Ecology

1
Ecology

• Fourth Grade Science

2
4.2.1 Select plants animals found in a specific
environment

• An organisms ENVIRONMENT is all the things
  around it.

3
4.2.1 Select plants animals found in a specific
environment

• An ECOSYSTEM is all the living and nonliving
  things in a certain area.

4
4.2.1 Select plants animals found in a specific
environment

• A HABITAT is the place an organism lives.

5
4.2.1 Select plants animals found in a specific
environment

• A COMMUNITY is all the living things found in an
  area.

6
4.2.1 Select plants animals found in a specific
environment

• BIOMES of the world
• rainforest
• tundra
• taiga
• desert
• temperate
• grasslands

7
Rainfall in the Biomes
8
RAINFOREST

• two kinds of rainforests temperate(found
  along the coast in the temperate zone)
  tropical(found near the
  equator)
• most trees flare at the base
• tall, green, dense vegetation
• rich in plant animal species
• regular rainfall

9
RAINFOREST
10
RAINFOREST PLANTS

• bamboo
• bananas
• sugar cane
• nutmeg
• cacao
• rubber
• vanilla
• mangrove

11
RAINFOREST ANIMALS

• bearded pig
• tapir
• chimpanzee
• gorilla
• cobra
• orangutan
• vine snake

12
TUNDRA

• found at the North Pole
• uniform in appearance
• covers a fifth of the earths surface
• has permafrost, a permanently frozen layer of
  ground
• less than 10 inches of precipitation a year

13
TUNDRA
14
TUNDRA PLANTS

• small shrubs
• lichens(fungus and an algae living and growing
  together on the surface of rocks)
• dark red leaves (allow the plant to absorb more
  heat from the sun in the cold tundra climate)
• cushion plants(grow in a low, tight clump and
  look like a little cushion)
• cotton grass

15
TUNDRA ANIMALS

• BIRDS
• gyrfalcon
• snow bunting
• snowy owl
• tundra swan

• MAMMALS
• arctic fox
• caribou
• musk ox
• polar bear
• sled dogs

16
TIAGA

• stretches across a large portion of Canada,
  Europe and Asia
• it is the largest biome
• winters are cold
• summers are warm
• lots of conifers(evergreens with needles) grow
  here

17
TIAGA
18
TIAGA

• During the summer months, the taiga fills up with
  millions of insects.
• Birds, who eat insects, migrate every year for
  the plentiful food supply.
• The taiga is prone to wildfires. Many trees have
  adapted to this by growing thick bark, which can
  protect a tree from a mild fire.

19
TIAGA PLANTS

• evergreen trees(spruce, hemlock fir)
• a few broad leaf trees in the taiga(birch,
  poplar, and aspen)

20
TIAGA ANIMALS

• BIRDS
• waxwing(bird)
• hawk owl
• red throated loon

• MAMMALS
• beaver
• squirrel
• lynx
• moose
• snowshoe rabbit
• wolverine

21
DESERT

• extreme heat
• extreme dryness
• sudden flash floods
• cold nights
• very harsh environment
• two kinds of deserts
• hot cold

22
DESERT
23
DESERT PLANTS

• Cactus
• Desert Spoon
• Dragon Tree
• aloe plant
• Joshua Tree
• Yucca

24
DESERT ANIMALS

• Cactus wren(bird)
• dingo
• fat sand rat
• fennec fox
• gila monster
• vulture
• sidewinder(snake)

25
TEMPERATETemperate Deciduous Forest

• has four seasons of winter, spring, summer,
  fall
• deciduous means change color in autumn, fall off
  in the winter, and grow back again in the spring
• as the seasons change, so do the colors of the
  leaves of the deciduous trees.

26
TEMPERATETemperate Deciduous Forest
27
TEMPERATETemperate Deciduous Forest

• The reasons for the seasons
• The four seasons happen because of the tilt of
  the Earth's axis.
• At different times of the year, the sun's rays
  hit different parts of the globe more directly.

28
TEMPERATE PLANTSTemperate Deciduous Forest

• Lets make a leaf collection!
• find 10 different leaves
• press them in a book
• mount them into a booklet
• identify label each leaf
• extra leaves extra credit

29
TEMPERATE ANIMALSTemperate Deciduous Forest

• BIRDS
• cardinal
• turkey
• quail
• dove

• MAMMALS
• black bear
• gray squirrel
• raccoon
• white-tailed deer
• wild boar

30
GRASSLANDS

• Grasslands are big open spaces.
• There are not many bushes in the grassland.
• Trees are found only by rivers and streams.
• The grassland seems like an endless ocean of
  grass.
• Grasslands are often located between deserts and
  forests.

31
GRASSLANDS

• 3 types of North American grasslands
• tall grass
• mixed grass
• short grass

32
GRASSLANDS
33
GRASSLAND PLANTS

• sweet coneflower
• purple coneflower
• milkweed plant
• stinging nettle
• poison ivy
• silver maple tree

34
GRASSLAND ANIMALS

• African elephant
• bison
• giraffe
• lion
• ostrich
• prairie dog
• warthog

35
Freshwater Ecosystems

• The water cycle is very important to fresh water
  ecosystems.

36
Water Cycle
37
Water Cycle

• Lets take a closer look at the WATER CYCLE
• http//www.mbgnet.net/fresh/index.htm

38
RIVERS STREAMS

• A watershed describes an area of land that
  contains a common set of streams and rivers that
  all drain into a single larger body of water,
  such as a larger river, a lake or an ocean.

