Chapter 4 Ecosystems and CommunitiesBig Idea: Interdependence in NatureHow do abiotic and biotic factors shape ecosystems?Anchor: BIO.B.4.11Anchor:BIO.B.4.1.2Anchor:BIO.4.2.4Anchor:BIO.B.4.2.5Teacher emphasizes how the light from the sun creates conditions for the different biomes. The biotic components of the ecosystem adapt to those abiotic conditions.Powerpoint Lesson Overview 4.1 ClimateChapter Mystery The Wolf EffectWolf interaction work sheet. Optional segment The wolves of Yellowstone. Teacher asks question What do you know about wolves? Video segment #4 From Lava to Life Untamed Science. Teachers can continue with eco-columns to demonstrate abiotic and biotic interactions, habitat, niche, competition, limiting factors, cycles, trophic levels, predation and herbivory, decomposition photosynthesis, cellular respiration, food chains and food webs.Study workbook B pg. 43 Ecosystems and Communities Interdependence in Nature Q: How do abiotic and biotic factors shape ecosystems.Chapter 4 Lab Abiotic Factors and Plant Selection pg. 29 lab book optional or better lab.For each chapter teacher builds a word wall for vocabulary in chapter.

4.1 ClimateKey Questions: What is climate?What factors determine Global Climate?Demonstration :Flashlight globe demonstrate seasons. Hands on learning Tilt of the Earth pg. 83 teachers adition.Objectives :4,1.1 Differentiate between weather and climate. 4,1.2 Identify the factors that influence climate. You Tube tornadoes.

Preview the pages:1. Have students find vocabulary words from text. 2. Preview the diagram The greenhouse effect. 3. Preview the visual winds and currents.

Study workbook B 4.1 ClimateLesson objectives :Differentiate between weather and climate.Identify the factors that influence climate.The Greenhouse effect Optional trip to the Ridley High Greenhouse. Optional students read article Pennsylvania and the Greenhouse Effect.Teacher covers pg. 82-83 in text cover terms weather, climate, and microclimates. Key question: What is climate? A regions climate is defined by year-after-year patterns of temperature and precipitation.Text pg. 82 Factors that affect Climate. Solar Energy and the Greenhouse Effect. Overhead transparency The Greenhouse Effect. Latitude and solar energy (flashlight

demonstration seasons Hands on Learning pg. 83 Tilt of the Earth. The tilt of the Earth’s axis causes the distribution of sunlight to change over the course of the year.Teacher asks: What causes Earth’s three types of climate zones? (uneven distribution of heat caused by the curvature of the Earth) Why are there cooler and warmer seasons in temperate regions? (Earth’s axis is tilted, which causes solar radiation to hit Earth at an angle . The angle varies from summer to winter.Heat transport in the Biosphere pg 84 text. Teacher demonstrates convection circulation. Optional lab or worksheet Heat absorption between soil and water.Speed Bump pg. 84 How does solar energy cause wind? What causes most ocean currents?Use the Winds and Currents visuals to determine the directions winds and currents move. Ask Do the southeast winds move toward the west or toward the east? (west)Ask: In what direction do cold surface currents in the Northern Hemisphere generally move?(southward toward the equator) In what direction do warm surface currents in the Northern Hemisphere generally move? ( northward toward the polar region) Explain that these currents redistribute heat in the Northern Hemisphere, moving warm water from the tropical region north toward the polar region.Wrap-Up Activity pg.84 Have students use colored pencils to draw a diagram showing how the sun’s energy causes wind. Instruct them to use yellow arrows

to show sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface, red to show heated air rising, and blue to show cooler air sinking. (Check Understanding pg. 84 1-4. Climate powerpoint Review

4.2 Niches and Community Interactionspg. 85 textKey Questions: 1. What is a niche?2. How does competition shape communities?3. How do predation and herbivory shape communities?4. What are the three primary ways that organisims depend on each other?

