Transcript Ecology
Ag Science in our Environment
September 17-18 , 2013
Objective Big Question
I will be able to:
Describe the ecology of organisms with their
environment
Describe the ecology of organisms with other organisms
Language
Objective
I will write a summary describing how organisms interact
with other organisms in an ecosystem.
Bell work
1. Please name the 6 Ecological Levels of Organization
from largest to smallest.
21st Century
Relevance
Students need to understand the importance of Ecological Systems and
how organisms interact and also affect them.
# of Days
1 day
Vocabulary
Core Concepts
Ecology
Biosphere
Ecosystem
Community
Population
Organism
Habitat
Abiotic
Acclimation
Regulators
Parasitism
Commensalisms
Niche
Biotic
Conformer
Predation
Mutualism
1
Ecology of Organisms
Habitat (where it lives)
Affected by Biotic and Abiotic factors
Abiotic factors: non-living, includes:
temperature, humidity, pH, availability of
sunlight, etc
Biotic factors: all living things
Niche (species role in the environment)
Includes tolerance range, offspring produced,
ability to obtain resources, etc
2
Predator-Prey
One organisms depends on the other
organism
Example: Lion eats a Zebra
Energy
3
Symbiosis
“Living Together”
One species lives in close association with
another species over a period of time
Avoids competition for resources
Examples:
Mutualism
Parasitism
Commensalisms
4
Mutualism
Both organisms benefit
It is between two
different organisms
Example: Crocodile Bird
and the Nile Crocodile
Crocodile usually eats
animals, but allows the
bird to walk on its mouth
Bird cleans parasites in
the crocs teeth and
removes and eats scraps
of food
5
Commensalisms
One organism benefits, one
unharmed
Sharing space, defense,
shelter food
“eating together at the
• The shrimp spends the day
inside the intestines of the
same table”
sea cucumber and at night
Neither one will die if
emerges from it to feed on
relationship is ended
small crustaceans
Example: Shrimp and Sea • The cucumber does not
benefit from it, but is not
Cucumber
harmed
6
Parasitism
One organism, the
parasite, secures a
home on or inside
another organism
The parasite is the
“guest” and the other
organism is the “host”
It usually harms the
host and benefits the
guest
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Trivia Time – Part 1
This organism is a
bird that eats insects
that live on and
irritate antelopes. The
bird flies up noisily
when other animals
approach.
What type of
symbiotic relationship
does this describe?
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Trivia Time – Part 2
This organism lives in the
intestine of its host,
feeding off the host’s
blood. The host suffers
from loss of blood; it
becomes thin and is easy
prey to diseases.
What type of symbiotic
relationship does this
describe?
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