C Simpson [ASC 2011] FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet

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1 FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet

FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet Topic: Populations and Ecosystems The course explores ecosystems as the largest organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by its physical environment

Students raise populations of organisms to discover population dynamics and interactions over a range of conditions.

Reproduction, including limiting factors, heredity and natural selection are explored as ways to understand both the similarity and the variation within and between species. Go to http://www.fossweb.

2 FOSSWEB Independent Learning Activity Booklet Topic: Populations and Ecosystems The course explores ecosystems as the largest organizational unit of life on Earth, defined by its physical environment and the organisms that live in the physical environment. Students learn that every organism has a role to play in its ecosystem and has structures and behaviors that allow it to survive. Students raise populations of organisms to discover population dynamics and interactions over a range of conditions. They learn that food is the source of energy used by all life forms in all ecosystems to conduct life processes. Reproduction, including limiting factors, heredity and natural selection are explored as ways to understand both the similarity and the variation within and between species. Go to and click on Populations and Ecosystems Next click on Populations and Ecosystems multimedia You know you are on the right page when you come to the login page here: Fill out the information on the spaces provided: Teacher s Username: misssimpson Teacher s password: (*Please see Miss Conway) Your status: student From this page select Enter the program. Select the Continue button until you get to this page: Select Ecoregions from the main menu (it s the yellow buggy in the picture).

3 On the blank world map below, shade the following regions: Tropical rainforests, Taiga, Deciduous Forest, Grasslands, Desert, Coral Reefs, Freshwater lakes and rivers, Tundra, Wetlands, Temperate Ocean and Tropical ocean. Legend: Tropical rainforest Taiga Deciduous Forest Grasslands Desert Coral Reefs Freshwater Lakes & Rivers Tundra Wetlands Temperate Ocean Tropical Ocean Next you need to double-click on Tropical Rainforest to learn some more detailed information. Q1. Tropical rainforests contain up to how many species of animal? Q2. Rain forests cover what percentage of the Earth s surface? Q3. Where are one third of the world s rain forests found? Q4. Many tropical rainforests lie near the equator. How does this affect the length of the days? Q5. Describe the climate of tropical rainforests Q6. What is the average rainfall in most forests? Q7. Why are rivers in a rainforest so important?

Q8. What is the difference between the hottest and coldest months of the year in a tropical rainforest? Q9. What percentage of the rainforest is trees? Q10.

4 Q8. What is the difference between the hottest and coldest months of the year in a tropical rainforest? Q9. What percentage of the rainforest is trees? Q10. What specific layer of trees forms the canopy? Q11. What are epiphytes? (Give three examples) Q12. Name five animals that live in the canopy layer of the rainforest Q13. Where do the tall trees, or emergent s exist in relation to the canopy? Q14. Name five animals that live in the emergent layer of the rainforest Q15. Where does the understory layer exist in relation to the canopy on the rainforest? Q16. Name five animals that make the understory their home Q17. Why don t many plants grow on the forest floor? Q18. Why can decay be considered a good (or beneficial) thing in a rainforest? Q19. Name five animals that make the forest floor their home Activity 20: On the diagram below, label the different layers of the rainforest.

Q21. Complete this sentence: About of all come from the rain forest plants. Q22. How many hectares of rainforest are destroyed every minute somewhere in the world? Q23.

5 Q21. Complete this sentence: About of all come from the rain forest plants. Q22. How many hectares of rainforest are destroyed every minute somewhere in the world? Q23. What is one benefit of ecotourism? Q24. Explain how high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere can be both a positive thing and a negative thing. Colour and complete:

6 Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Deciduous Forest Q25. What does deciduous mean? Q26. What is the average annual temperature in a temperate deciduous forest? Q27. How cold can it get during winter? Q28. How hot can it be in summer? Q29. What is the annual rainfall? Q30. Name three species of tree that grow in this region? Q31. When deciduous tress shed their leaves, they fall to the forest floor. Explain how this helps other animals to survive. Q32. Explain why the colours of the leaves change in autumn. Q33. How many hectares of deciduous forest disappear each year? Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Grasslands Q34. What percentage of the earth surface is covered by grassland? Q35. Where are most grasslands found? Q36. Temperate grasslands are known by many different names around the world. Give five examples of alternate names for temperate grasslands. Q37. What is a savannah? Q38. How hot can the summers be? Q39. How cold can the winters be? Q40. How much rain (precipitation) falls each year in this region? Q41. Describe what the roots of the savannah grasses are like

7 Q42. The ground squirrel has developed a unique way of surviving the harsh conditions in the temperate grassland. What is it and describe specifically how this helps the ground squirrel to survive. Q43. How do gophers survive? Q44. Why do only a few natural grassland regions remain? Activity 45: Complete the word search below.

Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Desert Q46. How do scientists define a region as a desert? Q47.

Complete this table: Ten Largest Deserts in the World Desert Location Type Square Kilometres Square Miles Antarctic Antarctica Polar 13,985,000 5,400,000 North Africa 9,065,000 Arabian Gobi China,

8 Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Desert Q46. How do scientists define a region as a desert? Q47. How much of the earth s land surface is desert? Q48. Can deserts be cold? (Explain your answer). Q49. What is the name of the world s largest single desert? Activity 50. Complete this table: Ten Largest Deserts in the World Desert Location Type Square Kilometres Square Miles Antarctic Antarctica Polar 13,985,000 5,400,000 North Africa 9,065,000 Arabian Gobi China, Mongolia 1,000,000 Patagonian Cold winter Australia 250,000 Kalahari Southern Africa Great Basin Cold winter 190,000 Chihuahuan 453,000 Subtropical 175,000 Activity 51. The diagram below represents a phenomenon called Rain Shadow. Read the explanation on the website and then label to diagram to explain how this occurs.

9 Q52. How high can temperatures get in a hot desert? Q53. At night how low can the temperature drop? Q54. Give three examples of hot deserts Q55. What is the average winter temperature of a cold desert? Q56. What is the average summer temperature? Q57. Give three examples of cold deserts Q58. How do sand dunes form? Q59. Complete the following sentence: Plants grow apart in deserts. Their root systems often spread over a area. This allows them to gather and without from other plants. Q60. Why are there very few mammals that live in the desert? Q61. How are grazing livestock a threat to deserts? Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Coral Reefs Q62. Complete the sentence: Coral reefs are built from the carbonate-based of a variety of and. Q63. The Indian Ocean holds what percentage of the world s coastal coral reefs? Q64. What are the three main types of reefs? Q65. What is a barrier reef? Why is it called this? Q66. What is another name for a channel? Q67. What is an atoll? Q68. What is the temperature range needed for coral reef communities to develop?

10 Q69. Why does the water for a coral reef need to be shallow? Q70. Why is the water around coral reefs a blue/green colour? Q71. Corals are related to which two organisms? Q72. Explain briefly how coral reefs form Q73. Name six different animals that live in a coral reef Q74. Describe three major threats to coral reef ecosystems Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Polar Icecap Q75. The ice layer on Antarctica has an average thickness of? Q76. Antarctica contains what percentage of the Earth s total ice? Q77. Name three different organisms that can live in this harsh environment Q78. How are insects able to survive in the soil? Q79. What is the Antarctic Treaty? Q80. How many countries signed it and when? Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Tundra Q81. What are the two types of tundra in the world? Q82. Where does arctic tundra exist? Q83. Where is alpine tundra found? Q84. Why cant trees grow in the tundra?

11 Q85. What is permafrost? Q86. What does the word tundra mean? Q87. How low can temperatures become during the arctic winter? Q88. What is the average annual temperature? Q89. How much precipitation does the arctic tundra receive each year? Q90. Why do Naturalists in the alpine tundra call the tundra flowers belly flowers? Q91. Explain why some plants have dark red leaves Q92. Name six animals that make the tundra their home Q93. Why do some animals hibernate during the winter months? Q94. How can global warming affect the tundra ecosystem? Scroll back up and from the left hand side of the screen select Ecoregion Map Double-click on Wetlands Q95.What are wetlands? Q96. Give three reasons why wetlands are such an important biome? Q97. Provide a brief description of the following: Swamps: Bogs: Vernal pools: Salt marshes: Q98. Name six different animals that make this biome their home Q99. What process allows plants to add oxygen to the water?

Close out of this window and go back to the main menu page From here select the cage that says WalkingStick Predation. From the smaller menu select Eat Insects.

12 Close out of this window and go back to the main menu page From here select the cage that says WalkingStick Predation. From the smaller menu select Eat Insects. Choose 30 seconds to eat insects When the time is up, check your results and complete the table below: Eaten Brown Green-brown Green Survived Try the activity again and see if you can improve your results. Complete the table below with you new results. Eaten Brown Green-brown Green Survived Q1. Explain your results after your second attempt. Did you improve? Why do you think this is so?

