There are two main types of adaptations:
Physical - which is part of the body make-up and behavioral - which is something that someone does or is part of their instincts.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Ecological Relationships
This week we are studying about three types of symbiotic relationships.
1) Mutualism - where both species benefit from the relationship
Example: Honey Guide Bird & the Honey Badger - the bird leads the badger to a hive and the badger knocks the hive down and feasts on the honey, then the bird feasts on the honey
2) Commensalism - where 1 species benefits and the other is not harmed or does not benefit
Example: Barnacles on the whale - the barnacles get shelter and the whale is unharmed
3) Parasitism - where 1 species benefits and the other is harmed
Example: deer & tick - tick feasts on the blood of a deer and the deer is harmed
1) Mutualism - where both species benefit from the relationship
Example: Honey Guide Bird & the Honey Badger - the bird leads the badger to a hive and the badger knocks the hive down and feasts on the honey, then the bird feasts on the honey
2) Commensalism - where 1 species benefits and the other is not harmed or does not benefit
Example: Barnacles on the whale - the barnacles get shelter and the whale is unharmed
3) Parasitism - where 1 species benefits and the other is harmed
Example: deer & tick - tick feasts on the blood of a deer and the deer is harmed
Monday, January 16, 2012
Food Webs
Food webs are a great way to show how energy travels in an ecosystem.
Before you start drawing out your food web, it's important to look at who is in your food web.
Do you have producers (organisms that make their own food) or consumers (organisms that have to consume their food)? What type of consumers do you have? Primary/Secondary/Tertiary? Herbivore/Omnivore/Carnivore?
When you have all that figured out, make sure you have the two main components of a food web - sun (the source of energy) and decomposers (which break down matter and help the cycle start again).
Then ALWAYS draw the arrow to the thing that gets the energy. If you and an apple were in a food web, there would be an arrow going from the apple to you. Imagine that the arrow is going right into the mouth of the thing that is going to get the energy.
Before you start drawing out your food web, it's important to look at who is in your food web.
Do you have producers (organisms that make their own food) or consumers (organisms that have to consume their food)? What type of consumers do you have? Primary/Secondary/Tertiary? Herbivore/Omnivore/Carnivore?
When you have all that figured out, make sure you have the two main components of a food web - sun (the source of energy) and decomposers (which break down matter and help the cycle start again).
Then ALWAYS draw the arrow to the thing that gets the energy. If you and an apple were in a food web, there would be an arrow going from the apple to you. Imagine that the arrow is going right into the mouth of the thing that is going to get the energy.
Limiting Factors
Limiting factors are anything that effect a population's size either positively or negatively. We often relate them to the basic survival skills of food, water, and shelter.
This past week we looked at three different species populations' to observe how these things effect their population sizes.
We also focused on carrying capacity - or the limit to how big a population can get for a certain area.
It was a great week with very active labs!
This past week we looked at three different species populations' to observe how these things effect their population sizes.
We also focused on carrying capacity - or the limit to how big a population can get for a certain area.
It was a great week with very active labs!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)