Ecology: The Study of Living Things and their Environment

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Ecology The Study of Living Things and their
Environment
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Organisms

• An organism is a living thing that can carry out
  all necessary functions of life.
• Organisms can be complex, like humans or they
  can be simple and only made of one cell, like
  bacteria.
• Organisms have specific reactions to changes in
  their environment.

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Habitat

• The place where an organism lives is called its
  habitat.
• A habitat provides food, shelter, and the other
  resources an organism needs to survive.
• Why do lions, pigeons, and mushrooms live in
  different habitats?
• Why do lions, zebras, and elephants live in the
  same habitat?

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Population

• A population is a group of organisms of the same
  type, or species, living together in the same
  area.
• All the redwood trees in a forest form a
  population.
• All the trout in a lake form another population.

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Community

• A community consists of all the different
  organisms that live in a specific area.
• Members of a community interact with each other.
• In a lake, the fish, frogs, grass, water lilies,
  bacteria, and algea all create a community.

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Ecosystem

• An ecosystem consists of all the communities in a
  specific area.
• An ecosystem also consists of both living and
  non-living things in the area.
• In an ocean ecosystem we consider the plants and
  animals, the water, the soil, and the sunlight.

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Environmental Health

• When talking about environmental health we have
  to look at organisms, habitats, populations,
  communities, and ecosystems.
• How do you know if your environment is healthy?

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Factors to Consider for Environmental Health

• Pollution
• Biological Diversity
• Natural Disasters
• Poor Human Practices

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Pollution

• Pollution is the release into the environment of
  substances that change the environment for the
  worse.
• Pollution is a natural byproduct of human
  activity, however there are ways to decrease the
  amount of pollution released into our
  environment.