Science Objectives from ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange),
Science (2005) Grade: 4 Describe the interdependence of plants and
animals. Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals
survive in particular habitats. Examples: - Behaviors- migration,
hibernation, mimicry; - Body structures- quills, fangs, stingers,
webbed feet Describing life cycles of various animals to include
incomplete and complete metamorphosis. Examples: damsel fly,
mealworms Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain. Example:
producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and
third-level consumer Identifying characteristics of organisms,
including growth and development, reproduction, acquisition and use
of energy, and response to the environment
Science Objectives from ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange),
Science (2005)Grade: 4Describe the interdependence of plants and
animals. Describing behaviors and body structures that help animals
survive in particular habitats. Examples:- Behaviors- migration,
hibernation, mimicry;- Body structures- quills, fangs, stingers,
webbed feet Describing life cycles of various animals to include
incomplete and complete metamorphosis. Examples: damsel fly,
mealworms Tracing the flow of energy through a food chain. Example:
producer, first-level consumer, second-level consumer, and
third-level consumer Identifying characteristics of organisms,
including growth and development, reproduction, acquisition and use
of energy, and response to the environment
Connected PlanetInterdependence of Plants and Animals
Mr. Jonathan WoolleyEcology4th Grade
Did you know there are 1.75 million scientifically identified
living forms on this planet?!
If you include yet-to-be identified organisms, 30 million
different forms of life are believed to exist!!!!
To put this into perspective, Tokyo, Japan, the worlds most
populated city, has 3O million inhabitants.
Now imagine if each person in Tokyo was a unique organism.
To keep the numbers going
Did you know that there are about 4,000,000,000,000 trees on
Earth?
There are 1,000,000 ants for every single person (this comes to
about 100,000,000,000,000 ants!)??
Also, there is an estimated 100,000,000,000,000 bacterium living
inside of each and every one of us. Which just happens to outnumber
our own human cells 10 to 1.
Mind Blowing!!!!As you can see, our world supports a massive
amount of life forms.
This vast number of unique creatures include fungi,
microorganisms, animals and plants. It also includes us humans.
Our lives and existence are all interconnected and dependent on
each othereven in ways we have not yet discovered.
Ecologists are people who look for these connections. What do
Ecologists do?Video link
One of the best ways ecologists study environments is by direct
observation.
Throughout this unit we will reflect on what we observe in field
journals.
Lets make our own field journals!
Go to this website for instructions!As we embark on our
exploration, dont forget to look for Connections.
Remember, everything is connected somehow!In field journal,
write down plant and animal topics you are interested in.
For Homework~ Write in field journal.
What is an ecosystem?
Ecosystem video
2. What is your favorite biome?
Explore biomes
Dont forget: You can copy-paste this slide into other
presentations, and move or resize the poll.Press F5 or enter
presentation mode to view the pollIn an emergency during your
presentation, if the poll isn't showing, navigate to this link in
your web
browser:http://www.polleverywhere.com/multiple_choice_polls/EY2QBA0s82uBX0U
If you like, you can use this slide as a template for your own
voting slides. You might use a slide like this if you feel your
audience would benefit from the picture showing a text message on a
phone.15Rainforest wins!
Video linkIn field journals, write/draw some facts you have
learned about rainforest ecosystems.
List open-ended questions pulled from video
What would you like to learn more about?The term environment in
ecology refers to both the physical and biological factors
affecting organisms. The physical environment consists of abiotic,
or nonliving, factors. These include resources such as light,
carbon dioxide, oxygen, and soil; physical characteristics such as
atmospheric pressure, temperature, and rainfall; and disturbances
such as fire or tsunamis. The biological environment is made up of
biotic, or living, factorsanything that is living or was living, as
well as things that are immediately related to life. For example,
the biotic factors in a rainforest include all of the organisms
living in itplants, animals, fungi, and microbesas well as animal
droppings, leaf litter, and rotting logs.The interactions between
living things and their environment occur at different scales. The
most basic of these is the interaction between an individual
organism and its environment. The largest scale is the biosphere,
which consists of the relatively thin layers of Earth's air, soil,
and water that are capable of supporting life together with all
organisms that live there. The biosphere extends from roughly 6
miles (10 kilometers) above Earth's surface to the deep-sea vents
of the ocean. The biosphere is divided into large regions called
biomes (or major life zones) that are distinguished by climate and
vegetation patterns.Most studies in ecology focus on interactions
taking place at scales that fall in between the extremes of
individuals and the biosphere: populations, communities, and
ecosystems.
