CHAPTER 1: ECOLOGY

Lesson 1: Ecology as a Science

Pre-assessment: Description Wheel. Write words you know that are associated
with the word “ecology”. You may include definitions and examples.

Organisms Biology - ecology is a branch of

Ecologist - a scientist biology that deals with the
Producers, Consumers, Parasites,
Predators, Scavengers, Carnivores, who studies ecology. relations and interactions
Omnivores, Herbivores, between organisms and their
Decomposers environment, including other
organisms.

Biotic Factors - living organisms ECOLOGY  Human beings

 Animals
Abiotic Factors - non-living organisms
 Plants

Ecosystem - a community
of living organisms.
 Earth
Resources - refers to all the materials
available in our environment which
help us to satisfy our needs and wants.

Activity 1. Identifying Biotic and Abiotic Factors of an Area and their Roles
for survival
Directions: Choose a small area and list down in your notebook the biotic and
abiotic factors you can find therein. After, identify their major roles to maintain
ecological balance and survival. This will be the format:

Location: Farm
Biotic Factors Roles
1. Grass 1. It serves as animal’s food.
2. Trees 2. It offers shelter for the insects and
animals.
3. Plants 3. It serves as insect’s food.
4. Animals 4. One of the main consumer of
resources and producer of another
specie.
5. Insects 5. One of the main consumer of
resources and producer of another
 specie.
Abiotic Factors Roles
1. Water 1. It serves as the lifeblood of a
certain area.
2. Sunlight 2. It supplements the living things in a
certain area an enough energy.
3. Temperature 3. A certain range of temperature is
what allows organisms to survive.
4. Soil 4. It provides organisms with physical
support, water, nutrients, and air for
growth.
5. Air 5. Air can greatly impact an
ecosystem. It affects their ability to
function and grow.

Guide Questions:

a. In your chosen area, which factor is more abundant, abiotic or biotic?

 Biotic Factors

b. Do you think the abiotic factors are vital for the survival of the biotic factors?
Why?
 Yes. The biotic factors rely on abiotic factors as they directly affect its growth,
reproduction, and survival. The abiotic factors defines which organisms are able
to live or not in a certain area.

c. How about biotic to abiotic factors?

 No. The abiotic factors are completely independent of the biotic factors.

d. What is then the major relationship of biotic and abiotic factors of the
environment?
 The biotic and abiotic factors are the two essential factors responsible for the
development of an ecosystem. Biotic factors are the living things, which are
necessary for the reproduction of each species and to fulfill essential
requirements like food, shelter, etc. The abiotic factors, on the other side, refers
to the non-living things, which have a significant impact on the survival and
reproduction of species in an ecosystem.

e. Why is there a need to study this relationship under ecology?

 We, humans, are part of an ecosystem or a community, we are also considered
as a biotic factor because we are part of the living things category, which is why
I truly believe that it is vital for us to understand how things work in our
environment.

Self-Reflection:
1. What keeps us and other organism alive?
 Apart from metabolism, which is a set of chemical reactions in cell that allow us,
organisms, to grow, reproduce, breathe, think, etc. The different resources from
different phenomenon or species that we are making use of are also one of the
 factors on what keeps us going. These resources which largely contributes to
our basic needs in life is what enables us to survive and conquer this life.

2. How do scientist study ecosystem?

 Scientists that studies ecosystem are called ecologist. Ecologists study various
environments by collecting data and observing species, so they may carry out
various experiments.

Lesson 2: Levels of Ecology

Activity 2. Understanding ecology in different scales

Directions: Answer the second column by writing agree or disagree along with the
statements in the first column. Give a little justification of your decision in the third
column.

Statement Answer Reason

All ducks in the pond Agree They are all the same entity that are
belong in the same living in the same area at the same
community time, which makes them a
population, and which also makes
them a part of the same community.

A population is when a bird Disagree Bird and Bees are different species.
lives in the same tree with
the bees in the bee hives.
Wild dogs in the forest and Disagree The wild dogs are not living in the
wild dogs in the cage same place at the same time.
belongs to the same
population
Crabs, shrimps and mud Agree Community is where all different
fish in a lake is a populations of species are living
community together in one place.
Combinations of different Disagree It must be the other way around.
communities is called a Combinations of different populations
population is called a community.
All the living things within Disgree It is called the biotic factors.
an area is called an
ecosystem
All the non living things in Disagree It is called the abiotic factors.
an area is called a
biosphere
Post-Activity:
Illustrate the different levels of ecology by a drawing. Use the box for given below.
Self-Reflection:
1. Do you consider yourself as part of a community? How?
2. Being an individual organism, how will you contribute in the community?

