GOAL:

To develop an understanding of the interdependence of all organisms and the need for conserving natural resources

The earth is a complex sphere composed of a variety of interdependent systems.

Ecology Bl.00 To understand that the earth's crust and atmosphere comprise a system containing smaller distinct ecosystems

1.01 be able to define and place in order of increasing complexity: organism, species, population, community, ecosystem, biome, biosphere.

I. Recognizing an organism
II. Organisms making up a population
III. Populations interacting in a community
IV. Communities forming an ecosystem
V. Ecosystems in a biome
VI. Biomes in the biosphere

COMPONENT OF SCIENCE: Process of Science

GOAL:

To enable students to demonstrate the processes of science by posing questions and investigating phenomena through language, methods and instruments of science.

1.2 QUESTIONING -The development of an inquisitive mind and the effective use of questioning techniques furthers the acquisition of information.

1.2a Initial information and prior knowledge are used to ask questions.

BENCHMARK: Prior experience and knowledge are used to formulate working hypotheses to explain natrual phenomena.

TIME REQUIRED:

Two 45 minute class periods

Poster board, old magazines with pictures, scissors, glue, markers

Biome, biosphere, community, ecosystem, organism, population, species

This classroom connector addresses Instructional Objective 1.01.

How many of you have seen a raccoon? (response) Can you tell me how a raccoon searches for food? (Raccoon is a mammal that sifts through sand and gravel in a stream ready to catch crayfish, snails or small fish that cannot avoid its grasp.) A raccoon is one example of an organism. How a raccoon gathers food shows one way organisms react with their environment. We are going to examine how organisms affect each other and the physical environment. We will also examine relationships that exist in the community, ecosystem, biome and biosphere.

If you look around a forest, city park or your own backyard, you may wonder why plants and animals live the way they do. Why does grass grow in the open but not under a certain tree? (response) What does grass find in the soil, sunshine, water, and minerals that it finds in one place but not in another? (response) You may wonder why a housefly lays several thousand eggs every year and why they haven't overpopulated the earth. All these questions are about ecology, the branch of biology that deals with interaction between living organisms and their environment. Living things, including people, can survive only in appropriate environments.
Ecologists have discovered that certain rules about organisms and their environment can be used to answer these and other questions. As you may know, living things are not just a jumble of different kinds of cells. Cells are organized into a pattern. If a living thing is made of just one cell, that cell must do all the life activities such as reproducing, growing and using energy. If a living thing is made up of many cells, the cells are organized into a pattern. Many of the cells are specialists with a special job like forming the lining of the small intestines. These groups of cells are called tissues.
An organ is a group of tissues that work together to do a job. Body organs are made of several kinds of tissue. A group of organs work together to form a system.
Most living things are called organisms. Organism sounds like the word organ. An organism is a living thing. Many organisms have organs and systems. We will examine how organisms begin to interact with their environment.
Each living thing or organism has been classified into a genus and species. The genus and species are the two smallest divisions of living things. Classification helps show if living things are closely related. The more similar two living things are, the more groups they share. For example leopards and house cats have the same classification in kingdom, phylum, class, order, and family. When you reach the genus and species they are very different. So when we define a species we are speaking of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves but are not able to breed with other members of another species. If you were asked what a population is, you might think of the human population. You would probably think of the population within a certain area, such as a country. Did you realize that other living things also exist in populations? (response) A population is a group of living things within a certain area that are all the same species.
Several different populations may be found in a community. A population of one kind may affect a population of another kind within the community. Therefore, populations can change in a community.
A community includes the living things in an area and how they affect each other. It includes each plant and animal that occupies a certain niche or position in the common environment. All these plants and animals are bound together by food chains and other interrelations.
How does a community differ from an ecosystem? (An ecosystem includes the nonliving as well as the living parts in an area.) When you study an ecosystem, you study how the nonliving and living parts affect each other. When you study a community, you study only how the living things affect each other.
Think of a city as being an ecosystem. There are many living and nonliving parts of the city. There are groups of people in the city who live close together and make up a neighborhood. Within a city there are different neighborhoods. There may be many different communities in an ecosystem.
Ecosystems can be any size as long as they include both living and nonliving parts affecting each other. An ecosystem can be very large or microscopic. The earth is the largest ecosystem. The earth can be divided into smaller ecosystems. The earth ecosystem may be divided into seven major biomes. A biome is a complex of communities characterized by a distinctive type of vegetation and maintained under the climatic conditions of the region.
Climate is a very important part of the biome because it determines what plants and animals live there. Climate includes such factors as precipitation and temperature.
Life on earth requires water, a source of energy (Light from the sun is a source of energy) and various nutrients found in the soil, water, and air. Suitable combinations of these essentials cannot be found high in the upper atmosphere or deep underground. They exist only in a narrow layer near the surface of the earth. This layer is called the biosphere because it is, as far as we know, the only place where life can exist. It includes the upper layers of the Earth's crust and the thin layer of soil that supports plant life. This zone of life extends about 8 km up into the atmosphere and as much as 8 km down into the depths of the seas. Living organisms are not distributed evenly throughout the biosphere. Few organisms live on the polar ice caps and glaciers, and many live in the tropical rain forests.