13 Close out the window and go back to the main menu. From there click on WalkingStick Predation and select the second option from the smaller menu called Find Insects in Three Environments Choose 30 seconds to eat insects Select the Woodchips environment. When your time is up click on results and fill out the table below: Starting population 1 Brown Green-Brown Green Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived Press the continue button at the bottom of the screen and then next generation to have another go. Keep on filling in your table as you complete each trial. Q2. Analysis: Did you results improve with each new generation? Why/ Why not? (Explain your answer) Next select the Bamboo environment and fill out the table below: Starting population 1 Brown Green-Brown Green Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived Initial Eaten Survived

14 Q3. Have a look at your results tables. Which environment allowed more Brown insects to survive? Q4. Why do you think this is so? Q5. Which environment allowed more Green insects to survive? Q6. Why do you think this is so? Press the close button to close the window. Go back to the main menu to select Larkeys. From here watch the Larkey Breeding Video When the video is finished go back to the main menu and select Larkeys. From here select the second option from the smaller menu titled Offspring Genotype and Phenotype Some important Information about genetics! How an individual looks and what their genetic code is sometimes do not match up. This is the difference between genotype and phenotype. The genotype is the actual genetic make up of an individual. The phenotype is what that individual looks like. Traits that show up more often are called dominant traits. Traits that show up less often are called recessive traits. Each trait is represented by two genes (capital letters showing the gene is dominant, lower case letters representing recessive). You only need one dominant gene in the pair to make the trait dominant. In this activity the traits are: Appendage, Eye, Fur and Tail For example: Eye Colour EE (the trait is dominant and the colour is RED) ee (the trait is recessive and the colour is GREY) Ee (the trait is dominant but the animal is a genetic hybrid or mix, the eye colour would still be RED)

15 Click on Genetics Key at the bottom of the page. Q7. Determine what the animal will look like by filling out the tables below: Fur Pattern Genotype Phenotype FF Ff ff Genotype TT Tt tt Tail Shape Phenotype Appendages Genotype Phenotype AA Aa aa The combination of genetic information from each parent is determined by using punnet squares. A punnet square is a diagram that can predict the outcome of a breeding experiment. For example if we wanted to determine what type of appendages the offspring of two Larkeys could have, we can place this information in the punnet square to find out. Father s genotype: AA (short) Mother s genotype: Aa (short) Mother s genotype here A a Father s genotype here A A

Now you can look at the possible genotypes of the offspring.

16 In the top left hand square, you place one gene directly above the box (from the mother) and one gene directly to the left of the box (from the father). AA In the top right hand square you pace the gene directly above and the gene directly to the left. AA aa Continue this process until all the squares are filled. Now you can look at the possible genotypes of the offspring. If this mother and father Larkey have a baby what is the chance (out of 4) that the baby will be: AA What is it s phenotype (what would it look like)? Aa What is it s phenotype (what would it look like)? aa What is it s phenotype (what would it look like)? Now that you understand a bit more about genetics. Push the breed em button and you should have this screen pop up: This is the mother s genetic information This is the father s info

Q8. Complete the following table Feature Appendage Genotype (1 gene from mum and 1 gene from dad) Phenotype Eye Fur Tail Q9. In the box below, draw a picture of what this baby Larkey looks like. Q10.

17 Q8. Complete the following table Feature Appendage Genotype (1 gene from mum and 1 gene from dad) Phenotype Eye Fur Tail Q9. In the box below, draw a picture of what this baby Larkey looks like. Q10. Continue to work through the five examples. When you have finished look at your results. How many breeding activities did you get correct? Congratulations! You have now finished the online component of Populations and Ecosystems. Please complete the following two activities below. Activity 1: Use the information you have collected about rainfall from all the different ecosystems and create a graph comparing each system. Use the grid on the following page to create your graph.

19 Activity 2: Select an ecosystem that you found interesting or would like to know more about and create a podcast about that ecosystem. In your podcast include information about: A) Where it is located, B) Climate, C) The average rainfall it receives each year, D) Select three plants that exist in your ecosystem and describe two adaptations for each plant that helps it to survive in the ecosystem. E) Also include information about five animals that live in this ecosystem and explain two (or more) adaptations that each animal has which allows it to survive in this environment. F) Include a food chain that would exist in this particular ecosystem. You must identify the primary producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers (optional) and the decomposers. Some resources to help you: Go to the life and living page and select Feeding Relationships to learn about food chains. Go to the life and living page and select Adaptations to learn about animal adaptations. Other websites that could be helpful: END OF INDEPENDENT LEARNING ACTIVITY

The following statements will be changed into TRUE/FALSE Questions. STUDY! (Hi-light important info)

The following statements will be changed into TRUE/FALSE Questions. STUDY! (Hi-light important info) BIOME STUDY GUIDE!!!! ~There will be a map on your Biome Exam! ~ You will also need to know and understand the zones of the marine and freshwater biomes. ~FYI- I will collect your Biome Suitcases on WEDNESDAY