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Module 1

This document provides an overview of Earth's ecology and ecosystems over three lessons. It discusses how organisms interact in communities and ecosystems. The first lesson defines key terms like ecology, ecosystem, biotic and abiotic factors. It explains the components of an ecosystem like producers, consumers, decomposers and energy flow. Species are introduced along with their natural habitats and niches. Experiments are described to understand the effects of sunlight on ecosystems. The objectives are to express understanding of human and ecosystem interactions and factors contributing to organism survival.
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
86 views

Module 1

This document provides an overview of Earth's ecology and ecosystems over three lessons. It discusses how organisms interact in communities and ecosystems. The first lesson defines key terms like ecology, ecosystem, biotic and abiotic factors. It explains the components of an ecosystem like producers, consumers, decomposers and energy flow. Species are introduced along with their natural habitats and niches. Experiments are described to understand the effects of sunlight on ecosystems. The objectives are to express understanding of human and ecosystem interactions and factors contributing to organism survival.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1

MODULE 1 3
EARTH’S ECOLOGY Weeks

Introduction
There are lot of questions that need to be answer about our ecosystem. One
question is on how does a particular species often deal with their habitat or other
organisms that surrounds them.
In this module, you will be made to study how organisms interact in the
communities and ecosystems and learn how to take part in the conservation of
these species and their habitats.
The interaction of these organisms creates fascination among scientists
specially ecologists who tries to attempt to discover and explain the importance of
a particular species in the environment.
This module consists of three lessons namely:
Lesson 1: Earth’s Ecosystem
Lesson 2: Energy in the Ecosystem
Lesson 3: Biogeochemical Cycle
You are expected to be in class as scheduled to discuss answers to practic-
es set, assigned topics for readings and discussions and activities.
For every activity always follow the steps of the scientific process.
For the exploratory activities, you are required to make a visual display or
presentation and clear verbal presentation. Make sure your presentation:
• Has a logical and coherent introduction, body and conclusion.
• Completed within the allocated time.

Module Objectives
At the end of this module, you will be able to:
1. Express understanding of the complex interactions of humans and
ecosystem in the world.
2. Enumerate the biotic and abiotic factors that contributes to the sur-
vival of an organisms.
2

Lesson 1

EARTH’S ECOSYSTEM
WEEK 3
HOURS
Lesson Outcomes 1

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:


1. Discuss the concepts, types and basic
structures of ecosystem.
2. Differentiate the biotic and abiotic factors
of the ecosystem.

Explore Form a hypothesis:

Why do plants and animals live in a certain places? How does the amount of
sunlight affect different organisms? Write your hypothesis in the form “If
plants and other photosynthetic organisms needs lot of sunlight, then……”
Test your hypothesis:
Materials
Experiment: Select areas to study. Chose one ar-
Spade or Trowel
ea that receives lots of sunlight and another area
4 small sticks
that receives only little sunlight. Mark of 2 x 2
meter plot in each area with sticks and strings. Measuring stick

Measure: Measure the air temperature at ground String


level and at 1 meter above ground level in each Thermometer
area.
Graph paper
Record Data: Using graph paper record the loca- Safety googles
tions of the living things in each area. What kind
Field guide
of organisms do you see?
(based on Wolftree Ecology Field Guide)
Draw Conclusion:
Compare your observations about the two areas. How do the temperature dif-
fer? Which area contains more living things? Make a statement about the ef-
fect of sunlight on the ecosystem.
3

Explore More
Make a prediction on how water in an ecosystem affects living things? How
have people affected the ecosystem?

Read and Learn

Ecology
- from the Greek Work “oikos” which mean “house”
- it is the study of houses or habitats or more broadly, of organisms and
their relationships to their environment (Wolftree Ecology Field Guide).
- Modern scientist defines it as the study of the structure and function of
nature.

Ecosystem
- ecosystem includes all the different organisms living in a certain area
along with their physical environment.
- “Eco” refers to environment, while “system” refers to a collection of related
parts that works as a whole.