(During class presentations ask students to make a list of questions they could ask about the terms. Ask group members to question students in class about their poster.)
Now that I have given you an overview of what we are studying today, I would like to divide you into groups. Each row will become a group. I will give each group one poster board, markers, magazines, scissors, glue. You will be asked to define your term and give examples of it. After you arrive at a definition of your term, draw or cut out pictures that will help the class remember your term. You may use any books in the classroom, or you may send two representatives of your group to the library to do research for fifteen minutes. Decide before they go what you want them to find. After your poster is complete, you will be asked to explain it to the class. Think of some way they can remember the term you selected to present.
(Use as much time as you need for research and completing the project. On the second day of class, ask each group to report.)
(Be sure to write each group number and the term on the back of each poster board. Example:
1. organism
2. species
3. population
4. community
5. ecosystem
6. biome
7. biosphere)

(Have each group write two questions about their term. Let them ask the class after their presentation to check for understanding.)

(Will include supervision of group work in preparing poster, defining and explaining assigned term. Students may write key questions about their term on the back of the poster.)

You will study each of these terms in more detail later, so this is a good introductory activity. (You should mount the posters in the classroom as a reminder to students while using these terms.)

Any of the Project Learning Tree or Project Wild activities listed under resource articles can be used.

Class we have made posters and you have presented information on each of these terms. Can you arrange them in the order they belong? (response) Which includes the smallest number of living things? (Organism) What comes next? (Species) What do you call a group of the same species? (Population) Where do populations live? (Community) What makes up an ecosystem? (Communities) Ecosystems form what larger unit? (Biomes) We all live in part of the biosphere. Now you know about groups that live in the biosphere.

biome - a large geographic area with somewhat uniform climatic conditions; a complex of communities characterized by a distinctive type of vegetation and maintained under the climatic conditions of the region

biosphere - the part of the earth's crust, water, and atmosphere where living organisms can subsist

community - a group of organisms - a plant and animal - each occupying a certain position or niche, living in a common environment and interacting with each other; all the plants and animals in a certain area that are bound together by food chains and other interrelations

ecosystem - a natural unit including living and nonliving parts interacting to produce a stable system in which the exchange of materials between the living and nonliving parts follows closed paths; all living things and their environment in an area of any size, with all linked together by energy and nutrient flow

organism - a living thing composed of mutually dependent parts that maintain various vital processes

population - the number of a certain species in a defined area

species - a population of individuals that are alike, and able to breed and produce fertile offspring under natural conditions

This is the time this file has been accessed since 11/16/96.

The University of Tennessee at Martin is not responsible for the information or views expressed here.

Ecology And The Conservation Of Natural Resources Home Page

Last Modified