Sustainable Ecosystems and Human Activity

Trouble for the Cricket Frog

• Read “Trouble for the Cricket Frog” on page 21– You and the person beside you will be

assigned one of the questions and you will answer it on a large piece of poster paper

Questions

• Why should humans be concerned about the decline in the number of cricket frogs?

• How might a decline in the number of frogs affect other species in an ecosystem? Use the term “food chain” in your explanation.

• What are the 3 main reasons cricket frogs are endangered.

• What are some things you could do to avoid doing that might help cricket frogs survive?

UNDERSTANDING ECOSYSTEMS

The round goby is a fish about the size of your hand that lives at the bottom of rivers. It also happens to be a big threat to other fish. These grey, brown, and black fish are moving into Great Lakes tributaries such as the Thames and Grand rivers. These waters are home to a variety of aquatic life, including several endangered species

Life on Earth

Habitats- the environment where an organism lives

Earth’s TWO Habitat Types

Terrestrial• Found on land

Marine• Found in water

Examples of Terrestrial Habitats

Examples of Marine Habitats

What does a habitat need?

• Food• Shelter• Others for Reproduction

What do they need in a habitat?

• Robin

• Perch

• Grasshopper

• Bear

• Moose

Extreme Habitats

• What organisms live in the following extreme terrestrial habitats and how are they adapted to living there?

Make your own habitat

• Your task is to create a habitat for a real or made up organism.

• Be creative in how you display your habitat– It should include:

• What your organisms eats• Where your organism live

The Spheres of the Earth

Atmosphere: the thin layer of gases that surrounds the earth

Atmosphere

• The atmosphere contains gases such as:– Water vapour– Oxygen– Carbon Dioxide

• All needed by living things• Acts like a giant blanket wrapped around the

earth that keeps it from getting too hot or too cool

• Blocks sun’s radiation

Lithosphere

• Rocky outer shell of the Earth– Mountains, ocean floors, rest of earth’s solid

landscape

Hydrosphere

• The water on, above and below the Earth’s surface– Oceans, lakes, ice, clouds, ground water

The Biosphere

• The zone in, on and around the Earth where life can exist– Atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere

Biosphere 2

• artificial biosphere created to mimic many different biospheres here on earth

• tour of biosphere 2

• http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_poynter_life_in_biosphere_2.html

Ecosystems

• All the living organisms in an area and their non-living environment– All components are integrated- change in

one component can affect other components

Living vs. Non-Living

Living- Biotic Factor• Includes organisms,

their waste, their homes and their remains– Ex. Fungi, beavers,

insects, moose droppings, shrubs

Non-Living- Abiotic Factor• Includes non-living

features– Ex. Weather, rocks, water

Biotic vs. Abiotic

• smart book quiz.notebook

Everything is related …

• Biotic and abiotic factors affect one another, so any changes in biotic or abiotic factors can change an ecosystem

– For example: a forest is cut down for houses, the trees that housed insects, birds and squirrels are no longer there- they now need to find another place to live

– cane toads

Population or Community• Most ecosystems have many different types of

species– Members of the same species living in the same

ecosystem are called a population• All snapping turtles in a pond are a population

• All populations of different organisms in an area form a community– In a pond there are turtles, frogs, fishes, mosquitoes,

aquatic plants, algae, etc., that make up a community