Concept Map Use highlighted vocabulary words to create a concept map. Students complete concept map in workbook B Lesson 4.2.Preview the Tolerance graph, pg. 85. Use an example, such as the amount of sunlight falling on a population of plants, to explain the concept of optimum range. Below the optimum range there is too little light for most plants to grow. Above the optimum range there is too much sunlight, and plants may die. The plant population is largest when the amount of sunlight is in the optimum range. (you tube competitive exclusion acorn barnacles)Students define and discuss habitat. (a general place where an organism lives)Chapter Mystery pg. 47 in workbook B The Wolf Effect.

Key Question: What is a niche? ( A niche is the range of physical and biological conditions in which a species lives. It includes the way the species obtains what it needs to survive and reproduce.)

Competition: pg. 85 textCompetition when organisms try to use a limited resource in the same place at the same time. Have students identify competition in Eco-column ex. Plants compete for light and water and nutrients in soil. Animals compete for food, mates. Competition can occur among members of the same species (intraspecific competition ) and between members of different species. (interspecific competition)The Competitive Exclusion Principle pg. 86 textKey Question: Why can’t two species share the same niche in the same habitat? (If two species share the same niche, competing for the same resources, one species will always win.) Guide students as the interpret the Competitive Exclusion Graph pg. 86 text. Discuss limiting factors. Gupy Graph work sheet demonstrating carrying capacity- limiting factors.

Key Question: How does competition shape communities?( Competition causes species to divide resources. It helps determine the number and kinds of species in a community. It also determines the niche each species occupies.

Predation, Herbivory, and Keystone Species. Text pg. 86Teacher covers predator-prey relationships and herbivore-plant relationships. Can revisit the Mystery about wolves. Ask: How did the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone bring the ecosystem back into balance?Talk about Carrying capacity (guppy graph) and limiting factors.

Keystone Species: Text pg. 86 video clip sea otters, sea urchins and the kelp forest.Key Question : How do predation and herbivory shape communities? (Predators can affect where prey populations can survive. Herbivores can help determine where populations of certain plants can survive.)

Symbioses pg. 87 textAny relationship in which two species live closely together. Biologists recognize three main classes of symbiotic relationships in nature: mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism. Students can identify mutualistic relationships in Eco-columns. Optional video clips on symbiotic relationships. (Zombie Snails)

Key Question: What are the three primary ways that organisms depend on each other? ( The three main classes of symbiotic relationships are mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism.)Check understanding pg. 87 text.

Mystery Clue pg. 87 wolves of Yellowstone interaction with producers.

Wrap Up Activity: Students work in pairs to create a chart comparing the different types of relationships between organisms discussed in this lesson. The chart should include the following relationships: predator –prey, herbivore –plant, mutualism, parasitism, and commensalism. Include drawing. Eco-journal entry.Workbook B pg. 48 Concept map.

4.3 Succession activity pg Do ecosystems return to “normal” following a disturbance?

Compare succession after a natural disturbance with succession after a human-caused disturbance.

Activate Prior Knowledge: Ask, what kind of natural disasters have you heard about? What happened to plants and animals as a result of those disasters?

Succession Powerpoint (Pearson ) Notes from powerpoint.Workbook B pg. 49 Build Vocabulary The chart shows key terms from the lesson with their definitions. Complete pg. 90 in textmeaning of each term. Workbook b. pg. 50 Primary and Secondary Succession.Untamed Science video segment #4 From Lava to Life.

Teacher emphasizes Why Succession Occurs pg. 89 text.Use the building Vocabulary pg. 89 text.Answer Key Question : How do communities change over time? (Ecosystems change over time, especially after disturbance. As some species die out, new species move in.) Eco-journal competition. Complete pg. 51 Workbook B Compare/Contrast table on Primary and secondary Succession. Cover Climax Communities pg. 51 Workbook B Teacher asks key question: Do all of the same species remain in a community that is going through ecological succession? ( No; because conditions keep changing. With each change, it becomes suitable for different species.) Teacher covers Pioneer species and adaptations that enable them to thrive. Ex Lichens.Teacher reviews differences between primary and secondary succession.Ask Speed Bump questions pg. 89. What often happens to the number of species in a community as succession progresses? (The number of species increases.)What causes succession? ( As organisms change the environment they live in, other organisms are able to compete and survive.) Question; How has Man changed the Environment? Cover pg. 90 in text Succession after Human-Caused Disturbance discuss what happens when the tropical rainforest is cleared for farming. Find the main idea for the Studying Patterns of Succession. Ask: How did researchers learn about primary succession on Mount St. Helens and Krakatau? (By comparing initial conditions and the stages of

