Ecology Webquest

Ecology Webquest

Process

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Part I: Ecosystems and Nutrient Cycling

Your first assignment is to put together a simple food chain and answer the

questions below.

I. FOOD CHAINS

(1) Go to http://www.ecokidsonline.com/pub/eco_info/topics/

frogs/chain_reaction/index.cfm and click on “play the game” to begin.

Answer the questions below:

1. A person is called a _____________________________________ because they
eat meat & vegetables.

2.    Food gives people and animals __________________________________.

3.    ________________________ are animals that only eat meat.

4.    ________________________ are animals that only eat plants.

(2) Choose the Forest Food Chain.

1. What animals were in your food chain? Place them in the correct order.

2. What 5 things happen if you take the frog out of the food chain?

II. FOOD WEBS

(1) Go to http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/food/food_menu.html

and choose one of the three food webs. Put the food web together!

Consumers – are living things that need producers to be their food (animals and people)

Producers – living things which take the non living matter from the environment (plants)

Decomposers – living things which feed off of dead plants and animals (bacteria, fungi)

(2) Using the information in the table above answer the following questions about your food

web:

Name a consumer in your food web ____________________________________

Name a producer in your food web _____________________________________

Name a decomposer in your food web ___________________________________

III. NUTRIENT CYCLING

A. Carbon Cycle

(1) Go to http://epa.gov/climatechange/kids/carbon_cycle_version2.html Click and complete scene 1.

(2) Name 2 places on the earth we find carbon:

1. __________________________ 2. ________________________________

(3) Go to http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Water/co2_cycle.html, read about the carbon cycle and fill in the blanks below:

Plants pull carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide) from the atmosphere to make food, through
a process called ____________________.

Through food chains animals get ____________ from the plants and other animals they eat.

When plants and animals die and ____________, carbon goes back into the ground.

Some carbon is buried deep in the ground and forms _________________ ___________.

When humans burn fossil fuels, ________________ is released back into the atmosphere.

When humans and animals exhale, they release carbon back into the air by a process called
______________________________.

B. Nitrogen Cycle

Go to the website http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/earth/Life/nitrogen_cycle.html&edu=mid and answer the questions below:

1. What are 2 ways nitrogen becomes useable toplants, humans and animals:

________________________________

2. How do herbivores obtain the nitrogen they need? _____________

3. How is nitrogen returned to the atmosphere? ________________

4. What are two ways humans impact the nitrogencycle:

1.__________________________________________________________________________________

2.__________________________________________________________________________________

IV. POPULATION

Go to http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_population.html and answer the following questions:

1. What is population ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

2. Two things that increase a population

a. ______________________________ b. ____________________________

3. Two things that decrease a population:

a. _______________________________ b. ____________________________

V. BIODIVERSITY

Go to http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/issues/biodiversity/ and answer the following questions

1. What is biodiversity ___________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

2. What is the estimated number of species existing on earth today_____________________

3. How many species have been named(a) and why may this number actually be too high(b)

a. _______________ b. ____________________________________________

4. What is a species_____________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

5. What are the five main pressures on biodiversity

________________________________

6. Describe three of the reasons that biodiversity is important

__________________________________________________________________

BIOINFOMATICS

Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/About and answer the following questions

Click on Primer, then Bioinfomatics.

1. What is bioinfomatics____________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

Click on Databases and Tools, then ENTREZ, then Genome Project

2. There are two prokaryotic kingdoms: Archae and Bacteria (Eubacteria). List the four Eukaryotic kingdoms

________________________________

Click on mammals and write out four scientific names (Genues species) and the associated common names

___________________________________________________________________

Part II: Impact of Human Activity on Ecosystems

Choose and read about one of many impacts that humans have on ecosystems from the list below:

Impact of Human Activity on Ecosystems
Deforestation	Human Soil Erosion
Extinction of Species	Fires
Pollution	Greenhouse Effect

List two facts you learned about the impact you chose:

1. _______________________________________________________

2. _______________________________________________________

Part III: Biomes Around the World

(1) Go to http://mbgnet.mobot.org/ and answer the following questions.

(2) What are the 6 Biomes of the World? ___________,

_______, ___________, ______________, ___________, ___________.

(3) What are the 3 Freshwater Ecosystems and the 3 Marine Ecosystems?

a. Freshwater =

b. Marine =

(4) Click on one of the six biomes. Choose one topic from the left column.

Write 3 sentences describing the information in this topic. Do not copy word for word!

Congratulations, ecologists!

Now click the Green Evaluation Button Below to Continue

Adapted from http://twinsburg.k12.oh.us/schools/Dodge/Ecology%20Webquest/ecology_webquest_task.htm