1. How do organisms interact with their environment?
Agenda for Tuesday Jan 3rd
Intro ecology notes
Posters

2. Ecology Definition: The study of the interactions between organisms & their environment

3. Levels of Organization - Macroscopic

4. 1) Organism
An individual organism (just 1!).

5. Habitat vs. Niche
Habitat - a place where a plant or animal can get the food, water, shelter and space it needs to live
Niche (Job): - the role and position a species has in its environment
how it meets its needs for food and shelter, how it survives, and how it reproduces
what it eats and what eats it
# of offspring

6. 2) Population
All the organisms of the same species in an area.

7. 3) Biological Community
Interacting populations living in same area

8. 4) Ecosystem
A biological community and all the abiotic factors that affect it
Biotic – living
Abiotic – not living

9. 5) Biome
A group of ecosystems that share the same climate and have similar types of biological communities

10. Minnesota Biomes:

11. 6) Biosphere The parts of Earth that support life: Earth's crust/land
All the waters that cover the surface
Atmosphere that surrounds Earth.

13. So how can we simplify these levels
of organization?
Organism = a lone wolf
Population = All wolfs in an area (ie a pack of wolves)
Biological Community = wolves, moose, trees, foxes, grasses, caribou
Ecosystem = all things from community AND snow, weather, temperature
Biome = boreal forest, tundra
Biosphere = Earth

14. Levels of Organization: Activity
Directions:
Work in groups of 3
Develop your own system of the levels of organization and write AND draw them on the poster paper
Cannot be the same as the examples given by Novak
Present tomorrow

15. What are the levels of organization from smallest to largest?
Agenda for Wednesday Jan 4th
Finish posters
Present posters
Food webs

16. Organism Population Community Ecosystem Biome Biosphere