Theme 2: Interaction with the Environment
Unit 2: Interdependence of Organisms (Question-based Objectives)
Keywords: biotic factors, abiotic factors, population, exponential growth, carrying capacity, logistic growth, limiting factors, immigration, emigration, birth, death, competition, predator adaptations, prey adaptations, symbiosis, mutualism, parasitism, commensalism, food chains, food web
Objectives:
- What factors cause population changes?
- How has human population changed in the past 350 years?
- What determines the types of plants and animals in a region?
- What are some ways that different species interact with each other?
- How are human activities affecting our planet?
Activities/Labs:
- 50 Late Summer Observations- focus on ways organisms interact with their environment
- Grasshopper Mark-Recapture Lab Worksheet
- Deer Population Graphing Activity
- Human Population Growth Graphing Activity
- Ecosystem Evaluation Activity
- Symbiosis Worksheet
- Human Impact on the Biosphere Project- (power production, livestock operations, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, landfills, irrigation, suburbanization, commercial fishing, CO2 level changes over time, etc.) Must use Research Information Sheet as a Works Cited page.
Extensions:
- Monarch Watch
- Global Warming
Further Research: population density, population dispersion, survivorship curves (K and r selection), infant mortality, ecological footprint, keystone species, ecological succession
