2. What is Ecology?  Ecology studies how living things find ways to survive in their environments and how human actions can have positive and negative affects on the biological world.  Ecology is the study of how individual organisms and groups of organisms interact with each other and with the non-living environment

3. Why is it important?  The world is an incredibly complex place and living things interact in many ways that we are just beginning to understand.  Human actions can have devastating consequences on the biological world if we are not careful and don’t fully understand how everything is connected  It is fascinating! You will not believe all the interesting creatures that are out there and all the different ways they find ways to survive and interact with other living things.

4. What are levels of organization?  Science deals with everything from the very small to the very large.  To make sense of things on very different scales, we organize the world into LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION.  Once they have created different levels, scientists can formulate theories and laws that work on that level, without worrying about the others  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sOPUAneCl8&N R=1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sOPUAneCl8&N R=1

5. Theory of Everything?  Scientists divide the world up into LEVELS OF ORGANIZATION so that they can formulate theories for one level without having to worry about other levels.  For example, a scientist may study how Monarch butterflies know where to go. They don’t have to worry about all the cells that make up the butterfly or the atoms that make up the cells  Someday, scientists may discover ways that one level could be explained by a theory or law in a lower level.  Maybe one day everything will be explained by one theory? Or, maybe not!

7. Organism  An organism is a single plant, animal, or other living thing. Bacteria, aphids, eagles, elephants are all organisms  A SPECIES is a group of similar organisms that can breed and are alive at the same time

8. Population  A population is a group of organisms from the same same species that live in the same area

9. Community  A community is a collection of populations that live in the same area. A community is made up of many different populations from many different species.

10. Ecosystem  An ecosystem is a collection of ALL organisms that live in a particular place. Unlike a community, an ecosystem includes the non-living environment as well as all living things.

11. Biomes  The next largest unit in biology is a Biome  A biome is a group of ecosystems that have the same climate and similar biological communities  Because animals can move and migrate, biologists use plants and climate to distinguish between biomes.

13. #1.11 Aim: How do we recognize biomes? Agenda QOD (5) HW #7 q’s? Lesson: biomes (15) Activity: Research (15) Summary (5) HW: Biomes Research Project Desert

14. #1.11 Aim: How do we recognize biomes? Agenda QOD (5) HW #7 q’s? Lesson: biomes (15) Activity: Research (15) Summary (5) HW: Biomes Research Project Temperate Forest

15. Tropical Forest

16. T Tundra

17. Savanna

18. Aqautic Biomes

19. Biosphere  In biology, the biosphere is the largest level of organization.  Bio = life  Sphere = ball  Biosphere = life ball. The part of Earth in which life exists including land, water, and air.

21. Now it is your turn. Fill out your worksheet by defining each level of organization

22. Exit Ticket  1: What is the difference between a community and a ecosystem?  2: Why do scientists divide the world up into different levels of organization?