Introduced Species

Although some species are able to migrate and enter new habitats, most of them are pretty happy with the niches they have established in their habitats.  While the may enter a new habtitat on their own, these migrations are generally very slow to occur.

Humans have been responsible for helping a number of species enter new habitats.  Much like early human settlers colonized new locations, plants, animals and bacteria have been able to create founder colonies in new locations, an important first step in establishing a more permanent presence in their new ecosystem.

Today, you will be looking at some of the ways that introduced species can enter a new ecosystem, and the impact that they may have on established communities.

Resources:

• Watch the videos on Youtube:
  • Cane Toads: An Unnatural History.
  • Burmese Python vs Alligator in the Florida Everglades
• Notes: Introduced Species

Assignment

• Research Invasive Species of British Columbia and Canada (Worksheet)

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
3.1.assignment.invasive.species.pdf		19 kB
3.1.notes.invasive.species.pdf		287 kB

Biomes

The biosphere is divided up into 8 major biomes, generally based on average temperature and amount of precipitation.  You will be exploring some of the difference biomes and find out what kinds of plant and animal adaptations help organisms survive in these areas.

Resources

• Notes

Assignment

• Biomes worksheet/map
• Workbook p4

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
1.1.biomes.assignment.pdf	Worksheet	565 kB
1.1.notes.2015.pdf	Notes	382 kB
biome.map.pdf	Colour Coded map of the biomes of the world	696 kB
biomes.pdf	Biomes Text	5274 kB

Ecosystems

A biome is a very large area, with a very general description of precipitation and temperature.  WIthin a biome, there can be many different kinds of small environments. Today you will look at some of these smaller areas, called ecosystems, and the different ways that organisms within the ecosystem interact with each other.

Keywords to know:

• ecosystem, community, population, species
• sybiosis
• mutualism, commensualism, parasitism
• predation, prey, niche, competition
• biodiversity

Resources:

• Notes

Assignment

• Workbook p10-12

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
1.2.notes.2016.pdf		332 kB

Energy Flow in Ecosystems

Organisms in an ecosystem have complex relations with each other. Some organisms are food, others are organisms that eat food, and yet others walk a fine balance between eating and being eaten.  Today you will learn about different ways that we diagram the relationships between the eaters (consumers) and their foods.

Keywords to know

• Food chain, Food web, Food pyramid
• Producer, Consumer, Decomposer
• Herbivore, Carnivore, Omnivore, Detrivore
• Trophic Levels
• Photosynthesis

Resources

• Notes

Assignment

• Workbook p16-18
• Burns Bog Ecology Assignment

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
2.1.notes.energy.flow.pdf		360 kB

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the most important element for living organisms on Earth; all life here is carbon based.  Carbon travels through an endless cycle as it is used by living things, is recycled as carbon dioxide and then reintroduced back to living organisms.  Carbon is exchanged through many different processes and today you will learn about some of them.

Resources:

• The Carbon Cycle Movie: This is a flash based movie, so cannot be viewed on an iOS device.  You can view the movie here.  As you watch the movie, fill in your worksheet #1.
• Carbon Stores and Exchanges Movie:  This is also a flash based.  You can see where and how much carbon is stored in the biosphere, as well as how the carbon is exchanged from one carbon store to another.  Load the application here.  Use the information in this interactive flash to complete worksheet #2-4.

Assignment:

• Complete the worksheets.  You can use information from the two Flash movies shown above.

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
2.2.carbon.cycle.worksheet.pdf		3574 kB

Nitrogen and Phosphorous Cycles

The Carbon Cycle represents how carbon travels through the biosphere, but there are other important elements that are also cycled.  Nitrogen is a critical component of amino acids, which are a building block for protein.  All of the protein in your body contains nitrogen.  Phosphorous is critical for the formation of healthy bones and for DNA, which codes all of the genetic material for living things.  Both Nitrogen and Phosphorous are critical components for life on earth.

You will be watching some interactive movies to learn about the nitrogen and phosphorous cycles.

Keywords to know:

• nitrogen fixation, nitrification, denitrification, eutrophication

Resources:

• Textbook p78-86
• Nitrogen Cycle.  Watch the video by clicking here, and then answer the questions on your worksheet
• Phosphorous Cycle. Watch the phosphorous cycle video by clicking here, and then answer the questions on your worksheet

Assigment:

• Nitrogen Cycle Worksheet
• Phosphorous Cycle Worksheet
• Workbook p27-28

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
2.3.cycle.notes.pdf	Summary of ideas and diagrams	1750 kB

Bioaccumulation

Some organsism are unable to remove certain compounds from their systems; as a result, these compounds start to accumulate and gather.  This can have some serious consequences if the organism is part of a food chain.  Today, you will learn about some of the consequences of bioaccumulation.

Keywords to know

• bioaccumulation, biomagnification, keystone species, PCB, POP, bioremediation

Resources

• Textbook p92-99
• Notes

Assignment

• Worksheet
• Workbook p33, 37

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
2.3.biomagnification.research.assignment.pdf		109 kB
2.3.textbook.pdf	Textbook pages	1252 kB
3.3.notes.bioaccumulation.pdf		613 kB

Humans Influence Ecosystems

Read the pages from your textbook p122-134 and answer the questions on your worksheet

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
3.2.text.pdf	textbook pages	2522 kB