succession in different communities. Ask What is the main idea of this section? (Scientist study succession by observing and comparing stages of succession in different communities.)Key Question; What would be needed for an ecosystem to return to its original climax community after a disturbance? ( The same conditions that originally produced the community.) Key Question; Do ecosystems return to “normal” following a disturbance? ( In healthy ecosystems, secondary succession often reproduces the original climax community after a natural disturbance. But ecosystems may or may not recover from widespread disturbance caused by humans.Students complete Check Understanding pg. 90 1-6.Wrap-up Activity (optional) Perform a quiz show; Have teams write questions about the about the lesson content on one side of a card and answers on the other side. Organize a quiz show to see which team gets the most correct answers. (White-Board)

4.4 BiomesOpener: Teacher demonstrates the seasons using a globe and a flash light. Emphasize that one factor that impacts biomes is the amount of light energy an area receives . Other factors including an area’s nearness to an ocean or a mountain range. (Optional Map annual solar impact of North America)

Key Question; What abiotic and biotic factors characterize biomes?Opener: Preview the biome map. Study the names of the biomes carefully. Workbook B pg. 52 Biomes. As students read pg. 91-92 in text. Complete the table in lesson 4.4 by filling in the missing information.Preview: Preview the vocabulary terms by having having students find them in the text. Invite students to discuss any terms with which they are familiar.

Activity 2: Use powerpoint 4.4 to review this information. Preview the images and climate graphs for the major biomes. Point out that the Y axis for each graph has two separate scales-one for temperature and one for precipitation. Make sure students understand that the higher the red line, the higher the temperature, and the taller the bar, the greater the rainfall amount. Point out also that the X and Y axes for all the graphs are the same, so that data can be easily compared.

Optional :Biome Project Each group is assigned a biome. Groups research Abiotic factors like climate and soil type along with biotic factors like plants and animals. Students also research problems associated with each biome.. (example deforestation of tropical rain forest.) Project should include dominant plant species and animal species and identify the adaptations necessary for survival in that biome.

Active Reading: Teacher ask , What is the single most important factor that influences the kind of biological community present in an area? (climate)

Have students define abiotic and biotic factors. (Abiotic factors are physical, nonliving factors that shape an ecosystem. Biotic factors are all of the living parts of the ecosystem.)Direct students attention to the map of biomes pg. 91 text. Ask: which kind of tropical forest covers the most area? (rain forest) Does the desert biome appear on all the Earth’s continents? (yes) Have students find their own location on the map. Then challenge them to find two other places on the map that are in the same biome. Ask In what ways would you expect ecosystems in those areas to be similar to our ecosystem? (Answers may vary but should address similarities of climate and similarities of plant and animal life.)

Compare and contrast: Have students compare the descriptions of the tropical rain forest and the tropical dry forest biomes. Ask Which of these two biomes has rain all year round? (tropical rain forest) Ask Why are animals in the tropical rain forest unlikely to practice estivation? (there’s plenty of water year round.)

Extend student’s knowledge by telling them that tall trees growing in the poor, shallow soil of the tropical rain forest often have buttress roots for support. In

order to get enough sunlight, epiphytic plants grow on the branches of tall plants rather than in the soil.Teacher option- segments of Living planet to survey the different biomes of the world.Optional chapter 4 lab page 29 lab book Abiotic Factors and plant Selection. Perhaps a miny garden by windowsill. Or perhaps courtyard flower boxes.

