Eco-Biology 1 (Ecology)

• 8/12/2013: Receive "Course Syllabus", lecture and reading on "What is Ecology?", What is Ecology? HW (DUE Thurs. 8/15):

1. How was the field of ecology different from the traditional methods of studying nature in the mid 19th century?

2. How are ecology and environmentalism related?

3. What caused people to become concerned about the environment? Also, list and describe the 2 different views on conservation of the environment.

4. What is the biosphere? Also, describe how energy flows through the biosphere.
5. Create an argument in support of one of the 2 views on conservation, and defend your position using real-life examples and evidence (remember to cite any sources used).

• 8/14: Lecture and reading on "Levels of Organization"
• 8/15: "Levels of Organization" continued, School Transect Activity

A good website that explains the basic principles of ecology, with food chain diagrams: http://www.scienceclarified.com/Di-El/Ecosystem.html

A couple good pyramid diagrams: http://www.scienceparameter.com/museum/history/Tool-Timeline-images/16ecology_web.jpg

• 8/19: Begin Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project, Home Transect HW (DUE Weds. 8/21- include a list of species or descriptions and their trophic levels), Levels of Organization HW (DUE Thurs. 8/22):

1. What are the 2 main forms of energy that power living systems?

2. Describe the different processes that organisms use to extract the forms of energy listed in #1

3. Briefly describe the flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem

4. What's the difference between an autotroph and a heterotroph? Which one are humans, and why?

5. Describe the difference between a food chain and a food web

6. What proportion of energy is transferred from one trophic level to the next? How does this affect the number of organisms that can be supported at each higher level?

7. Pick a biome and create a diagram to illustrate the food web, labeling each trophic level and identifying particular species

• 8/21: Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project continued
• 8/26: Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project continued
• 8/28: Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project continued
• 8/29: Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project continued
• 9/2: No School- Labor Day
• 9/4: Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project continued
• 9/5: Finish Sky Islands Ecosystem Pyramid Group Project
• 9/9: Lecture and reading on "What Shapes an Ecosystem?"

Good video from the Discovery Channel on abiotic and biotic factors: http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/30707-assignment-discovery-abiotic-and-biotic-factors-video.htm

A good, simple description of the niche: http://purchon.com/wordpress/ecology/?page_id=27

Videos on predator/ prey interactions and a bunch of other good concepts related to community interactions: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/interspecies-competition-and-predator-prey-interactions.html

And here's another one related to the different forms of symbiosis: http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/symbiotic-relationships-mutualism-commensalism-amensalism.html

• 9/11: Finish "What Shapes an Ecosystem?", What Shapes an Ecosystem? HW (DUE Mon. 9/15):

1. Describe the difference between a biotic and an abiotic factor, and give an example of each

2. In your own words, define the term "niche", and describe a real-life example from an organism of your choice, citing your source.

3. Describe the differences between a generalist and a specialist, and give an example of each

4. What does the competitive exclusion principle state? Why is it important in an ecosystem?

5. Describe each of the 3 main types of symbiosis, and give an example of each that's not from the handout. Cite your sources (2 PTS.).

• 9/12: Unit Quiz One and Binder Check, Observing Symbiosis Activity
• 9/16: Lecture and reading on "The Concept of the Niche in Greater Detail", The Concept of the Niche HW (DUE Thurs. 9/19):

1. Describe why direct competition between 2 species for the same niche will result in a winner and a loser

2. Define "guilds", and describe how species within guilds avoid violating Gause's Law

3. What are ecological equivalents, and how do they relate to convergent evolution?

4. Describe how coevolution influences an organism's niche. How is this a form of symbiosis?

5. What is the difference between background and mass extinctions? What causes each?

6. Define "adaptive radiation", and describe each of the 3 triggers

7. Research and summarize one of the 6 mass extinctions in Earth's history. What caused it? What were the consequences for life on Earth? What happened to the adaptive radiation of life afterwards? Cite your sources (3 PTS.)

