The Task
In this project we were given the task to research a biome and see how humans impact that ecosystem. Our group researched the ocean and beach ecosystem. Our goal was to inform people about the amount of trash in these areas and the damage of these ecosystems due to houses, public beaches, and etc. Our work was creating a slide that provides lots of facts about the organisms that live here and creating an instagram that spread awareness.
Content:
-Abiotic- all the non living parts of an ecosystem. The living things in the environment rely on them to survive. Some examples are water, rocks, the atmosphere, and many other things.
-Carrying Capacity- The amount of organisms living in an area that allows that ecosystem to survive and sustain. The carrying capacity of some ecosystems are being changed due to all the human impacts like pollution.
-Biotic- all the living parts of an ecosystem. This is any organism that is alive. Some examples are trees or birds but it can be any plant or animal in an ecosystem.
-Abiotic- all the non living parts of an ecosystem. The living things in the environment rely on them to survive. Some examples are water, rocks, the atmosphere, and many other things.
-Carbon Cycle- This cycle goes through photosynthesis and cellular respiration. Plants release CO2 into the air and cellular respiration takes it back in. Also when organisms die, they decompose and turn into fossil fuels that we burn back into the air.
-Nitrogen Cycle- Most nitrogen in the atmosphere is in the form that we can't use so it goes into the ground and then into the plants through bacteria. This allows us to get nitrogen in a way that we can use. Once the animals die they are decomposed and the nitrogen is released back into the ground and air.
-Symbiosis- The relationships between organisms in an ecosystem. Such as mutualism, predidation, commensalism, and competition.
-Mutualism- a relationship where both the organisms benefit from eachother
-Predidation- a relationship where one organism eats an animal lower on the food chain
-Commensalism- a relationship where one organism benefits while the other isn't harmed
-Competition- a relationship where both organisms fight for the same food
-Biomass- the mass of all the organisms in an environment without water. Any living organism in an area like trees or an animal without the water.
-Food web- a way to show the energy flow throughout the ecosystem. The arrows show the movement of energy. Only 10% of the energy is passed from organism to organism. The remaining energy is used for surviving purposes by that animal like getting food or growing. The Energy starts from the sun and then plants take it in during photosynthesis. The plants are eaten and the energy is passed on.
-Limiting Factors- Factors that can limit or decrease the population. There are dependent and independent factors that can control the population size. Dependent means that the factors will only be a problem once the population is too big (like not enough space or resources). Independent means that the factors could happen at anytime no matter what the population size is (like natural disasters).
-Biodiversity- all of the different organisms living together on Earth. We all came from a common ancestor and we have all evolved to fit our certain lifestyles. The different traits that organisms have formed help others in some way.
Our Slideshow
Our Instagram
Reflection
I really liked this project. It was fun to learn about biomes and the organisms inside of them. This topic was very intriguing because it had a prevalent topic of problems in the world. Our group worked really well together and we only had one small bump in the road. One of our group members left towards the end of the project. That was a small bump in the road and it wasn’t too big of a deal. All of my group members split the work up evenly and did it all. Overall this project was a fun project to remember and it taught me a lot about ecosystems and how to preserve the world.