Interactions of Living Things

1. Interactions of Living Things DAY 4&5

2. Bell ringer: Label next piece of notebook paper in your notebook WHO EATS WHOM? • Go up to the front lab bench and get 5 index cards a piece. • Print the name of one of the following organisms on each of the cards: Killer Whale, Cod Fish, Krill Shrimp, Algae, and Leopard Seal • On your desk, arrange the cards in a chain to show who eats whom • Record the order of your cards in your notebook as #1.

3. Who eats whom continued… • In nature, would you expect to see more killer whales or cod? Arrange the cards in order of most individuals in an organism group to fewest. Analysis • (1) What might happen to the other organisms if algae were removed from this group? • (2) What might happen if the killer whales were removed? • (3) Are there any organisms in this group that eat more than one kind of food? (HINT: What else might a seal, a fish, or a killer whale eat?) How could you change the order of your cards to show this information? How could you use pieces of string to show this relationships?

4. Your Task: Come up with a humorous scenario showing a predator/prey relationship, mutualism, commensalism, parasitism, niche, or habitat example. Label what your example is demonstrating. HAVE FUN! Bell Ringer..Science Humor Style Customer: Waiter! Waiter! There’s a fly in my soup! Waiter: Don’t worry, sir. The spider in your salad will get it! (Predator/Prey)

5. Day Nine…Today’s Bellringer:Can you name an example? • Write down an example of competition in nature. • Write down an example of predator and prey. • Write down an example of how an organism protects itself. • Write down an example of coevolution.

6. Standards • S7L4 Students will examine the dependence of organisms on one another and their environments. • S7L4.c Recognize that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of both individuals and entire species. • S7L4.d Categorize relationships between organisms that are competitive or mutually beneficial. • S7L5 Students will examine the evolution of living organisms through inherited characteristics that promote survival of organisms and the survival of successive generations of their offspring. • S7CS5.a Observe and explain how parts can be related to other parts in a system such as predator/prey relationships in a community/ecosystem.

7. Essential Questions in the Unit… • Distinguish between the biotic & abiotic parts of the environment. • Explain how populations & communities are related. • Describe how the abiotic parts of the environment affect ecosystems. • Describe the functions of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem. • Distinguish between a food chain & a food web. • Describe how the removal of one species affects the entire food web. • Explain the relationship between carrying capacity & limiting factors. • Describe the two types of competition. • Distinguish between mutualism, commensalism, and parasitism.

8. A Food Chain The pathway of energy transfer through various stages as a result of the feeding patterns of a series of organisms.

10. Please copy this ex. into your notes:

12. A Food Web A diagram that shows the feeding relationships between organisms in an ecosystem.

13. Food WebPlease copy this example into your notes…

14. Food Web

15. Food Web

16. An Energy Pyramid A triangular diagram that shows an ecosystem’s loss of energy, which results as energy passes through the ecosytem’s food chain.

17. Energy Pyramid

18. Energy Pyramid Please copy this energy pyramid example into your notes: Snake Grasshopper & rabbit Grass

22. Your Name:_____________ Do you Know the Difference? • Demonstrate the difference between ecosystems, food chains, food webs, and energy pyramids by creating a poster. • To get started you will need to choose an ecosystem such as a swamp, pond, or rainforest. • Then choose 5 organisms found in that ecosystem (a decomposer, producer, primary consumer, secondary consumer, and tertiary consumer). At the top of paper draw your food chain using these 5 organisms. • Below your food chain draw out a typical picture of your ecosystem, including both biotic and abiotic factors. Draw arrows that shows how energy is passed in your ecosystem by creating a food web. REMEMBER the arrows point to where the energy GOES not to WHO eats WHO. • On the back of your poster draw your energy pyramid. Underneath your pyramid, write an explanation telling how food chains, food webs. & energy pyramids differ. • Make sure to color/label your drawings to make it clear. • HINT…Think about how we did the WHO EATs WHOM activity.