• 9/18: Watch "Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole"
• 9/19: Finish "Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole", begin lecture and reading on "Biomes and Communities in the Sonoran Desert Region"
• 9/23: Finish "Biomes and Communities in the Sonoran Desert Region", Biomes Within the Sonoran Desert Region Graphic Organizer (DUE Weds. 9/25)
• 9/25: Begin lecture and reading on "Sky Islands of North America"
• 9/26: Finish "Sky Islands of North America", begin watching "Life in the Undergrowth: Intimate Relations", Sky Islands of North America HW (DUE Weds. 10/3):

1. Describe each of the 4 biomes that intersect at the Sky Islands. What are the biological results of their intermixing?

2. Describe how elevation influences the ecosystems within the Sky Islands

3. What was responsible for species extinction and habitat destruction from the early stages of settlement until the 1900's, and why?

4. What is responsible for species extinction and ecosystem destruction of the Sky Islands today?

5. Summarize what must be done in order to preserve the Sky Islands ecosystem

6. Choose a mountain range in the Sky Islands region and describe its abiotic characteristics, including location, elevation, climate, weather, and ecosystems. Cite your sources. (2 PTS.)

• 9/30: Midterm Exam and Binder Check, continue watching "Life in the Undergrowth: Intimate Relations"
• 10/2: Finish "Life in the Undergrowth: Intimate Relations", begin watching "Planet Earth: Deserts"
• 10/3: Finish watching "Planet Earth: Deserts" 
• 10/7-10/11: No School- Fall Break
• 10/14: Lecture and reading on "Plant and Animal Adaptations to the Desert"
• 10/16: Finish "Plant and Animal Adaptations to the Desert", Desert Adaptations HW (DUE Mon. 10/21):

1. Describe the methods that organisms use to endure both lack of water and high temperatures

2. Describe "thermoregulation", and explain how torpor is a type of thermoregulation

3. Choose a specific desert species and describe how it uses a form of thermoregulation to survive. Cite your sources. (2 PTS.)

4. Describe the 3 ways that organisms lose water, and give an example of a specific adaptation for each

5. How is the color black an adaptation to desert environments?

6. Research the following species and describe a specific physical and behavioral adaptation to the desert environment for each. Include your sources. (4 PTS.): Palmer's Agave, Bark Scorpion, Couch's Spadefoot, Western Banded Gecko, Greater Roadrunner, Kit Fox

• 10/21: Lecture and reading on "How Populations Grow", Rabbits and Population Growth Worksheet (DUE Mon. 10/21)
• 10/21: Lecture and reading on "Limits to Growth", Predator-Prey Activity, Predator-Prey Graphs
• 10/23: Begin lecture and reading on "Ecological Succession"
• 10/24: No Class- Wash Clean-Up Day
• 10/28: Lecture and reading on "Ecological Succession", Plot Sampling Data Labs, Ecological Succession HW (DUE Thurs. 10/31):

1. Describe the process of ecological succession in detail

2. How are primary and secondary succession different?

3. What essential role does fire play in fire-dependent ecosystems?

4. How did succession occur following the Mount St. Helens eruption?

5. Explain whether Mount St. Helens and Krakatau are a case of primary or secondary succession, and describe the methods that species use to colonize island environments

6. Research "whale falls", and explain what they are. how each of the 3 stages of succession at whale falls work in detail, and what their connection to hydrothermal vent ecosystems is. Cite your sources. (4 PTS.)

• 10/30: Plot Sampling Data Labs continued
• 10/31: Finish Plot Sampling Data Labs, begin lecture and reading on "Biodiversity"
• 11/4: "Biodiversity" continued, Threats to Biodiversity Assignment (DUE Thurs. 11/7):

Pick an example of each of the following topics, research it, and write up a presentation that addresses the following points:

-Overhunting/ overexploitation of a species (alive or extinct):

1. How it was/ is being exploited

2. What it was/ is exploited for, and why

3. What the consequences have been

4. What conservation measures are underway, or the date and circumstances of its extinction

-An exotic/ invasive species:

1. How and where it was introduced, and when

2. Why it was introduced

3. What the consequences have been

4. What the methods of control are

-Cite all sources properly

-Be prepared to present on Thursday!

