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C Simpson [ASC 2011]
FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet
Topic: Populations and Ecosystems
The course explores ecosystems as the largest organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by its physical environment and the organisms that live in the physical environment. Students learn that every organism has a role to play in its ecosystem and has structures and behaviors that allow it to survive. Students raise populations of organisms to discover population dynamics and interactions over a range of conditions. They learn that food is the source of energy used by all life forms in all ecosystems to conduct life processes. Reproduction, including limiting factors, heredity and natural selection are explored as ways to understand both the similarity and the variation within and between species.
Go to http://www.fossweb.com/modulesMS/index.html and click on ‘Populations and
Ecosystems’
Next click on ‘Populations and Ecosystems multimedia’
You know you are on the right page when you come to the login page here:
Fill out the information on the spaces provided:
Teacher’s Username: misssimpson
Teacher’s password: (*Please see Miss Conway)
Your status: student
From this page select “Enter the program”.
Select the “Continue” button until you get to this page:
Select “Ecoregions” from the main menu (it’s the yellow buggy in the picture).
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
On the blank world map below, shade the following regions: Tropical rainforests, Taiga, Deciduous Forest, Grasslands, Desert, Coral Reefs, Freshwater lakes and rivers, Tundra, Wetlands, Temperate Ocean and Tropical ocean.
Legend:
Tropical rainforest Taiga Deciduous Forest Grasslands
Desert Coral Reefs Freshwater Lakes & Rivers Tundra
Wetlands Temperate Ocean Tropical Ocean
Next you need to double-click on ‘Tropical Rainforest’ to learn some more detailed information.
Q1. Tropical rainforests contain up to how many species of animal? ______________
Q2. Rain forests cover what percentage of the Earth’s surface? __________________
Q3. Where are one third of the world’s rain forests found? ______________________
Q4. Many tropical rainforests lie near the equator. How does this affect the length of the days? ____________________________________________________________
Q5. Describe the climate of tropical rainforests _______________________________
Q6. What is the average rainfall in most forests? _____________________________
Q7. Why are rivers in a rainforest so important? _____________________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q8. What is the difference between the hottest and coldest months of the year in a tropical rainforest? _____________________________________________________
Q9. What percentage of the rainforest is trees? ______________________________
Q10. What specific layer of trees forms the canopy? __________________________
Q11. What are epiphytes? (Give three examples)_____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q12. Name five animals that live in the canopy layer of the rainforest ____________
____________________________________________________________________
Q13. Where do the tall trees, or emergent’s exist in relation to the canopy? ________
____________________________________________________________________
Q14. Name five animals that live in the emergent layer of the rainforest __________
____________________________________________________________________
Q15. Where does the understory layer exist in relation to the canopy on the rainforest? ___________________________________________________________
Q16. Name five animals that make the understory their home __________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q17. Why don’t many plants grow on the forest floor? _________________________
Q18. Why can decay be considered a good (or beneficial) thing in a rainforest? _____
____________________________________________________________________
Q19. Name five animals that make the forest floor their home __________________
____________________________________________________________________
Activity 20: On the diagram below, label the different layers of the rainforest.
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q21. Complete this sentence:
About ___________________ of all __________________ come from the rain forest plants.
Q22. How many hectares of rainforest are destroyed every minute somewhere in the world? ______________________________________________________________
Q23. What is one benefit of ecotourism? ____________________________________
Q24. Explain how high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be both a positive thing and a negative thing. _______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Colour and complete:
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Deciduous Forest”
Q25. What does deciduous mean? ________________________________________
Q26. What is the average annual temperature in a temperate deciduous forest? ____
Q27. How cold can it get during winter? ____________________________________
Q28. How hot can it be in summer? _______________________________________
Q29. What is the annual rainfall? _________________________________________
Q30. Name three species of tree that grow in this region? ______________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q31. When deciduous tress shed their leaves, they fall to the forest floor. Explain how this helps other animals to survive. ____________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q32. Explain why the colours of the leaves change in autumn. __________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q33. How many hectares of deciduous forest disappear each year? ______________
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Grasslands”
Q34. What percentage of the earth surface is covered by grassland? _____________
Q35. Where are most grasslands found? ____________________________________
Q36. Temperate grasslands are known by many different names around the world. Give five examples of alternate names for temperate grasslands. ________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q37. What is a savannah? _______________________________________________
Q38. How hot can the summers be? _______________________________________
Q39. How cold can the winters be? ________________________________________
Q40. How much rain (precipitation) falls each year in this region? ________________
Q41. Describe what the roots of the savannah grasses are like __________________
____________________________________________________________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q42. The ground squirrel has developed a unique way of surviving the harsh conditions in the temperate grassland. What is it and describe specifically how this helps the ground squirrel to survive. _______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q43. How do gophers survive? ___________________________________________
Q44. Why do only a few natural grassland regions remain? _____________________
____________________________________________________________________
Activity 45: Complete the word search below.
