Interactions Within Ecosystems |
The term ecology is derived (comes from) the Greek word, oikiakó, meaning home.
Think about it... What comes to mind when you hear the word "home"? Consider your home, or the homes of others. Do you think that "home" is an appropriate word for ecosystem? Ecologists are scientists who study the relationship between living organisms and their environment. Ecologists will often only study one aspect of a given ecosystem, and then work with other scientists to piece together the overall picture of how the ecosystem functions.
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Abiotic and Biotic Factors:
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Where are we most likely to find these different factors in our community?
CREATE A CHART in your notes and label the 2 sides as biotic and abiotic. List as many factors as you can think of for each category. We will go outside and determine what factors are present in and around our school yard!!! |
Click on the map of Alberta to learn more about the 6 distinct ecosystems in our province.
Prepare to Share... What ecosystem do you think the Calgary region is in? You must be able to defend your answer! |
The Needs of Living Things
Living things exists within every ecosystem.
Next year, you will learn about the characteristics of living things; that is, the 6 things that all living things possess.
This year, we will start by looking at 4 needs of all living organisms, both plant and animal:
This year, we will start by looking at 4 needs of all living organisms, both plant and animal:
Even if the 4 basic needs of biotic organisms are met, they must still adapt for survival in their environment.
Watch the video "Adaptations in Action".
Fill in your notes sheet based on the video. |
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Symbiotic Relationships among Living Things
Mutualism - each partner benefits from the relationship
Parasitism - one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed
Commensalism - one partner benefits and other partner neither loses nor gains from the relationship
Parasitism - one organism benefits and the other organism is harmed
Commensalism - one partner benefits and other partner neither loses nor gains from the relationship
Human's and their Trash
The survival of many organism's are directly impacted by our trash. This is largely in part to the fact that organisms have such strong interactions with the abiotic factors within their ecosystem We will explore this in more detail later this unit. For now... we will look at garbage and the impact on our ecosystems.