Download Honors Biology – Chapters 3-5

Honors Biology – Chapters 3-5: Ecology
By the end of the chapter, students should be able to complete the numbered “Learning Objectives”.
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1. Demonstrate an ability to meet deadlines by turning in assignments on time.
2. Demonstrate an ability to use appropriate grammar and spelling and to make corrections as necessary.
Essential Question A. What are the basic principles of the science of ecology?
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Define ecology, species, populations, communities, ecosystems, and biomes.
Explain and be able to list at least 5 major components of ecosystems (e.g. soil, producers, etc)
Define, identify, and give examples of producers (autotrophs), and consumers (heterotrophs)
Define and give at least five examples of abiotic and biotic factors in ecosystems
Define niche and give an example of an organism’s niche
Essential Question B. How do energy and matter move through ecosystems?
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Define and explain how food webs function; be able to create a food web given appropriate information
Identify trophic levels, producers, consumers, first, second, and third order consumers in a food web
Explain/quantify how energy moves through ecosystems
Explain/quantify how biomass moves through ecosystems
Explain how water cycles through ecosystems; explain how these terms relate to the water cycle: evaporation,
transpiration, condensation, precipitation, runoff, seepage, root uptake
13. Explain how carbon moves through ecosystems; explain how these terms relate to the carbon cycle:
decomposition, respiration, photosynthesis, deposition, erosion, human activity
14. Explain how nitrogen moves through ecosystems; explain how these terms relate to the nitrogen cycle:
denitrification, uptake, reuse, nitrogen fixation, NH 3, NO3-,deposition, excretion
Essential Question C. How do organisms function in ecosystems?
15. Explain how individuals and populations can interact through competition, predation, symbiosis, mutualism,
commensalism, and parasitism
16. Explain the factors that determine how a population grows: immigration, emigration, birthrate, deathrate,
resources, carrying capacity
17. Define the two types of population growth: exponential and logistic. Explain how they differ.
18. Define and give at least three examples each of density-dependent and density–independent limiting factors
19. Explain how species can thrive (exponential growth) in ecosystems if they have few/no limiting factors
20. Define the term limiting nutrient and be able to explain the impacts of a limiting nutrient on an ecosystem.
Essential Question D. How is ecological research performed?
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Determine if a systems approach will be helpful in answering a question or solving a problem
Record, graph and analyze data from a multi-week experiment
Explain the three main ecological methods of research (observing, experimenting, modeling)
Explain the benefits and limitations of ecosystem observing, experimenting, and modeling
Given ecosystem data, calculate the population density of an organism
Essential Question E. Why is understanding ecology important?
26. Explain why it is important for humans to understand ecosystems and ecology, using examples from class
27. Explain how the human population has changed over time, and how it is likely to change in the future; give
examples of the density-dependent and density-independent factors that affected this growth.
28. Explain the term demographic transition.
29. Explain the characteristics of invasive species and why they are a problem; be familiar with at least three invasive
species that could or do pose a threat to Washington state ecosystems
30. Explain the term “biodiversity” and how decreasing biodiversity levels impact the stability of ecosystems
31. Explain the term “biomagnification” and how it can affect higher order consumers in an ecosystem
32. Explain the concept of sustainable development; explain and give examples sustainable processes.
33. Explain how constraints and unintended consequences relate to ecosystem services and sustainability
34. Explain possible impacts of removing higher order consumers (predators) from food webs
35. Explain and give examples of at least three ecosystem services provided to humans by the Puget Sound
36. Explain how dissolved oxygen (DO) levels are an indicator of the effects of human point and non-point pollution on
the Puget Sound
37. Explain how benthic macroinvertebrates (and B-IBI scores) are another indicator of the effects of human point/nonpoint pollution on the Puget Sound ecosystem.
38. Explain how changes to the global carbon cycle have increased atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and how this
relates to global climate change.
39. Explain the terms “carbon footprint” and “ecological footprint” and how you could make yours larger/smaller.