• 11/6: Field Trip to Saguaro National Park East
• 11/7: Unit Quiz 2 and Binder Check, Threats to Biodiversity Presentations
• 11/11: No School- Veteran's Day
• 11/13: Threats to Biodiversity Presentations continued
• 11/14: Finish "Biodiversity", begin lecture and reading on "Conservation of Biodiversity", Biodiversity HW (DUE Mon. 11/18):

1. Describe each of the different types of biodiversity, and explain why biodiversity is important to an ecosystem's stability

2. Describe each of the 4 threats to biodiversity, and give an example of each

3. Why must conservation efforts protect entire ecosystems to save a species?

4. What caused the hole in the ozone layer, and what were the consequences? How did we react?

5. What is global warming? What's causing it, and what will the consequences be?

6. Why does human society depend on a healthy and diverse biosphere?

• 11/18: "Conservation of Biodiversity" continued
• 11/20: Finish "Conservation of Biodiversity", begin lecture and reading on "The Philosophy and Ethics of Conservation", Conservation of Biodiversity HW (DUE Mon. 11/25):

1. What are the benefits of genetic diversity for both humanity as well as populations of species?

2. Describe each of the benefits to humanity that come with conserving biodiversity

3. How does ecotourism benefit people as well as conservation efforts?

4. How are threatened species evaluated? What factors may make a species more prone to extinction, and why?

5. What are the benefits and challenges of protected areas as a method of conservation?

6. What are the goals of captive breeding and re-introduction programs? What are the challenges?

7. Why are amphibians one of the most imperiled groups of vertebrates? What conservation measures are underway to protect them?

8. Pick an example of both an endangered species involved in the illegal trade across borders, and a species that has been captive-bred and re-introduced into the wild, and summarize the circumstances and current status surrounding each. Cite your sources. (4 PTS.)

This database allows you to search every single species listed under CITES: http://www.speciesplus.net/
A list of reintroduction programs from the AZA: http://www.aza.org/reintroduction-programs/

• 11/21: Finish "The Philosophy and Ethics of Conservation", begin Case Studies in Conservation Activity
• 11/25: Finish Case Studies in Conservation Activity, begin lecture and reading on "Local Case Studies in Conservation- The Upper Gulf of California", Philosophy and Ethics of Conservation HW (DUE Mon. 12/2):

1. Summarize each of the 5 ethical arguments for conservation

2. What are the aesthetic values of conservation?

3. Describe Aldo Leopold's concept of the Land Ethic, and explain which of the values of biodiversity it advocates

4. Research the following people and describe their contributions to the conservation of biodiversity (3 PTS.):

-Rachel Carson

-John Muir

-Steve Irwin

5. Pick a position between utilitarian and non-utilitarian arguments for protecting biodiversity and defend it, using as many vocabulary words and concepts from the handout as you can (2 PTS.)

• 11/27 - 11/28: No School- Thanksgiving Break
• 12/2: "Local Case Studies in Conservation- The Upper Gulf of California" continued
• 12/4: Finish "Local Case Studies in Conservation- The Upper Gulf of California", receive Species Profile Project Guidelines (BRING MATERIALS WITH YOU TOMORROW! Try using the links from this blog if you need help finding a species), Upper Gulf Conservation HW (DUE Mon. 12/9):

1. Describe the effects of water flow reduction on the CO River Delta ecosystem

2. Why have the levels of salinity increased in the Lower CO River and Upper Gulf?

3. What is Minute 319? What will it do?

4. What is CEDO, and what are their strategies for promoting conservation of the Upper Gulf?

5. Why are California Sea Lions an indicator species?

6. Summarize what caused the Totoaba to become endangered

7. What factors are affecting both the Least Tern and Yuma Clapper Rail populations? How can they be conserved?

8. Describe the threats to the remaining Vaquita population

9. What conservation strategies are underway to protect the Vaquita?

10. Describe how the needs of local fishermen are being balanced with the need to protect the Vaquita

• 12/5: Species Profile Projects
• 12/9: Species Profile Projects continued (DUE Weds. 12/11)
• 12/11: Species Profile Project presentations
• 12/12: Final Exam and Binder Check, Class Evaluations (DUE Mon. 12/16)
• 12/16: Watch "The Crocodile Hunter: Steve's Most Dangerous Adventures"
• 12/18: No Class: All-School Event
• 12/19: No Class: All-School Event