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Desert”
Q46. How do scientists define a region as a desert? ___________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q47. How much of the earth’s land surface is desert? _________________________
Q48. Can deserts be cold? (Explain your answer). ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q49. What is the name of the world’s largest single desert? ____________________
Activity 50. Complete this table:
Ten Largest Deserts in the World Desert Location Type Square
Kilometres Square Miles
Antarctic Antarctica Polar 13,985,000 5,400,000 North Africa 9,065,000
Arabian Gobi China, Mongolia 1,000,000
Patagonian Cold winter Australia 250,000
Kalahari Southern Africa Great Basin Cold winter 190,000 Chihuahuan 453,000
Subtropical 175,000
Activity 51. The diagram below represents a phenomenon called “Rain Shadow”. Read the explanation on the website and then label to diagram to explain how this occurs.
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q52. How high can temperatures get in a hot desert? _________________________
Q53. At night how low can the temperature drop? ____________________________
Q54. Give three examples of hot deserts ___________________________________
Q55. What is the average winter temperature of a cold desert? __________________
Q56. What is the average summer temperature? _____________________________
Q57. Give three examples of cold deserts ___________________________________
Q58. How do sand dunes form? ___________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q59. Complete the following sentence:
Plants grow _________apart in deserts. Their root systems often spread over a
_______ area. This allows them to gather __________ and ___________ without
___________ from other plants.
Q60. Why are there very few mammals that live in the desert? __________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q61. How are grazing livestock a threat to deserts? ___________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Coral Reefs”
Q62. Complete the sentence:
Coral reefs are built from the carbonate-based ________ of a variety of _________
and ________.
Q63. The Indian Ocean holds what percentage of the world’s coastal coral reefs? ____
Q64. What are the three main types of reefs? _______________________________
Q65. What is a barrier reef? Why is it called this? ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q66. What is another name for a channel? __________________________________
Q67. What is an atoll? __________________________________________________
Q68. What is the temperature range needed for coral reef communities to develop?
____________________________________________________________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q69. Why does the water for a coral reef need to be shallow? ___________________
Q70. Why is the water around coral reefs a blue/green colour? __________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q71. Corals are related to which two organisms? _____________________________
Q72. Explain briefly how coral reefs form ___________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q73. Name six different animals that live in a coral reef _______________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q74. Describe three major threats to coral reef ecosystems ____________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Polar Icecap”
Q75. The ice layer on Antarctica has an average thickness of? __________________
Q76. Antarctica contains what percentage of the Earth’s total ice? _______________
Q77. Name three different organisms that can live in this harsh environment _______
____________________________________________________________________
Q78. How are insects able to survive in the soil? _____________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q79. What is the Antarctic Treaty? ________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q80. How many countries signed it and when? _______________________________
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Tundra”
Q81. What are the two types of tundra in the world? __________________________
Q82. Where does arctic tundra exist? ______________________________________
Q83. Where is alpine tundra found? _______________________________________
Q84. Why cant trees grow in the tundra? ___________________________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q85. What is permafrost? _______________________________________________
Q86. What does the word ‘tundra’ mean? ___________________________________
Q87. How low can temperatures become during the arctic winter? _______________
Q88. What is the average annual temperature? ______________________________
Q89. How much precipitation does the arctic tundra receive each year? ___________
Q90. Why do Naturalists in the alpine tundra call the tundra flowers “belly flowers”?
____________________________________________________________________
Q91. Explain why some plants have dark red leaves __________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q92. Name six animals that make the tundra their home ______________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q93. Why do some animals hibernate during the winter months? ________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q94. How can global warming affect the tundra ecosystem? ____________________
____________________________________________________________________
Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select “Ecoregion Map”
Double-click on “Wetlands”
Q95.What are wetlands? ________________________________________________
Q96. Give three reasons why wetlands are such an important biome? _____________
____________________________________________________________________
Q97. Provide a brief description of the following:
Swamps: ___________________________________________________
Bogs: ______________________________________________________
Vernal pools: ________________________________________________
Salt marshes: _______________________________________________
Q98. Name six different animals that make this biome their home________________
____________________________________________________________________
Q99. What process allows plants to add oxygen to the water? ___________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Close out of this window and go back to the main menu page
From here select the cage that says “WalkingStick Predation”. From the smaller menu select “Eat Insects”.
Choose 30 seconds to eat insects
When the time is up, check your results and complete the table below:
Brown Green-brown Green Eaten
Survived
Try the activity again and see if you can improve your results.
Complete the table below with you new results.
Brown Green-brown Green Eaten
Survived
Q1. Explain your results after your second attempt. Did you improve? Why do you think this is so? _______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Close out the window and go back to the main menu. From there click on WalkingStick Predation and select the second option from the smaller menu called “Find Insects in Three Environments”
Choose 30 seconds to eat insects
Select the Woodchips environment.