39
RIVERS STREAMS

• Lets learn more about critters that live in a
  river or stream
• http//www.mbgnet.net/fresh/rivers/index.htm

40
PONDS LAKES

• A lake is a large body of fresh water.
• Lakes can range in size from small ponds to huge
  bodies of water such the Great Lakes in the U.S.

41
PONDS LAKES

• Lakes and rivers are closely tied
• Some lakes are the source for some rivers.
• Important rivers, most often, originate from
  lakes.
• Some rivers end in lakes.

42
PONDS LAKES

• A pond is a body of water shallow enough to
  support rooted plants.
• A lake is bigger than a pond, and is too deep to
  support rooted plants except near the shore.

43
PONDS LAKES

• What kinds of animals live at ponds lakes?
• http//www.mbgnet.net/fresh/lakes/index.htm

44
WETLANDS

• The term "wetlands" encompasses a wide variety of
  aquatic habitats including swamps, marshes,
  bogs, prairie potholes, flood plains, and fen.

45
WETLANDS

• Wetlands are important because
• prevent flooding
• provide food for fish
• control erosion
• clean the water
• recycle nutrients

46
Marine Ecosystems

• Marine Ecosystems include
• shorelines
• temperate oceans
• tropical oceans

47
SHORELINES

• Shorelines are where oceans and seas meet land.
• The change is abrupt and sudden.
• A sandy beach is made up of minute grains of sand
  or crushed shells and rock.

48
SHORELINES

• Life in a tide pool
• Different kinds of plant and animal life can be
  found in tide pools.
• All organisms that live in tide pools must be
  able to withstand extreme fluctuations in
  conditions.
• Animals include sea stars, sea urchins, sea
  cucumbers, barnacles, and anenomes.

49
SHORELINES

• An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water
  where incoming seawater is mixed with fresh water
  coming from the land.
• Examples of estuaries include bays, sounds, salt
  marshes, mangrove forests, mud flats, swamps,
  inlets, and sloughs.

50
SHORELINES

• Tides are the vertical rising and lowering of sea
  level.
• Tides are greatly controlled by the gravitational
  pull of the sun and moon.

51
Waves

• Waves are actually energy.
• Wind causes waves that travel in the ocean.
• The energy is released on shorelines.

52
Parts of a Wave
53
Shoreline Animals

• Eel
• Seal lion
• Harbor seal
• Kingfisher

54
TEMPERATE OCEANS

• Oceans cover 75 of the earth.
• There are 5 oceans
• Pacific
• Atlantic
• Arctic
• Indian
• Southern

55
TEMPERATE OCEAN Animals

• Atlantic salmon
• Spiny Eel
• Lanternfish
• Emperor penguin
• Gray whale
• Sponge

• Lobster
• Crab
• Shrimp
• Barnacles
• Jellyfish
• Sea star

56
TROPICAL OCEANS

• Tropical oceans are home to beautiful and fragile
  coral reefs.
• World wide, coral reefs cover 600,000 square
  miles and are home to over 500,000 species!

57
What is a coral reef?

• A reef is a coral community consisting of several
  thousand organisms living together.
• The reef is very much alive.
• Reefs grow very slowly over time.
• In fact, an inch of coral reef takes nearly 100
  years to grow!

58
Threats to Coral Reefs

• humans
• runoff water
• sewage
• fertilizers
• pollution

59
TROPICAL OCEANSAnimals

• blue marlin
• barracuda
• stone fish
• lobsters
• crab
• shrimp
• sea star

• squid
• octopus
• sponges

60
4.2.2 Recognize how plants animals interact
with each other in their environment

• Lets play a game
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_
  11/interdependence.shtml

61
FOOD CHAIN

• A FOOD CHAIN is a series of organisms that get
  food from one another.

62
FOOD CHAIN

• The producers are eaten by consumers.
• PREY are eaten by larger consumers
• Animals that eat other animals are called
  PREDATORS.

63
4.2.3 Identify ways that organisms affect their
environment

• A series of connected food chains is a FOOD WEB.
• A change in one part of the food web can affect
  all the living things in it.

64
4.5.1 Match a plant or animal adaptation to a
particular environmental condition

• All animals have adaptations that fit their
  environments.
• An adaptation is a part of an animal's body or
  way that an animal behaves that helps it survive.
  
• Examples camouflage, wings, claws, migration,
  hibernation

65
Adaptations

• Lets see the different kinds of
• adaptations a polar bear has
• http//hometown.aol.com/cre82/page2.html

66
Adaptations

• Lets take a look at some more adaptations
• http//www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr
  /physical.html

67
Adaptations

• Here are some adaptations of flamingos
• http//www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Flamingos/fadap
  t.html

68
4.5.2 Compare contrast groups of organisms
according to their major characteristics

• Lets see if we can group animals in this game
• http//www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_
  7/variation.shtml

69
Classifying Plants

• Vascular plants have tissues that transport food
  water through the plant.
• Nonvascular plants do not have these tissues.

70
Classifying Animals

• A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone.
• An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone.
• Kinds of vertebrates
• mammals
• fish
• amphibians
• reptiles
• birds

71
4.5.3 Match the form of structures found in
living things to its function