Parts of the Ecosystem


- Abiotic or the non-living
• This term in-
cludes the
prefix “a”
which means
“not” or
“without”.
- Biotic or the living
• This term in-
cludes the
root tip “bio”,
which means
living.
4

General Characteristics of an Ecosystem (Smith)


1. The ecosystem is a major structural and functional unit of ecology.
2. The structure of an ecosystem is related to its species diversity.
3. The relative amount of energy required to maintain an ecosystem depends
on its structure.
4. The function of the ecosystem is related to energy flow in material cycling
through and within the system.
5. Ecosystems mature by passing from fewer complexes to more complex
states.
6. Both environment and the energy fixation in any given ecosystem are lim-
ited.
7. Alterations in the environment represent selective pressures upon the popu-
lation to which it must adjust.
Aspects of Ecosystem
1. Structural Aspect
a. Description of the arrangement
b. Types and numbers of species and their life histories
2. Functional Aspect
a. Flow of energy
b. Cycling of materials
Relationships among organisms
1. Effects
2. Competition
3. Neutralism
4. Protoco-operation and mutualism
Other kinds of Relationship
- Species may aggregate or separate or show random relationships to one
another.
5

Components of an Ecosystem
Major components of an ecosystem are:
- Solar Energy
- Producers (Plants)
- Consumers (of Plants, Insects, and Animals)
- Decomposers (Bacteria and Fungi)
- Nutrients (Important for growth—carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen,
minerals)

Figure 1: The Structure and Function of an Ecosystem

Posted by Keshav Jain in Ecology, Environment, General Knowledge .Oct. 2016. http://
myscienceschool.org/index.php?/archives/999-What-are-the-four-elements-of-an-ecosystem.html
6

Species and their Natural Habitat


Species
- the smallest unit of classification for
biological organisms.
Individuals
- species that are alike in structure
and functions. Individual of the same spe-
cies can breed with each other.
Habitat
- the place where an organism can
Bohol Tarsiers ( Tarsius
meet the need of specific conditions to sur-
Syrichta) measures 4 to 5 inch-
vive and reproduce. The structure of a habi-
es and is considered as the
tat describes the shape, size and placement
world’s smallest primate. Its
of abiotic and biotic features of an ecosys-
size is no longer than an adult
tem.
man’s hand and weigh only
about 113 to 142 grams or four
Levels of Ecological Organization to five ounces. The primate be-
longs to the more primitive sub
- it shows how organisms interact with
-order Prosimii or prosimian
each other and with their environments.
that dates back 45 million
- Population: all the individuals of a years.
single species inhabiting a certain area.
Bohol Philippines Travel Guide
Community: all the populations of different
https://www.bohol-
species that share an area.
philippines.com/tarsiers.html
-Ecosystem: community along with
the nonliving elements of the forest (like
soil, water, sunlight)
-Biome: ecosystems around the planet
with similar characteristics.
-Biosphere: all the biomes on Earth.
7

Figure 2: Levels of Ecological Organization


Picture taken from the PowerPoint presentation published by Todd Bailey. https://
slideplayer.com/slide/10947568/

Niches
- it is the way of life or the role a species pursues within its habitat.
- An organism’s niche is composed of both biotic and abiotic parts.
- Biotic factors that defines a niche are food sources and predators.
- Abiotic factors are the amount of sunlight and water.
- Within a niche, a species satisfies its basic needs in four specific catego-
ries:
 Food
 Water
 Shelter
 Reproduction
- An organism’s niche includes how much water it needs, what it eats,
where it lives, what it uses for shelter from enemies and the elements, when and
how it reproduces, how its young and such factors makes up its life.

