1. Chapter 1: Interactions of Life Sections 1 & 3
Life Science

2. Ecology is the study of interactions among living things and their environments.
Ecologists are scientists who study those interactions.

3. What is a Biosphere? Biosphere- part of the Earth that supports life.
Biosphere is made up of different Environments that are home to many different kinds of organisms.

4. What is an Ecosystem???
Ecosystems- consist of all the living organisms and the non-living things in their environment.

5. Living Things
Biotic Factors – a living thing
in an ecosystem

6. Abiotic Factor
Abiotic Factors – any physical or chemical part of an ecosystem that living things NEED to survive.
Sunlight
Water
Air
Soil, Sand, Rocks, etc.
Proper Temperature

7. iPads!!!
Create your own Ecosystem using the LINO APP!

8. Populations
Populations- made up of all the organisms in an ecosystem that belong to the same species.
Example- Human Population!

9. Community Community- all the populations in an ecosystem. Example-
Arctic Community: fish, seals, polar bears.

10. Habitat- the place in which organisms live
Provides: food & shelter, proper temperature, and Living space the
organism NEEDS to survive.
- Example – Pond
Niche – an organism’s role or job
in the habitat.

11. Section 3: Interactions with Communities
What is a Community?

12. Where does all the Energy come from?
SUN!
What is affected? How?

13. Energy from the sun is stored in chemical bonds that holds together Atoms.
When these chemical bonds are broken, what must be released?

14. All organisms need energy in one way or another….

15. PRODUCERS
Producers: organisms that use a source of energy to make food
Example: Plants use sun for Photosynthesis

16. What if organisms can’t receive sunlight?
Chemosynthesis – is when bacteria produces food using heated chemicals released from underwater vents.

17. CONSUMERS Consumers: Organisms that cannot make their own food
AKA - Heterotrophs

18. Herbivores- “vegetarians” plant eaters
Ex- Rabbits, Deer, Cows
Carnivores- animal eaters
Ex- Lions, Coyotes
Omnivores- eats plants & animals
Ex- Humans, Bears
Decomposers- consume waste & dead organisms
Ex- Earthworms, Mushrooms, Mold, Fungi
- help recycle once-living matter

19. Scavenger – an organism that feeds off of once-living organisms
Ex – turkey vulture

20. What are some things that organisms depend on other organisms for?

21. FOOD CHAIN
Food Chain- a model to show the feeding relationships between a single producer and a chain of consumers

23. FOOD WEB
Food Web – model of the feeding relationships between many overlapping food chains

24. ENERGY PYRAMID
-shows the amount of Energy available at each feeding level.

25.  STOP HERE 

26. What are some “cycles” in nature?

27. Section 2
Cycles – Picture Notes (see Binder)

28. BIOMES – Section 4
See Biome Project in Binder

29. Chapter 2: Interactions Within Ecosystems
Life Science

30. Habitats & Niches

31. Habitat- the place in which organisms live
Provides: food & water, shelter, proper temperature, and Living space the
organism NEEDS to survive.
- Example – Pond
Niche – an organism’s role or job
in the habitat.

32. Niches
What is a Niche?
Niches- how an organism survives, how it obtains food and shelter, how it finds a mate and cares for its young, how it avoids danger.
Special adaptations that improve survival are often part of an organism’s niche.

33. Patterns Exist in Populations
Patterns in SPACE - how animals or plants place themselves, depends on how they meet their needs to survive.
Space is needed for food or water.
Examples – School of fish, herd of elephants

34. Patterns in Populations
Patterns in TIME
Population sizes change depending on climate.
Examples – Cicadas emerge every 17 years, bears hibernate, birds migrate, jelly fish in August!
Population sizes can also
depend on predators.

35. SECTION 2.2

36. Symbiotic Relationships
Symbiotic Relationship – means a close relationship between two species

37. MUTUALISM Mutualism- where both species benefit
Example: Bee and Flower
Explain…

38. COMMENSALISM
Commensalism- where one organism benefits and the other is not affected
Example: Clown Fish and Anemones
Explain…

39. PARASITISM
Parasitism- where one organism benefits, and the other is harmed
Example- Dogs and Ticks

40. PREDATOR/PREY Predator- consumers that capture and eat other consumers
Predators can limit the size of populations
Predators can also increase & decrease the number of different organisms in an ecosystem.

41. PREDATOR/PREY
Prey- organism that is captured by a consumer (or predator)

43. Competition
Competition- two or more organisms that seek the same resource at the same time.

44. Effects of Competition
Competition for food, living space, or other resources can LIMIT the population.
Prevents Pop. Growth
Competition is most intense among individuals of the same species.

45. Measuring Pop. Methods Count the # of species Trap-Mark-Release
Sample Count (used to estimate the sizes of larger populations)

46. Population Size
Pop. Size- indicates whether population is healthy and growing.
Population Density- the size of a population that occupies a specific area

47. Limiting Factor- anything that restricts the # of individuals in a population.
Can be living or nonliving
Can affect other populations
Carrying Capacity- the largest # of individuals of one species that an ecosystem can support.

48. What if the Carrying Capacity exceeds?
Not enough resources, death occurs, species are forced to move.

49. What Affects Pop. Size?
List some things that can affect Population Sizes…

50. Exponential Growth
Exponential Growth- the LARGER a population becomes, the FASTER it grows.

51. Changing in Pop.
Populations can change in size when new members enter or exit the pop.
BIRTH RATE- # of births in a given time
DEATH RATE- # of deaths in a given time