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Unit 1 Sustainable Ecosystems

Unit 1 Sustainable Ecosystems. SNC1D0 Mrs . Davis. Big Ideas. Ecosystems are dynamic and have the ability to respond to change, within limits, while maintaining their ecological balance.

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Unit 1 Sustainable Ecosystems

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  1. Unit 1Sustainable Ecosystems SNC1D0 Mrs. Davis

  2. Big Ideas • Ecosystems are dynamic and have the ability to respond to change, within limits, while maintaining their ecological balance. • People have the responsibility to regulate their impact on the sustainability of ecosystems in order to preserve them for future generations.

  3. Different Environmental Views • Stewardship view-cooperative planning and management of environmental resources with organizations, communities and others to actively engage in the prevention of loss of habitat and facilitate its recovery. Interest in long term sustainability. • Ownership view-we do not own the plants and animals just because they live in our environment. We don’t have the right to change an ecosystem and when it has been damaged it is best to leave it alone. • Frontier view-to feed ourselves and others we need to open up and claim wilderness areas for agriculture. Anything we need to do to an ecosystem to better our communities is justified.

  4. The Atmosphere SNC1D0 Ms. Park

  5. The Earth’s Atmosphere • The Earth is home to many different habitat types. • Viewed from space, the Earth is surrounded by a thin gas layer, swirling with clouds. • The Earth’s mass creates a strong force of gravity that holds gas near its surface.

  6. Atmosphere Composition • The atmosphere is a layer of gases: - 78% Nitrogen gas - 21% Oxygen gas - <1% is Argon, Water Vapour, Carbon Dioxide and some other gases.

  7. Function of the Atmosphere • The atmosphere acts as a blanket to moderate surface temperature. • Prevents excessive heating (day) and cooling (night). • It blocks incoming solar radiation, allowing many species to survive. • Without the atmosphere, the average surface temperature would drop from 15ºC to -18ºC.

  8. The Layers of the Earth • There are 4 main layers of the Earth. • 1) Atmosphere- the layers of gas surrounding the Earth. • 2) Lithosphere- the rocky outer shell of the Earth. • 3) Hydrosphere- all of the Earth’s water in solid, liquid and gas form (97% of water is in oceans). • 4) Biosphere- the locations in which life can exist within the other three layers.

  9. Biosphere • Most of the life we can see lives in water or on land. • There is lots of life (microorganisms) that can live beneath the earth’s surface. • The biosphere is small compared to the size of the Earth. This is because the conditions needed to live (space, water & nutrients) are not available everywhere.

  10. The Gaia Hypothesis • James Lovelock proposed in the 1960’s that the Earth acts like a living organism. • The biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere all interact and can respond to changes. • This means when factors like incoming light change, the Earth will “self-adjust” to attempt to maintain relatively consistent internal conditions. (Just like a cell) • There is lots of controversy around this hypothesis, and it is not widely accepted, but many feel it could promote a more caring attitude towards the Earth.

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