Active Reading: Teacher provides students with additional details about the adaptations of plants in grasslands and deserts. Explain that some grasses in tropical grasslands have a high silica content that makes them less appetizing to grazing herbivores. Also, unlike most plants , grow from their bases, not their tips. This means that they can continue to grow after being grazed. Some desert plants like cacti , have an adaptation that allows them to conserve moisture during photosynthesis , when plants open their pores to take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. These plants, called C-4 plants open their pores only at night, preventing loss of moisture on hot, dry days.

Ask; What abiotic factors affect the ability of organisms to survive in deserts? (low precipitation, extreme temperature changes) What are some ways that plants have adapted to these abiotic factors? ( Plants store water in their tissues, some only open pores at night some have spines for protection because the animals know they have moisture within them.)

Ask; What is a key biotic factor that affects the ability of plants to survive in grasslands.pg.93 Ask What is a key biotic factor that affects the ability of plants to survive in grasslands? (heavy grazing by animals) Ask what are some adaptations that allow plants to survive heavy grazing? ( Grasses grow from the base , not tips. Some grasses have a high silica content that makes them unappetizing to herbivores.Make inferences (tell students that coniferous trees have needlelike leaves that are coated in a waxy substance. Ask them how these adaptations might help conifers survive in temperate forest. (these adaptations minimize water loss.)

Opener: Find images of desert plants cacti, plants with large and small leaves grazing animals in grasslands. On overhead For discussion: ask . What adaptations help plants survive with little water in the desert? (small leaaf surface area, ability to store water in tissues)Why is it an advantage for plants growing in limited light to large leaves? (The large leaves capture more sunlight than smaller leaves would.)Why is predation a constant threat for animals in temperate grasslands? (The animals are not able to quickly find a place to hide from predators.) Why aren’t all plant and animal communities in the same biome exactly alike? ( Differences in elevation, soil conditions, and exposure to wind and other weather factors can cause different habitats within the same biome.)

Add to word wall terms ( canopy, understory, humus, taiga, and permafrost)As students read the description of each biome , have them return to the biomes map and globe and locate the areas on Earth where that biome is found. Teacher emphasizes how the angle of sunlight hitting that part of the Earth has an impact on the biotic factors. Draw conclusions: Have students use the descriptions of the temperate woodland and temperate forest biomes to draw conclusions. Ask :Why do oily plants increase the risk of fire? ( Plant oils fuel a fire once it gets started.)Ask: Why does forest soil contain more rich humus than woodland soil does? ( A forest has more trees , and therefore more leaves that drop to the ground and decay.)

Analyzing Data: Page 95 text Explain to students that they will analyze temperature and precipitation data for two ecosystems to determine which biome each ecosystem belongs to.Ask: Do you think these two ecosystems belong to the same biome? Why or why not? ( No because one has much higher summer temperatures than the other.

Have students complete check understanding pg 95. For question 4, remind students that classifying involves sorting things into groups or categories. Explain that the question is asking which characteristics are used to sort ecosystems into biomes.

Wrap-up : Play 20 questionsHave a student secretly select one biome. Then, have the student answer questions from other students whose goal is to identify the biome.

4.5 Aquatic Ecosystems pg. 96-99 textActivate Prior Knowledge Ask: What are some bodies of water in our area? How would you describe each one. Teacher shows pictures of fresh water ecosystems. Little Crum Creek, Ridley Lake, Delaware River, Delaware Estuary, Delaware Bay,and The Atlantic Ocean. Teacher might emphasise the idea of a Watershed (A body of land that sheds its water to one place.) and that we here in Ridley live in the Delaware River Watershed. Key Question: What factors affect Life in aquatic ecosystems? (Aquatic organisims are affected primarily by the waters depth, temperature, flow, and the availability of nutrients.)Optional : Monitoring Water Quality on The Little Crum Creek. Students make a hypothesis about what they think the water quality is on the LCC. Students measure pH, temperature, flow rate, depth, turbidity and macroinvertabrate study.

Or Pond Study at the Ridley High Outdoor Education Center .

Workbook B 4.5 Aquatic Ecosystems

Key Question: What are the major categories of freshwater ecosystems? (Freshwater ecosystems can be divided into three main caegories: rivers and streams, lakes and ponds and freshwater wetlands.)

