Agenda

Pick up a packet at the front of the room,

and we’ll get started shortly. Ecosystem
research grades are in Aeries :)

● 1. Biodiversity Table Talk

● 2. Invasive Species Webquest
● 3. Quiz on Monday 9/19
Ecology Notes
Can fungi act like a predator?
Interdependence
 Think-Pair-Share

Look at the image of

this ecosystem.
Identify an individual,
population, and a
community.
 Vocabulary words
Individual: single organism

Population: individuals of the SAME species living in the

SAME environment

Community: all the populations in an environment together

 Ecosystems
An ecosystem is all the biotic and abiotic factors that
interact in an area.

Abiotic Factors are the nonliving components of the

environment.
● Sunlight, water, temperature, winde, soil, shelter,
etc.
Biotic Factors are the living or once living
components of the environment.
● Plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, etc.
Think-Pair-share
How do the biotic and
abiotic factors of a marine
ecosystem interact with
each other?
 The Sun

● Is the source of ALL ENERGY on

Earth.
● Provides the energy for plants to
do photosynthesis and transfer
this energy across food webs.
Food webs review
energy

Can you name a

producer?
consumer?
 Vocabulary words

Producer Consumer Decomposers

Use sunlight (solar Organisms that eat (consume) Consumers that break down
radiation/sun’s energy) to other living things for food. the tissue of dead organisms
make their own food
(photosynthesis)
 How do organisms interact with each
other in ecosystems?
1. Competition
2. Predation
3. Symbiosis
Competition
Competition occurs between
organisms of the same species and
species of similar niches for
resources
● A niche is the role a species plays
in the ecosystem.
 Think-pair-share

How do organisms in both images compete?

 Predation
An interaction in which one
organism hunts and kills
another for food
● Predator-organism that
does the killing
● Prey-organism that gets
caught/eaten
Predator adaptations
Predators have adaptations that help
them catch and kill their prey.
● Cheetahs can run very fast to catch
prey
● Jellyfish have poisonous tentacles
to paralyze prey
● Owls have big eyes to see at night
Prey adaptations

● Prey have adaptations to help

them avoid being caught
○ Camouflage
○ Mimicry
○ Armor
○ Warning coloring
 Carrying Capacity
● Is the number of individuals that can obtain food, shelter,
and water from the environment in a given period of time.

● When population gets too large, individuals compete for

food, water, space, and light. As a result, it causes a decline in
population numbers.
 Limiting factors

Affect the number of organisms and

population size
● These are both biotic and abiotic
factors
○ Remember, these are the
components organisms need
to survive.
Table Talk
Analyze the graph by
looking at the
predator and prey
interactions. Explain
how changes in the
population size of one
species affects the
other species.
Symbiosis
● A close relationship between two
different species that benefits at
least one of the species.
● There are three types of symbiotic
relationships:
○ Mutualism
○ Commensalism
○ Parasitism
Draw Emojis for Each Relationship
Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism
Ecosystem
Research