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| Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems |
Grade Level:
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| Discover why all animals are dependent on plants even if they don't eat plants. Think about what plants and animals need for survival, and how plants and animals are different from each other. Plants and animals in different environments adapt to different temperatures and water needs. Learn about consumers, producers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. Investigate food webs, what makes a food web healthy, and how invasive species can be destructive. Identify the difference between an ecosystem and a biotic community. |
| Topic: Food chains and food webs; Biotic communities |
| URL: http://www.bozemanscience.com/ngs-ls2a-interdependent-relationships-in-ecosystems |
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| Chesapeake and Coastal Bay Life |
Grade Level:
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| Just roll your mouse over the images on this site to find out about the organisms found in and around Chesapeake Bay. Select from a long list of fish to find facts about each one. Clicking on the image brings up a larger image suitable for coloring or using on a report. Learn why bay grasses are an important part of this ecosystem. Meet microscopic zooplankton and learn what their purpose is. The bottom dwellers, phytoplankton, and aquatic insects are also introduced. |
| Topic: Chesapeake Bay (Md. and Va.); Biotic communities; Coastal ecology |
| URL: http://dnr.maryland.gov/waters/bay/Pages/cblife/home.aspx |
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| Trophic Pyramid |
Grade Level:
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| The base of the terrestrial trophic pyramid is the plants, or producers, that get their energy from the sun. Through photosynthesis, they provide energy to the primary consumers that eat the plants. Secondary and tertiary consumers form the next two trophic levels, eating animals from a lower level. Aquatic and marine communities build their trophic pyramid on algae, detritus, microorganisms, or plankton. Around hydrothermal vents, bacteria get energy from sulfur. Chemosynthesis replaces photosynthesis at the bottom of these unusual trophic pyramids. |
| Topic: Food chains and food webs; Biotic communities; Energy flow |
| URL: https://www.britannica.com/science/trophic-pyramid |
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| Community Ecology: Feel the Love |
Grade Level:
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| Competition for finite resources makes survival and reproduction more difficult for most species. Most species that compete for resources avoid direct confrontation when possible. A community in the ecology sense can be as small as a rotting log or as big as an ocean. Think about competition in a garden as weeds and vegetables compete for nutrients. Investigate competitive exclusion and how similar species avoid extinction by finding an ecological niche. The niche may not be ideal, but it is a way to survive. One ornithologist studied five species of warblers and how they shared an ecosystem using different habits. |
| Topic: Biotic communities; Competition (Biology) |
| URL: https://www.khanacademy.org/science/archived-high-school-biology-do-not-use/crash-course-bio-ecology-high-school/crash-course-ecology-2-high-school/v/crash-course-ecology-04 |