|
Framework
|
Topic outline
Click the linked topics below for additional
resources
| Ecological Principles |
| 1. Commoner's laws of ecology |
a.
"Everything is connected to
everything else"
b. "Everything must go somewhere"
c. "Nature knows best"
d. "There is no such thing as a free lunch" |
| 2. Energy primer |
a. Definition
b. Laws of energy
c. Types of energy |
| 3. Evolution |
a.
Natural selection
b. Environmental adaptations and ecological
niche
c. Speciation, biodiversity, co-evolution,
extinction
d. Rates of evolution - gradualism vs.
punctuated equilibrium |
| 4. Organismal ecology |
a.
Unit of natural selection –
survival and
reproduction
b. Kingdoms of life and requirements for life
c. Habitat, environmental adaptations, and
ecological niche
d. Homeostasis and feedback regulation –
thermoregulation, osmoregulation, gas
exchange, energetics
e. Cellular metabolism – photosynthesis,
cellular respiration,
chemosynthesis
|
| 5.
Population ecology |
a. Population dynamics – exponential vs.
logistic growth
b. Carrying capacity and limiting factors
c. Population structure –
age, gender,
survivorship
d. Population genetics and genetic diversity |
| 6. Community ecology |
a.
Species interactions – resource
competition, predation,
symbiosis
b. Competitive exclusion principle
c. Niche partitioning and keystone species
d. Species biodiversity
e. Ecological succession – primary vs.
secondary
f. Disturbance |
| 7. Ecosystem ecology |
a.
Matter/Biogeochemical cycles
(biotic/abiotic) – water,
carbon, nitrogen,
phosphorous, sulfur
b. Energy flow – trophic levels, food
pyramids, food webs
c. Thermodynamics – 1st law (conservation
of energy) and 2nd law
(entropy)
d. Biomes – environmental factors influencing
distribution
e. Value of ecosystem services |
| 8.
Biosphere ecology |
a. Global energy flow – solar input,
ocean
currents, air mass circulation
b. Global matter cycling – global
biogeochemical cycles
c. Global biodiversity – species distribution
and abundance
d. Plate tectonics – theory of continental drift
e. Global environmental issues – extinction
crisis, climate
change, etc. |
|
RESOURCES
| Commoner's laws of ecology - Everything is connected
to everything else |
| |
Brother Eagle, Sister Sky (children's book)
Source: Susan Jeffers, author
Book: $14.03 from
Amazon.com
Borrow from
WCEE EE Resources Library
This book presents an adapted
version of the speech given by Chief Seattle in the 1850s.
Although there is controversy over the wording of the original
speech and even the identity of the actual speaker, this book
presents powerful quotes related to the idea of the
interconnections in the web of life. It works well as an
introduction activity or students can take quotes from the book
and rewrite them in their own words. |
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