1. Unit D – Living Systems Chapter 1 The biosphere of Life
Section 1.4
Conducting a field study

2. Summary of Terms

3. Field Study

4. Purpose of a Field Study
to examine abiotic and biotic factors
to collect qualitative and quantitative data
qualitative data
types of organisms
descriptions of habitat
weather observations (sunny or cloudy,
quantitative data
weather measurements (temperature, humidity)
water conditions (temperature, pH)
population density

5. Part A: Preparing the site
A field study requires a careful examination of an aquatic or terrestrial ecosystem
An ecosystem can be a big undefined area, so setting limits and dividing it up makes studying the ecosystem possible
Dividing up the ecosystem in a systematic way yields more accurate results than data obtained from random sampling

6. Part A: Preparing the site
The first step of a field study is preparing the site
first a base line is established parallel to a boundary like the shore of a pond
shorter lines called transects run perpendicular to the base line
these two sets of lines create sections
each group will be responsible for one section

7. Part A: Preparing the Site

8. Part B: Collecting Data
example data collected from terrestrial environment
types of animals
density of forest
weather (cloud cover, wind speed, etc.)
example data collected from aquatic environment
water quality (pH, temperature)
aquatic animals, plants

11. Part C: Analysis & Evaluation
analysis of abiotic and biotic factors
analysis of trophic levels
generation of energy pyramid
creation of a food web
comparison of data obtained in each transect