Teacher: Mr Fellows Modules: Local Ecosystems (20 hours)
Patterns in Nature (40 hours) Life on Earth (30 hours) Evolution of
Australian Biota (30 hours) Preliminary Biology 2012
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Aim of Stage 6 Biology To provide learning experiences through
which students will: acquire knowledge and understanding about
fundamental concepts related to living things and their
environments, the historical development of these concepts and
their application to personal, social, economic, technological and
environmental situations
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Aim of Stage 6 biology continued progress from the
consideration of specific data and knowledge to the understanding
of models and concepts and the explanation of generalised biology
terms, from the collection and organisation of information to
problem-solving, and from the use of simple communication skills to
those which are more sophisticated
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Aim of Stage 6 biology continued develop positive attitudes
towards the study of living things, the environment and the
opinions held by others, recognising the importance of evidence and
the use of critical evaluation of different scientific opinions
related to various aspects of biology.
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more information For more information about Biology please
visit the Board of Studies website:
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus _hsc/biology.html
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/syllabus
_hsc/biology.html
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Part of the Local Ecosystems Module Spotlight Biology
Preliminary Text Chapter 3 Authors: D. Heffernan, J. Bastina, B.
Grieve, K. Humphreys, A. Sartor Science Press 2002 Populations and
communities Topic 1: Biotic and Abiotic Features
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Outcomes: By the end of this Module you should be able to:
Describe and compare the differences between abiotic and biotic
characteristics of aquatic and terrestrial environments Explain how
the distribution, diversity and numbers of plants and animals found
in ecosystems are determined by biotic and abiotic factors Explain
how each local aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem is unique
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Outcomes continued Identify the factors determining the
distribution and abundance of a species in each environment Recall
some impacts of human activities on ecosystems Describe strategies
used to conserve, maintain and protect the quality of the
environment Identify and describe in detail adaptations of a plant
and an animal to the local ecosystem
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Outcomes continued You should also be able to: Plot a
vegetation transect Estimate the size of populations by using
random quadrate and capture-recapture methods Measure abiotic
variables in an ecosystem being studied Plot the distribution of
plant and animal species whose abundance has been estimated
Undertake a field study of a local terrestrial or aquatic
ecosystem
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Biotic and Abiotic Features Understanding why certain animals
like living in a particular environment is more important today
than ever before. Humans are constantly interacting with the
environment and causing changes to ecosystems.
caravanandcampingnsw.com.au
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Biotic and Abiotic Features We need to predict which systems
will benefit from human intervention, which will tolerate our
influence and which will be damaged if we disturb them. We also
need to understand the links and relationships between ecosystems.
illawarramercury.com.au
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features Biosphere is a word
used to describe the regions of Earths surface where organisms can
survive. This includes air, water and land. earth.com
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features Within the biosphere,
a community is a group of plants, animals and microbes that live
together in a given area called a habitat.
animalsandhabitats.wordpress.com
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features The word ecosystem is
short for an ecological system and includes all the organisms
within a community and their environment. The environment refers to
all the conditions surrounding an organism.
householdoffaith.com.au
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features There are two
different parts to the environment: -Living: Biotic biological
-Non-living: Abiotic physical saarc-sadkn.org
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features The Abiotic
environment includes all of the conditions created by non-living
components of an organisms surrounding. -Sunlight, heat, moisture,
wind and water currents, size of rocks or sand grains.
flickr.com
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features The Biotic environment
consists of all the living organisms in a habitat. -The species
that may be food, parasites, predators, competitors or any other
living organism. http://babyanimalzoo.com/tag/grizzly-bears
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Environments-Abiotic and Biotic Features We will regularly
compare the biotic and abiotic characteristics of different aquatic
and terrestrial environments however its sometimes difficult to
separate the two. Consider an earthworm living in the soil
en.wikipedia.org
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Habitat: Where an organism lives The physical location that
surrounds an organism is its habitat. This is where an organism
lives. Within every habitat are microhabitats that are not always
obvious. Each microhabitat has its own temperature, humidity, wind
speed ect. These can be referred to as a microclimate.
en.wikipedia.org
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Habitat: Where an organism lives Consider newly germinating
seeds, small insects or bacteria living under the bark of a gum
tree. All that matters are the amounts of light, nutrients,
temperature and moisture available within a few millimetres of
their location. blog.nus.edu.sg
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Adaptations An adaptation is any internal body process of cells
or tissues, physical feature or pattern of behaviour in a living
thing that makes it better able to survive and reproduce in its
environment. gracefreakdan.wordpress.com
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Adaptations If you look along the rocks of our coastline, to
some they may appear lifeless. However you may notice little
limpets that cling tightly to the rocks and are not washed off by
waves. They can also survive out of the water when its hot and dry.
They have adapted to these conditions. theseashore.org.uk
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Adaptations Just because a plant or animal is found in a
location does not mean is has any special adaptations to that
environment. If we consider saltbush, it will grow in your well
watered garden at home. However it has no special adaptations to
that environment. It would actually be displaced by other plants in
the garden without human help. hollenback.pbworks.com
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Adaptations It normally grows on the dry saline plains of NSW.
Its well adapted to a dry and salty environment and thrives on the
western plains because it is one of the few plants that can grow
there. graemechapman.com.au
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Homework At the conclusion of most lessons you will be given a
task. This will often be a few short answer questions linking
directly to the outcomes of the course. Answer these questions in
your notebook and be prepared to discuss next lesson. I will be
noting whether or not you have attempted these. (see example next
slide)
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Notebook scaffold Module Heading Topic Heading 1. Question. 2.
Question. Example: Local Ecosystems Biotic and Abiotic Features 1.
Identify the biotic and abiotic factors affecting the lives of
limpets on a rock platform. -Answer
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Homework 1. Identify the biotic and abiotic factors affecting
the lives of limpets on a rock platform. 2. Contrast an environment
with a habitat 3. Compare the features of a habitat with a
microhabitat.