Self-Reflection:
1. Do you consider yourself as part of a community? How?
 Yes, because I am one of the living organisms that is part of the human
population, which also belongs to a community.

2. Being an individual organism, how will you contribute in the

community?
 As an individual, it is in my duty to keep and maintain the community to function
well. Creating a good community requires a lot things, but let us keep in mind
that the first and most important step for this is to start the development in
ourselves. Thus, what I believe our main contribution to the community is to
become and live as someone who has a good mindset and knows its goals and
limitations.

Lesson 3: Ecology of Individual Organism

Self-Reflection:
1. What is your niche in your society?
 As I am still a teenager, my niche in the society is to be a student who has the
vision to improve our society and make our community a better and harmonious
place to live.

2. How will you determine your own tolerance?

 In my perspective, as a human being I think in order for us to know our level of
tolerance, we are opt to experience a certain thing first ourselves. In
temperature, for instance, we will not be able to tell if we are capable of living in
a hot or cold temperature if we will not go through it. The process of
experiencing or facing a certain thing will give us the idea of our capacity as a
person.

3. Is your fundamental niche the same with your realized niche?

 Fundamental niche and realized niche both refer to the environmental position
that species occupy in an ecosystem. However, there is a big difference between
them. The fundamental niche is defined as the fullest of the condition through
which an species can reproduce and survive. Realized niche, on the other side, is
considered to be smaller or limited than the fundamental niche. It is just
considered to be a subset of fundamental niche, which is why I reckon that my
fundamental niche is way different from it.

Self-Reflection
1. If you have the chance to choose what factors should be surrounding you in
order to survive and flourish what would these be and why?
 If given the chance to choose what factors would I want to surround myself for
the sake of survival, I would choose nothing and would keep every factor that
has been there since then. I believe that in order for someone to survive life,
one needs every factors in existence.

2. Can a man stand alone? Why? Why not?

 No. I have always believe that in order for someone to thrive and survive life,
one needs companion. Some people would say they do not need rapport or
support from other people, but at some point of their lives, they also have
sought for company.Therefore, I conclude that a man cannot stand alone.

Chapter-End Assessment

1. What is the difference between the concepts of community and population?

 A population is a group of the same species, living and interbreeding in a
particular geographical area at a defined period, while a community is a group of
two or more populations in a specific ecosystem living in a particular time.

2. What is the main difference between ecological niche and habitat?

 Habitat is the place where an organism lives, inhabits, or exists. It provides
everything that an organisms need to survive. The ecological niche, on the other
hand, is the strategy that a certain species use to survive in that habitat. A niche
is more of a subset; It is part of an habitat.

3. How did ecology become a field of science?

 Ecology is related to other sciences including Biology and Earth Science, in fact,
it is considered as an important branch of biological science. The term ecology
was first coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866. And Hippocrates and Aristotle were
among the first recorded scientists to write down their observations on what
would be considered ecology. Ecology is the vital science that aims to explain to
us how the organisms on earth interact, behave, and change through time.

4. What is the key difference between density-dependent and density-

independent limiting factors of population?
 Density-Dependent limiting factors comes into the picture when a population
density continues to grow rapidly to an extent that it puts pressure on the
ecosystem. The Density-Independent limiting factors, on the one side, are the
ones that are not dependent on the population density. They affect the species
regardless of how dense a certain population is.

5. What is the relationship between tolerance range and limiting factors?

 The continuous survival of any organism depends upon certain specific sets of
conditions in the surroundings. If such conditions are limited, then the
organism’s survival is likewise inadequate. However if the organism learn to
survive, then they are able to tolerate any set of conditions surrounding them.
Tolerance is the ability of organisms to withstand variety of environmental
conditions.

6. How can one determine range tolerance?

 In my perspective, as a human being I think in order for us to know our level of
tolerance, we are opt to experience a certain thing first ourselves. In
temperature, for instance, we will not be able to tell if we are capable of living in
a hot or cold temperature if we will not go through it. The process of
experiencing or facing a certain thing will give us the idea of our range
tolerance.