Optional: Trip to the Ridley Wetlands designed to filter runoff from Ridley High. Green booklets and questions for the Ridley Wetland. Also we can demonstrate wetlands at the pond. Teacher shows photograph of photic zone.

Ask: Why do phytoplankton grow only in the photic zone?(Phytoplankton need sunlight for photosynthesis, sunlight does not penetrate below the photic zone.

Optional: Students can observe pond water under microscope and observe algae and populations of protozoa. Elodea can also be observed while discussing photosynthesis to observe chloroplasts and cytoplasmic streaming.

Ask: How does the presence of dissolved nutrients affect aquatic organisims? ( Different species need different kinds and amounts of nutrients. Nutrient levels in the water help determine which species can live there.

Find the Main Idea: Have students draw a two-column chart. Have them label the columns Main Idea and Details.

Have them read Lakes and ponds. Ask what is the main idea of the paragraph? (Food webs in lakes and ponds are often based on plankton, algae, and plants.)

Have students read paragraph again . Write details about the main idea in the right column.

Key Question: What are three helpful things that freshwater wetlands do? ( They purify water, prevent flooding, and serve as breeding grounds for many organisims.) 97. Build word wall with terms ,(benthos, plankton, wetland, estuary canopy, understory humus taiga permafrost, symbiosis, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism. Climate, microclimate greenhouse effect.)From Workbook B 4.4 Biomes pg 52-55

Estuaries. Opener show pictures of rivers along big cities, New York, Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Ask Why is it that all these big cities are built along rivers? Discussion should lead to the fact that the rivers are commercially valuable. Ask : What does the word commerce mean? And How do people use fish and shellfish?

After this show the picture of the deep water hatchetfish pg. 98. Teacher google images deep water fish. Demonstrate adaptations like bioluminescence. Ask What kind of adaptations do you think the hatchetfish and other deep sea dwellers that allow to live aphotic zone? (adaptations that allow it to live with high pressure, frigid temperatures, and total darkness. Ask: What might make a fish species ecologically important? ( It may be a species that plays a key role in a food web. It may be a keystone species. ( A species that is vital to the functioning of the ecosystem..)

Direct students to the ocean zones diagram pg. 99 text. Ask: What is the relationship between ocean depth and distance from shore? ( Depth typically increases with distance from shore.) Be sure the students understand that the diagram is divided horizontally as well as vertically. Check understanding by pointing to one of the organisms and asking students which zone it occupies. Point out that the diagram is not drawn to scale.

Key Question: How do ecologists usually classify marine ecosystems? ( Ecologists divide the ocean into zones based on depth and distance from shore.) Have students look at the continental shelf in the ocean zone diagram. Ask: Which marine ecosystems have benthos

within the photic zone? (Intertidal zone, coastal ocean) Teacher You Tubes ( Intertidal zone and class observes the organisims and their adaptation.)Students complete 4.5 Workbook B Aquatic Ecosystems pg. 56-57

Ask: How does food availability in the photic zone compare with food availability in the aphotic zone.? Again bring students attention to the fact that the sunlight is the energy source that drives almost all marine ecosystems. ( Algae and phytoplankton, which are important food sources, can only live in the photic zone because light is available for photosynthesis. Optional students can observe algae fronm the RHS pond and set up experiment measuring oxygen and its relationship with light. Emphasize that freshwater runoff from the land increases nutrient levels in intertidal and coastal zones.

Lab Manual B The Effect of ferilizer on Algae pg 25-28 lab manual.

Ask: What is life like for organisms that live in the intertidal zone? ( Because of ocean tides (short video clip explaining the Moons impact on ocean tides) they are alternately submerged in water and exposed to air. They are also subject to waves crashing onto shore.

Ask: Why is the coastal ocean highly productive? ( It is in the photic zone, and freshwater runoff from land brings in plenty of nutrients for living organisims.

Then show the exception (You tube food webs around deep ocean volcanic vents. Ask students how this food web is sustained without light. Explain that in this case the producer is bacteria which is using hydrogen sulfide to produce food (chemosynthesis)

Teacher emphasizes that the coastal zone is so productive because of the abundance of light and nutrients.

