1. ECOSYSTEMS & CHANGE

2. How are we impacting our environment?
Create a KWL chart
What do you KNOW?
What do you WANT to Know?
What have you LEARNED?
List/describe changes that have occurred in our environment…environmental problems we are faced with…causes for these problems
What do you want/need to know about our environmental problems…or causes for these problems?
This column will be completed later in our unit

3. Read the introduction What is ECOLOGY? What is an ECOSYSTEM?
What type of changes could affect an ecosystem? In what ways?
Is ecological change good or bad – or neither?

4. Ecosystems and Sustainability
A community of various organisms interacting with each other within a particular physical environment is known as an ecosystem.
An ecosystem is sustainable if it can support diversity and ecological process over time

5. biodiversity Variety & variability of life on Earth…
w/i species; b/w species; b/w ecosystems

6. Levels of Organization:
Ecology: the study of organisms and their environment
Biotic factors: Living parts of the environment
Ex. Plants, animals, predators
Abiotic factors: Nonliving parts of the environment
Ex. Sunlight, water, temperature, nitrogen
Levels of Organization:
1. Population- 2 or more groups of organisms of same species
Ex. Beavers at Jordan Lake State Park
2. Community – populations of multiple species living in the same area
Ex. Beavers and Deer at Jordan Lake
3. Ecosystem – a community of organisms interacting with each other (biotic factors) within the environment (abiotic factors)
Ex. Beavers, deer, fish, water, and sunlight at Jordan Lake
4. Biomes - Group of ecosystems that have the same climate Ex. decidious forest or tundra
Biosphere - Can support life
(Bio = life Sphere = circle)
Ex. The earth

7. Where an organism lives
HABITATS VS NICHES
HABITAT
NICHE
Where an organism lives
NICHE
The role an organism plays in its habitat
What it eats; is it predator or prey; how does it find mating partners

8. HABITATS might describe:
The NAME of the place where the creature lives.
g Arctic Canada is the habitat of the polar bear Ursa maritima.

9. HABITATS might describe:
The DOMINANT VEGETATION of the place where the creature lives.
eg Heather moorland is the habitat of the grouse.

10. HABITATS might describe:
The TYPE of place where the creature lives.
eg species of fish like Pike (Esox lucius) are found in freshwater lakes and ponds.

11. Watch the grand canyon video clip
Note the following…
GRADUAL changes in the ecosystem
SUDDEN changes in the ecosystem
GOOD changes
BAD changes
Watch the grand canyon video clip

12. ACTIVITY: Comparing case studies
Form groups of 4
Each member of the group should choose one of the following case studies to read
The Crab Jubilee
The March of the Toads
The Bleaching of the Reefs
The Yellowstone Fires of 1988
As you read your assigned case study…take notes.

13. Use the read, think, take note method

14. Now regroup based on case study
With your case-study partner(s)…
compare & discuss your notes…thoughts/questions
Discuss causes of the ecosystem changes in your study
Fill in the “Case Study Comparison” table for your case study
Complete a CAUSE/EFFECT diagram for your case study
View NASA & the Chesapeake Bay
Model how to complete a CAUSE/EFFECT diagram

15. Rejoin your original group
Summarize your case study for your group helping them complete the CASE STUDY comparison chart
Share your CAUSE/EFFECT chart
If time…watch video segment on CANE TOADS

16. ANALYSIS
Discuss predictions of what might happen in 50 years if nothing is done to further influence the situation described. Write a prediction for YOUR CASE STUDY…provide reasoning for your prediction
For each case study, write 1-3 sentences that summarize the changes that occurred in each ecosystem
How would you expect the “biodiversity” of the ecosystem to change in 50 years in each of the locations described in the case studies
Group the causes of the changes you listed in previous question as “NATURALLY OCCURRING” or “HUMAN CAUSED”