When your time is up click on “results” and fill out the table below:
Brown Green-Brown Green Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived
Starting population
1
2
3
4
5
Press the ‘continue’ button at the bottom of the screen and then “next generation” to have another go. Keep on filling in your table as you complete each trial.
Q2. Analysis: Did you results improve with each new generation? Why/ Why not? (Explain your answer) __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
Next select the Bamboo environment and fill out the table below:
Brown Green-Brown Green Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived
Starting population
1
2
3
4
5
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q3. Have a look at your results tables. Which environment allowed more Brown insects to survive? _____________________________________________________
Q4. Why do you think this is so? __________________________________________
Q5. Which environment allowed more Green insects to survive? _________________
Q6. Why do you think this is so? __________________________________________
Press the close button to close the window. Go back to the main menu to select “Larkeys”.
From here watch the ‘Larkey Breeding Video’ When the video is finished go back to the main menu and select “Larkeys”.
From here select the second option from the smaller menu titled ‘Offspring Genotype and Phenotype’
Some important Information about genetics!
How an individual looks and what their genetic code is sometimes do not match up. This is the difference between genotype and phenotype. The genotype is the actual genetic make up of an individual. The phenotype is what that individual looks like.
Traits that show up more often are called dominant traits. Traits that show up less often are called recessive traits. Each trait is represented by two genes (capital letters showing the gene is dominant, lower case letters representing recessive). You only need one dominant gene in the pair to make the trait dominant.
In this activity the traits are:
Appendage, Eye, Fur and Tail
For example: Eye Colour
EE (the trait is dominant and the colour is RED)
ee (the trait is recessive and the colour is GREY)
Ee (the trait is dominant but the animal is a genetic ‘hybrid’ or mix, the eye
colour would still be RED)
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Click on “Genetics Key” at the bottom of the page.
Q7. Determine what the animal will look like by filling out the tables below:
Fur Pattern Genotype Phenotype
FF Ff ff
Tail Shape Genotype Phenotype
TT Tt tt
The combination of genetic information from each parent is determined by using punnet squares. A punnet square is a diagram that can predict the outcome of a
breeding experiment. For example if we wanted to determine what type of appendages the offspring of two Larkeys could have, we can place this information in
the punnet square to find out.
Father’s genotype: AA (short) Mother’s genotype: Aa (short)
Mother’s genotype here
A a
Father’s genotype here A
A
Appendages Genotype Phenotype
AA Aa aa
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
In the top left hand square, you place one gene directly above the box (from the mother) and one gene directly to the left of the box (from the father).
AA
In the top right hand square you pace the gene directly above and the gene directly to the left.
AA aA
Continue this process until all the squares are filled.
Now you can look at the possible genotypes of the offspring. If this mother and father Larkey have a baby what is the chance (out of 4) that the baby will be:
AA _________ What is it’s phenotype (what would it look like)? _______________
Aa _________ What is it’s phenotype (what would it look like)? _________________
aa ___________ What is it’s phenotype (what would it look like)? _______________
Now that you understand a bit more about genetics.
Push the “breed ‘em” button and you should have this screen pop up:
This is the mother’s genetic information This is the father’s info
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Q8. Complete the following table
Feature Genotype (1 gene from mum and 1
gene from dad)
Phenotype
Appendage
Eye
Fur
Tail
Q9. In the box below, draw a picture of what this baby Larkey looks like.
Q10. Continue to work through the five examples. When you have finished look at your results. How many breeding activities did you get correct? _________________
Congratulations!
You have now finished the online component of Populations and Ecosystems. Please complete the following two activities below.
Activity 1: Use the information you have collected about rainfall from all the different ecosystems and create a graph comparing each system.
Use the grid on the following page to create your graph.
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
C Simpson [ASC 2011]
Activity 2: Select an ecosystem that you found interesting or would like to know more about and create a podcast about that ecosystem.
In your podcast include information about:
A) Where it is located, B) Climate, C) The average rainfall it receives each year, D) Select three plants that exist in your ecosystem and describe two adaptations
for each plant that helps it to survive in the ecosystem. E) Also include information about five animals that live in this ecosystem and
explain two (or more) adaptations that each animal has which allows it to survive in this environment.
F) Include a food chain that would exist in this particular ecosystem. You must identify the primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers (optional) and the decomposers.
Some resources to help you:
www.misssimpson.com
Go to the ‘life and living’ page and select “Feeding Relationships” to learn about food chains.
Go to the ‘life and living’ page and select “Adaptations” to learn about animal adaptations.
Other websites that could be helpful:
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/foodchain/foodchain.htm
http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_foodchain.html
http://www.uen.org/utahlink/activities/view_activity.cgi?activity_id=4750
http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htm
END OF INDEPENDENT LEARNING ACTIVITY