1. Year 9 Science 2012
Ecosystems

5. Natural Ecosystems
Organisms live surrounded by other organisms and by non-living things such as rocks, water and soil
Animals can be chased by predators, attached by diseases and battered by storms
Plants can be eaten, suffer drought or be destroyed by fire

6. However, not all organisms compete with or harm each other
Some live together and help each other survive

8. Ecology
Ecology is the study of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment
The environment consists of all the factors in organism’s surroundings that affect it
A habitat is where an organism lives (the habitat is a place were an environment is, a set of factors that effect survival)

9. Ecosystems
An ecosystem is a system formed by a group of living things interacting with each other and their non-living surroundings
An ecosystem has three main parts:
Physical surroundings, such as rocks, soil and water
Living organisms
Living and non-living factors that make up the environment

11. Factors influencing organisms:
Non-living factors: abiotic factors or physical factors
Include: water, air quality, light, temperature etc.
Living factors: biotic factors
Include: predators such as sharks, parasites, fungi

13. What do I remember? – These are wrong?
Word
Wrong Meaning??
Ecology
Where an organism lives
Habitat
The study of how organisms interact with each other and their physical surroundings
Ecosystem
All the factors in a organisms surroundings that affect it
Environment
The place where organisms and their physical surroundings from a balanced environment that is different from others nearby

14. Word
Meaning
Ecology
The study of how organisms interact with each other and their physical surroundings
Habitat
Where an organism lives
Ecosystem
The place where organisms and their physical surroundings from a balanced environment that is different from others nearby
Environment
All the factors in a organisms surroundings that affect it
Habitat
Your room
Ecosystem
Your House
Environment
Your school

15. Abiotic Factors: Non-Living Factors
Water:
Water is essential for all of the chemical reactions in the cells of living things

16. Temperature: Heat effects the speed of chemical reactions in cells
The higher the temperature, the faster these reactions take place

17. Temperature and Activity:
Page 289
Design and Conduct your own experiment

18. H:students/Y9/Science/cra Science/Y9 Science2012/Ecology Plan

19. Ectothermic:
Some animals such as fish and reptiles depend on the temperature of their environment
They might lay on warm rocks in the sunlight to heat up or hide in a burrow if they are too hot

20. Ectothermic organisms:
Biologists describe these animals as ectothermic (rather than ‘cold blooded’)
Ectothermic means that organisms must obtain body heat from the environment rather than by generating it internally by body chemistry

21. Endothermic organisms:
Birds and animals, like humans and kangaroos are “warm blooded” or endothermic
Endothermic means that the organisms have the ability to generate heat internally and control heat loss to keep their body temperature constant

22. Fire: Abiotic Factor Bush fires can kill some plants and hep others
Many Australian plants will germinate (start to grow) after a fire due to the chemicals released in the smoke

23. Activity Book 9.1 Smoke and Germination
Complete for H/W due Thursday 23rd February
This Thursday!

24. Light: Abiotic Factor Light is needed for photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make their food materials using water, carbon dioxide and light

25. Soil Type: Abiotic Factor
Not all soils are the same
Some soils hold more nutrients than others
Some soils hold water better than others

26. Gas Levels: Abiotic Factor
Most organisms need oxygen for respiration
Respiration is the reaction of food with oxygen to give energy (heat)
In water the amount of oxygen can vary – cold water has more oxygen than warm water

27. Biotic Factors: Living Things
The living things that surround an organism are called a Community
There are many different interactions between living things

28. Competition: Biotic Factor
Organisms are said to be in competition when they both try to get the same resource, which might only exist in limited amounts
Competition occurs between members of the same species and between different species

29. Predation: Biotic Factor
When one organisms kills and eats another, the attacker is called a predator and the one being eaten is called the prey

30. Mutualism: Biotic Factor
Mutualism is a relationship when tow organisms live closely together and both benefit

31. Parasitism: Biotic Factor
Parasitism is a relationship where one organism lives on or in another organism (the host) and feeds off it
The parasite cannot survive without the organism in which it lives

32. Commensalism: Biotic Factor
Commensalism is a relationship when one organism benefits and the other is unaffected

33. Skill Builder: Defining Relationships
See page 286

34. Adaptations:
To survive with the various biotic and abiotic factors in their environments, organisms have special features called adaptations that assist them to survive
An adaptation is a feature that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment

35. Structural Adaptations
A structural adaptation is a body part that helps an organism to survive.

36. Behavioural Adaptations:
A behavioural adaption is a feature of an organism’s habits, actions or way of life that helps it
For example, the spinifex hopping mouse, shown in Figure , only comes out at night when the air has cooled, so that it does not lose water and dehydrate. The mouse avoids the heat of the day by remaining in its burrow. A burrow is cooler and the air there is humid, with a lot of moisture in the air. This helps to slow the evaporation of moisture from the mouse.
Dolphins use a behaviour called echolocation. When they want to know what is in the water around them, they emit clicking sounds, as shown in Figure These sound waves travel through water, reflect off objects and return to the dolphin. The dolphin has the ability to receive these sound waves and form a mental image of the objects around it.

37. The large-eared horseshoe bat (Figure 9. 1
The large-eared horseshoe bat (Figure ) also echolocates its prey. It sends out high-pitched sounds through its nose, which has a structure called a noseleaf that focuses the sound into a beam. The bat moves its ears and head around to locate the returning sounds that have bounced off its prey. The bat's brain creates a 'picture' in its head of where the prey is located.

38. Functional Adaptations:
A functional adaptation is a feature of the way an organism’s body works
eg: when you exercise, your body automatically makes your heart go faster so more blood is supplied to your muscles
It happens automatically – you cannot consciously control it

40. Unit Review: Page 288 Remembering Understanding Applying Analysing
Evaluating
Creating
Inquiring: Allocated to pairs of students each week