Optional: Students are given a map of the Delaware River Estuary. Students brainstorm about the problems associated with water as it travels through Ridley on the way to the Atlantic. Nonpoint pollution, oil spills etc. Students then read article explaining the relationship between The population of Horseshoe crabs and the migratory shorebirds of the western hemisphere. Students can do research and model how the birds and crabs impact one another. Student’s write a 5 paragraph essay explaing the relationship between the horseshoe crabs and the migratory shore birds. The pressure on the horseshoe crabs and that impact on the birds. Students should include graphs comparing the populations. And describe by how A Ridley students actions ( nonpoint pollution) can impact this delicate relationship.

Have students complete check understanding pg. 99 1-5.

Workbook B Chapter Review pg. 58 and self test pg. 59-60

Pg. 100 Pre-Lab: Abiotic Factors and Plant SelectionLab Manual B pg. 29-34 Abiotic Factors and Plant Selection.

Pg 100-105 Chapter Review.

Chapter 5 Populations

Key Question: What factors contribute to changes in populations?

Have students observe picture of crabs pg. 106. Remind students that a population consists of organisims belonging to the same species.

Teacher asks : Why are the red crabs on the move? ( They are leaving the forest to reach the sea, where they breed.) Ask: Why do all the adult crabs take this trip at the same time? ( They have to make the trip to participate in breeding.) Teacher explains that it is the

goal of all living things to reproduce. For a population to survive , the organisms must reproduce.)

Introduce the concept of limiting factors. Factors that organisms require to live also determine how a population changes. Ask: What do both you and a red crab need to live? (food, water, oxygen shelter)

Ask: What types of abiotic factors and community interactions might affect the number of organisims living in a place? ( Abiotic factors such as rainfall and temperature of an area and community interactions such as competition predationand parasitism. )

Emphasize to students that abiotic factors determine where particular organisms live, and explain that changes in abiotic conditions affect populations. Teacher here may discuss mans impact on the carbon cycle which is bringing about climate change and how this may impact a particular population. Community interactions such as those between prey and predators , help determine whether a population grows, shrinks, or stays the same. ( predatore prey graph work sheet) Workbook B 5 Populations pg. 61-64

Teacher copies graphic organizer pg. 107 on board. Ask: How might interdependence in nature relate to the questions in the graphic organizer ( Changes in a population depend on many factors in nature. In turn , changes in populations can affect these factors.

Read chapter Mystery A plague of rabbits. Which can demonstrate what happens when a speicies exceeds the carrying capacity of an environment. ( Graphing Exercise guppies in a fish tank.)

Show video clip Untamed Science Census Consensus

Ask: What growing populations have you observed? (fish in a tank, weeds in the yard, people in a town.) Populations in their eco-columns.

Ask: How will the chapter question, What factors contribute to changes in populations? Why did the rabbit population grow so much in Australia?

5.1 How Populations Grow

Teacher discusses Populations, Geographic Range, Density and Distribution, Growth Rate, age structure. (from Math activity on Exponential Growth) (Age Structure histograms from bscs.)

Key Question: How do ecologists study populations? Ecologists study a population’s range, density, growth rate, and age structure.

Teacher builds word wall with terms (age structure, immigration, emigration, exponential growth, logistic growth, carrying capacity, limiting factor, density-

dependent limiting factors, density-independent limiting factor, demography and demographic transition)

Teacher covers population growth, birthrate and death rate, immigration and emigration. Answer Key Question : What factors affect population growth? (Population growth is affected by birthrate and death rate. It can also be affected by immigration and emigration.)Teacher begins the concept of Exponential Growth with classic (What would you rather have. 10$ a week or 1 cent and then double that every week) Graph showing J curve. Optional Hands on Learning Record Change in a population pg 109 in text. Using colored squares.

Ask: What do we call the process by which organisms leave their population? (emigration) How does this compare to immigration? ( it is the opposite. Through immigration, organisms join a population. )Ask: Which factor causes a population to shrink: emigration or immigration? (emigration)