QUICK CHECK!!!
What do you think will
happens when two spe-
cies try to share the same
niche in the same habi-
tat?
8

Ecological Disturbances
- A change in an ecosystem caused by an event that disrupts or changes all
or part of an ecosystem.
- It can have many effects on both the abiotic, non-living, and biotic living.
Ecosystem Change
- Its an event that cause disturbances that alter the structure and function
of ecosystems. This will cause changes with the species present in the ecosystem,
the size and stability of populations, and area where communities are located.
- Some organisms will thrive in a changed area, others will be displaced or
killed.
- When studying ecological disturbances consider the following:
 Type of disturbances
 Intensity or how severe the changes or destruction
 Frequency or how often it occurs
- The types, intensities, and frequencies of past disturbance events will pro-
vide information about why an ecosystem looks the way it does today.
- Evidences of Disturbances
 Charcoal in soil
 Jagged edged stumps
 Compacted soil
 Fresh sand or silt deposits
 Rounded rocks
 Single plant species in the forest
 Burn scars on trees
 Numerous snags
 Pole-sized trees bent over
 Group of dead or dying trees
 Debris in streamside vegetation
 Ash and pumice mixed in soil
 Even-aged trees
 Tree tops missing
9

Lesson Review
Name: Date:
Year & Section: Score:

THINK, TALK AND WRITE


Main Idea: What is difference between biotic and abiotic factors?
Test Practice:
1. Which of the following is an abiotic factor?
A. Plants B. Animals C. Sunlight D. People
2. A habitat is
A. A place to buy our needs
B. The same as an ecosystem
C. A particular are inhabited by organisms
D. Number of organisms living in a specific area
3. All the non-living factors in the ecosystems is referred as
A. The community C. Abiotic Factor
B. Biotic Factors D. Biomes
4. The physical location of an ecosystem in which a species lives.
A. Habitat B. Niche C. Biotic Zone D. Tropical level
5. Which of the following would be a biotic factor in an ecosystem?
A. Bacteria B. Soil C. Temperature D. Rainfall

EXPOSITORY WRITING
Research an endangered species (animal or plants) in or near the ecosys-
tem in which you live. What factors contribute to the extinction of this
species in your community.
10

Lesson 2

ENERGY IN THE ECOSYSTEM

WEEK 3
HOURS
Lesson Outcomes 2

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:


1. Make a thorough observations of how the
energy flows in the ecosystem.
2. Make contributions to the construction of
a food chain and a food web.

Explore How can you model a food chain?


Make a prediction
Materials
What would a food chain of 20 organisms look Top half of empty bottle
like? Would it be linear? Write your answer as a Yarn
prediction in the form of 20 animals were made
Construction Paper
into a food chain, then it would be like….
Hole Punch
Test your prediction
Scissor
1. Cut construction paper into 20 rectangles.
Write the names of the eight producers, six animals that eat the producers,
four animals that eat the plant eaters, and two animals that eat the ani-
mals that that eat the plant eaters. Make a hole in each rectangle.
2. Make a model. Cover the top of the soda bottle with construction paper.
This will be the sun. Punch eight holes around the rim. Attach a piece of
yarn to each of the eight producers. Attach the other ends to the soda bot-
tle. Using yarn, link each plant-eating animals to a producer. Continue by
linking the animals that eat the plant eaters to the plant-eating animals.
Only one animal may be attached to a food source.
Draw conclusion
3. Observe: How many levels are in your model? What happens to the number
11

of organisms in each level as you move away from the Sun?


4. Predict. What would happen to the number of plant eaters if a drought de-
stroyed the plants? What happens to the animal population?

Explore More
What changes might occur in an ecosystem into which the predators move?
Make a prediction and test it. Then analyze and present your results.

Read and Learn


Energy and matter are transformed from one organism to another in food
chains and food webs. In this lesson, we will survey aspects of energy flow and
material recycling within ecosystem.
Matter
- everything that takes up space
and has mass. With three
interchangeable physical forms or
phase: solid, liquid, gas.
- it is transformed and combined
in different ways, but it doesn’t
disappear

Energy
- It is the capacity to do
work, such as moving matter
over a distance. It can take
many forms like heat energy
and chemical energy.
12
Energy in the Living System
- Energy is the ability to do work, the first law of thermodynamics describes
behavior of energy and energy may be transformed from one type to another but
never created or destroyed. The energy that an organism uses for its work comes
from the breakdown of organic molecules within cells.

