Ecosystems

BELLWORK

Imagine that you live in a closed ecosystem (nothing can come in or out).

List some of the things your ecosystem would need for your survival.

Acorns Kill Gypsy Moths

In 1995, a community had a big problem with gypsy moths killing trees and damaging other things.

Mice eat gypsy moths, but something had recently happened that killed many of the mice in the area...

Acorns Kill Gypsy Moths

Local scientists decided to plant acorns in an effort to control the gypsy moth population.

Why would they do this? How does this work?

ANSWER

The abundance of acorns allowed the mouse population to increase. As the mice increased, they ate the moths, causing them moth population to decrease.

However, tick-carrying deer were also attracted to the acorns, so more people began to be bitten by ticks, resulting in an increase in Lyme Disease!

Moral of the Story

In an ecosystem, everything is related.

ecosystem - All of the organisms living in an area together with their physical environment.

Factors

The acorns, mice, moths, deer, and ticks are all examples of biotic factors.

biotic factor - living or previously living parts of an ecosystem.

Other factors

However, biotic factors are not the only thing that affects an ecosystem.

Sunlight, temperature, air, and water are all examples of abiotic factors.

abiotic factor - nonliving parts of an ecosystem

Major Health Problems

In the early 1950’s, malaria was a huge problem in Borneo. Mosquitoes would carry the disease from person to person, and it was spreading wildly.

To combat this disease, health officials decided to spray large amount of a chemical called DDT throughout the air.

Group Activity

The spraying of this chemical had many unintended consequences.

You are going to work with your group to piece together the events of this story.

Whichever group correctly orders the event will win a prize.

Group Activity

Assignment:● Arrange the events of Borneo in

chronological order.● You have 20 minutes to finish.● You will submit your answers as a group in

the form of a timeline.● Put everyone’s name on the final copy.

Which is which?

With your group, trying to match the vocabulary words with the pictures. Beside each, write a description of the word.

ANSWERS

Vocabulary Words

organism - an individual living thingspecies - a group of organisms that are closely related and can mate to produce fertile offspringpopulation - all the members of the same species that live in the same placecommunity - a group of various species that live in the same place and interact with each other

Homework

Assignment:1) Choose an animal you are pretty familiar with.2) Write a “biography” of your animal, including:

a) A one paragraph description of its habitat, including both biotic and abiotic factors

b) A connections web that includes at least 15 different factors.