Bottle Ecology: An Aquatic Ecosystem Part I.

Name______

Date______

Period_____

Introduction: Ecosystems include all of the organisms as well as the climate, soil, water, rocks, and other nonliving things in an area. The stability and balance of an ecosystem is dependent on the interaction between the biotic and abiotic factors.

Standard(s):

·  BI 6.e-Students know a vital part of an ecosystem is the stability of its producers and decomposers.

·  BI.6.f-Students know at each link in a food web some energy is stored in newly made structures but much energy is dissipated into the environment as heat. The dissipation may be represented in an energy pyramid.

Learning Objective (s):

SWBAT…

·  Explain the role of biodiversity in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem.

·  Demonstrate how energy is transferred and lost in an ecosystem.

·  Explain the various roles of organisms in maintaining the stability of an ecosystem.

·  Understand the interaction between living and nonliving factors in an ecosystem.

Materials:

·  Gravel (abiotic)

·  Spring water (abiotic)

·  2 liter soda (pop) bottle

·  Ghost shrimp-eat dead or decaying matter

·  Guppies-eat anacharis (water plant)

·  Anacharis-water plant (uses sun’s energy and other nonliving resources)

·  Brown snails-eats anacharis, algae, microorganisms

·  African Dwarf frogs-eat guppies and ghost shrimp

Problem: What is the impact of abiotic factors on the stability of an ecosystem?

Independent Variable: (abiotic factor being manipulated)-

Dependent Variable: (biotic factors)-

Constants:

Hypothesis: (Use if…then statement):

Bottle Ecosystem Roles: Examine the information in the materials section and list each organism and its role in the ecosystem (producers, herbivore, carnivores, omnivores, detritivores)

Organism / Role in Ecosystem

Observations: You will collect at least one qualitative (descriptive) and quantitative (numbers) observations each day until 3/24-3/25.

Observation 1 (Initial Observations):
Date:_3/8______ / Observation 2:
Date:______ / Observation 3:
Date:______ / Observation 4:
Date:______ / Observation 5:
Date:______
Quantitative:
·  1 frog
·  1 fish
·  1 ghost shrimp
·  1 anacharis plant
·  1 small brown snail / Quantitative: / Quantitative: / Quantitative: / Quantitative:
Qualitative:
·  All animals healthy and alive
·  Water clear / Qualitative: / Qualitative: / Qualitative: / Qualitative:
Observation 6:
Date:______ / Observation 7:
Date:______ / Observation 8:
Date:______ / Observation 9:
Date:______ / Observation 10:
Date:______
Quantitative: / Quantitative: / Quantitative: / Quantitative: / Quantitative:
Qualitative: / Qualitative: / Qualitative: / Qualitative: / Qualitative:

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