Compton's by Britannica. Britannica Online for Kids.Encyclopdia
Britannica, Inc., 2013. Web. 22 Apr. 2013..
Vocab List 1Directions: Match each word with its correct
definition.OrganismEnvironmentHabitatEcosystemBiomePopulationCommunityNiche
group of parts that work together as a unita group of the same
species living in the same place at the same timea group of living
things and the environment in which they liveall the populations
that live in the same areaan individual formed to carry on the
activities of lifeeverything that surrounds and affects an animal,
including living and nonliving thingsplace that meets an organism's
needsrole of an organism in its habitatA large naturally occurring
ecosystem of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat
The two principal groups of living organisms are plants and
animals. From the very early phase of evolution plants and animals
have lived together side by side in an intimate relationship. This
relationship is also known as the biotic environment or biosphere.
In a stable ecosystem the plants and animals form a delicate
nutritional interdependence which with minor fluctuations is
rebalanced fairly rapidly. In addition to their nutritional
interdependence biotic population of an ecosystem have various
other types of interdependence like reproduction, protection
etc.
The organization and stability of a biological community results
from the interactions between its member species. Each interaction
between two species directly affects each of them. These effects
may be beneficial or detrimental, depending on the species and the
interaction. Some interactions have a distinct effect on one
species but no effect on another.
In addition to their direct effects, some interactions between
two species have indirect effects on other members of the
community. The connection between all of the direct and indirect
effects forms an interactive web that binds the community together.
There are four main types of species interactions: competition,
predation, commensalism, and mutualism.The various ways of
interdependences among the member populations of an ecological
community have led to various specializations in structure and
function. In a large number of cases such specialization of the
population in a community are even more propound, for a community
contains not only free living population but also organisms of
different species that live together in more or less permanent
physical contact. These associations are instances of symbiosis, an
expression of the most intimate form of communal life. A brief
survey of the interdependence between plants and animals is
presented below.Symbiosis is a close relationship between two
different kinds of organisms, or living things. There are three
basic types of symbiotic relationships:
Mutualism-association between organisms of two different species
in which each is benefited.
Commensalism- a relation between individuals of two species in
which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other
without either harming or benefiting the latter.
Parasitism- a relation between individuals of two species in
which one species obtains food or other benefits from the other
without either harming or benefiting the latter.Match each term
with its correct imageMutualism
Commensalism
Parasitism
Food Chain
Video
Lessonhttp://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/ecosystems/food-chains.htm
A food chain, in ecology, the sequence of transfers of matter
and energy in the form of food from organism to organism. Food
chains intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms
consume more than one type of animal or plant. Plants, which
convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary
food source. In a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by
a flesh-eating animal. In a parasite chain, a smaller organism
consumes part of a larger host and may itself be parasitized by
even smaller organisms. In a saprophytic chain, microorganisms live
on dead organic matter.
food chain (2013). In Encyclopdia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved
April 22, 2013, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/212636/food-chain
Vocab Quiz
2http://quizstar.4teachers.org/servlet/quizrepositoryservletLets
play a food chain game!
Life Cycles:
Slide Show
Game
A life cycle is defined as the complete succession of changes
undergone by an organism during its life. A new cycle occurs when
an identical set of changes is begun. All organisms go through
stages of development. Environmental conditions such as water,
temperature, and light affect the development of organisms.
Scientists can even describe the life cycle of a star or a plastic
bottle.
In most mammals the stages of life go from the fertilized egg,
to the fetus, the juvenile, and then to the adult.
Birds go from the egg, to the chick, to the adult.
Amphibians go from the egg, to the larva, to the adult.
Can you identify all of the stages of a frogs life cycle?
Plants go from the seed, to the seedling , to the flowering
plant
What is the difference between complete and incomplete
metamorphosis in insects?
The number of life cycle stages insects go through during their
transformation from egg to adult differs. Complete metamorphosis
has 4 life cycle stages. Incomplete metamorphosis has 3 life cycle
stages.
Complete Metamorphosis
The majority of insects go through complete metamorphosis. There
are four distinct life cycle stages:egglarvapupaAdult
The larva can be worm-like, although you can still see the six
legs. The larvae for moths and butterflies are called caterpillars.
