1. The study of ecosystems
Ecology
The study of ecosystems

2. NGSS Standard
MS-LS2-a. Use a model to support explanations of the effect of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.

3. Warm Up/Review
The other day we discussed some factors that can be found in the environment.
What were these factors called?
What did we define as the environment that provides the things that an organism needs to live, grow and reproduce?

4. Habitats Do you think habitats are exclusive to just one organism?
Do you think it’s possible for an organism to survive in a habitat all by itself?
Why or why not?

5. Habitats
Since we now know that multiple organisms and abiotic factors can be found in habitats and in the environment, do you think it’s possible for there to be structure in the ecosystem?
For example are there different groupings of organisms together?

6. Levels of Organization
There are indeed levels of organization found within the environment.
What property of life does this sound similar to?

7. Levels of Organization
Open your notebook to the next open page.
Title: Levels of Organization
Date: 11/23/2018
I want you to come up with the levels of organization and a definition for that level.
For example, species: a group of organisms that are physically similar, that can reproduce with each other and produce offspring that are also able to reproduce.

8. What did you come up with?
I’m interested to hear with what levels of organization you came up with.
What is the name for these levels and the definition of each level.
Your Answers

9. Levels of Organization
Species: a group of organisms that are physically similar, that can reproduce with each other and produce offspring that are also able to reproduce.
Species are a single kind of organism.
Example: Meerkats
Image courtesy of wikipedia.org

10. Levels of Organization
Populations: All the members of one species in a particular area.
A group of species living in a given space.
Example: Meerkat family
Image courtesy of meerkat.net

11. Levels of Organization
Community: All the different populations that live together in a given area.
Different populations must live close enough together to interact.
Example: All the organisms found in the prairie.
Image courtesy of

12. Levels of Organization
Ecosystem: The community of organisms that live in a selected area with their abiotic factors.
Example: All the living and nonliving things that interact on the prairie.
Image from

13. Ecology
The study of how living things interact with each other and with the surrounding environment.
Ecologists will observe organisms and how they interact with populations, communities, and the whole ecosystem.
Why do you think ecologists spend a lot of time observing populations?

14. Ecology
Ecologists study populations because they wish to observe the changes in population size.
Also any change to a population has an affect on the surrounding populations.

15. Observation Methods
Read pages in your environmental science textbook.
These pages contain several examples of how ecologists examine changes in population size.

16. Becoming Ecologists
Now that you guys have an idea on how ecologists observe changes in populations, you’re going to apply this new knowledge.
I want you to work in your groups and come up with an idea on how a population size could change or what could cause a change in population size.
I then want you to select the observation method from (pgs ) your group will use to observe this change in population and why you chose that observation method.

17. Main Changes in Population Size
Populations will change in size when new members join the population or when members leave the population.
This can happen by four main means:
Birth
Death
Immigration
Emmigration

18. Review What are the levels of organization found in the environment?
What is ecology?
Why do ecologists observe the changes in population size?
How do population sizes change?