biotic, abiotic, and limiting factors in this ecosystem.
Create an energy pyramid and a food web for the selected species.
Map out the cycles needed for carbon, nitrogen, and any other chemicals you think might be important.
Identify possible problems and trouble-shoot the design.
Add in more resiliency by increasing biodiversity beyond the original design. 7

8. Review Activity 1
Find and write down a connection between a negative feedback system and each of the following:
Predators
Energy Pyramid
Climax Community
Carbon Cycle 8

9. Review Activity 2
Choose a biome, and draw an ecosystem which has a 4-level energy pyramid but a very vulnerable food chain. Explain why and how it is vulnerable. Label the picture with the biome type you have chosen.
(You will need to create the energy pyramid and the food chain to go with your picture.) 9

10. Review Activity 3
In at least 6 sentences explain what the result of the carbon and nitrogen cycles being out of equilibrium is. Provide background information on how and why it got this way. 10

11. Review Activity 4
Create a picture representing a variety of abiotic and biotic factors. Make one of the factors a very obvious limiting factor for the main species in your picture. Have a partner try to figure out what the limiting factor is. 11

12. Review Activity 5
Compare and contrast a pioneer species and an opportunist species. 12

13. Review Activity 6
The population of Podunk is 250 people. They have an average of 1.5 children per parent, every 20 years. After 60 years, what will the population of Podunk be? 13

14. Review Activity 7
For each relationship type, think of two examples that fit into that category:
Predator-prey
Competitor
Symbiotic Mutualistic
Symbiotic Commensal
Symbiotic Parasitic 14

15. Review Activity 8
Think of a reason why ecology looks at the biosphere as a whole as well as at individual biomes.
(Hint: What abiotic factors do they share globally?) 15