Maggots are the larval stage of flies. The larvae eat constantly
and grow rapidly.
A hard, protective case forms around the larva: this is the pupa
stage. The pupa stage for a butterfly is called a chrysallis. The
pupa stage for a moth is called a cocoon.Incomplete
Metamorphosis
Incomplete metamorphosis only has three life cycle stages:
eggnymphAdult
The nymph looks like a smaller version of the adult, but is
wingless. Instead of going into a cocoon, the nymph grows into an
adult by shedding its outer layer or exoskeleton. Once wings
develop, the nymph has become an adult and will no longer shed its
outer shell.Complete or Incomplete?
_________________________________________Adaptations:Behaviors
and Body Structures
Being able to adapt is a matter of life or death. Animals who
can't adapt - die! For animals, adaptation is the idea that animals
have developed features that help them to survive and thrive where
they live.
Some adaptations are purely physical. Fish have fins to help
them swim and gills that let them breathe underwater. Without those
two special traits, they would have a very hard time surviving in
their watery environment. Animals also adapt through certain
behaviors. When threatened, a porcupine extends its quills, making
it very hard for a fox to eat them.Source:
http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htm
Circle the physical adaptations in each picture~MigrationWhat is
migration?
At its most basic, migration is the movement of a group of
animals from one place to another and, in most cases, back again.
Most migration is seasonal. That is what we see when many birds
return to Idaho in the spring and leave in the fall. These birds
also represent a complete migration because all members of a :
species leave. Sometimes not all members of a migratory population
leave an area. This is called a partial migration. Red-tailed hawks
are a good example of a kind of bird that is a partial migrant.
http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season13/animal_migration/facts.cfmBut
we humans kind of cheat -we use technology to adapt to change. We
can fit in almost any environment on the planet - from icy cold
Antarctica to the bottom of the ocean. We design and build better
air conditioners, warmer parkas, better diving suits, and lights to
see in the dark. Technology lets us adapt quickly to changes in our
environment. However, for other animals, adaptation is a slow,
steady process which may take hundreds of thousands of years to
accomplish. Some of the changes we humans make can lead to the
death of entire species of animals. We can change things so fast
that we make it hard for other animals to "fit in". They do not
have the time needed to develop sufficient means of adapting to the
changed environment.Source:
http://www.tburg.k12.ny.us/mcdonald/ANIMAL%20ADAPTATIONS/AAdapt.htmCreative
writing assignment:
On the following page, choose an animal that is interesting to
you. Go to the website link to learn more about its life. read
carefully, and see if you can find what special adaptations these
animals have.
Now imagine you are this animal. Write a paragraph in which
explore these questions: where do you live?" "what do you eat?"
what about the way you look helps you live? what special behaviors
do you have that help you survive?
Mountain goatGiraffeAlligatorPolar BearFinal Class ProjectWisely
choose one of the following teams based on your personal
interest:
Team Jungle FeverTeam Desert StormTeam Artic FreezeTeam Ocean
ExplosionBefore We go to the Computer Lab
Lets Play A Game!!!Website link on digital citizenship:
http://pbskids.org/webonauts/Team Mission: Separate into small
groups based on your chosen team.As a group, discuss what you
already know about your teams biome. Create a Google Slides doc for
your team. Design should include colors and pictures that best
represent your world. Next use the computer lab and library to find
additional awesome facts about your teams world. What is life like
in your biome? Who lives here? Look for connections!Share your
findings with your team. Remember to talk about adaptations and
food chains. Post your findings onto your teams Slides Doc to
create an introduction for the Final Project.
* Example of Google Slides Doc using a made-up biome.Team: Candy
Meadow
Candy Meadow is a large and vibrant ecosystem that sustains life
for many different organisms. The regions mild climate is well
suited for habitation. However, rare but violent jellybean storms
have prompted several interesting physical and behavioral
adaptations of local inhabitants.
Here are some life forms that thrive in this habitat:
Individual Mission
Choose a favorite organism that lives in your teams world.
Research books and websites about your chosen topic.
Imagining you are this organism, write a 1st person perspective
narrative of what your life is like. Make sure you use our ecology
terms when describing your life.
Feel free to include photos, drawings, and music to illustrate
your experience.
After you are finished, we will turn your work into a Digital
chapter and upload this into your teams Google Slides Doc for
publication.