-
- Major Categories of the trophic level
a. Producers or Autotrophs—mainly green plants, photosynthetic or they
produce their own food from simple inorganic materials.
b. Consumers or Heterotrophs—these are animals and other organisms
like fungi and bacteria which cannot make their own foods directly
from simple inorganic materials they take in food that is already
formed by eating plants or other animals. If the organism consume
plants they are called herbivores or primary consumers. If they obtain
their food by eating other animals they are called carnivorous or sec-
ondary or tertiary consumers.
13

c. Decomposers– these are dead animal, plants and excretes their own food.
They break down dead organisms into simpler substances. Some of these sub-
stances are absorbed by the decomposers and others returned to the environ- ment.

QUICK CHECK!!!

How do the consum-


ers get the energy
they need to survive?

Various Types of Energy


a. Gross Energy Intake—this is the food that the animal eats and contain cer-
tain amount of stored energy.
b. Excretory Energy—the process of digestion and assimilation is not 100% ef-
ficient, other energy is lost in feces. The undigested, unassimilated and ex-
cretory fractions are lumped together and called excretory energy.
c. Existence Energy—energy remaining is essentially all the energy that the
animal has to perform all its work. This is the certain amount of energy re-
quired by the animal just for existence.
d. Productive Energy—the amount by which gross energy intake is greater that
existence plus excretory energy used for growing, mating, nest budding or
simply playing.

Food Chain, Food Webs, Trophic Structure and Ecological Pyramids


Food Chain
- the transfer of energy from plants through a series of organisms.
- in a food chain, producers absorb the Sun’s energy and pass it on to con-
sumers and decomposers.
- the path by which organisms travel may be short and simple or long or
complicated.
14

QUICK LAB……
1. Keep log of everything you eat for one day.
2. Classify: Determine the food whether it is a producer or a consumer.
3. Classify: Which food did you list as consumers?
4. Select two foods from the consumer group and draw a possible food chain
for each. Do not forget yourself. Did you include decomposers in your food
chain? Where do they fit?

Types of Food Chain


1. Grazing Food Chain
- starts with green plants base to grazing herbivores and then on car-
nivores.

2. Detrital Food Chain


- goes from dead organisms or organic matter into microorganisms
then to detritus feeding organisms and their predators.

Links in the Food Chain


1. Primary Consumer—organisms that eat producers, they are the second
link in the food chain after the producer.
2. Secondary Consumer– organisms that eat the primary consumer to gain
energy. They make up the third link in the food chain.
3. Tertiary Consumer—they are the top predator in the food chain. They
usually many producers and few tertiary consumer.
 Decomposer are present throughout the food chain to break down the
remains of dead plant and animals. The remains of these plants and ani-
mals breaks down into nutrients which can be useful to the producers.
15
This will complete the cycle and allows another food chain to begin.
16

Food Web
- a food web is a series of overlapping food chains.
- it shows the roles and relationships of among all the species in an ecosys-
tem.

- Herbivores
• Primary consumers or animals that eat producers.
• On land, herbivores have flat-edged teeth in front of their mouth for
tearing plant materials.
- Carnivores
• These are secondary and tertiary consumers, animals that eat other
animals.
• Some carnivores rip into prey with their sharp incisors and canine
teeth or with their beaks.
- Omnivores
• These are animals that eat both producers and consumers.
- Predators
• Animals that eat hunt and kill other living things for food.
• The animals they hunt are the prey.
- Scavengers
• They seek out the remains of dead organisms to eat. They eat meat
without hunting or killing the prey.
17

QUICK CHECK!!!

Which roles in a food


web could people
play?
18

Marine Food Web


- marine food web also begins
with a producers, in the
ocean, these are the
phytoplankton.
- Phytoplankton depend on
sunlight to carry out
photosynthesis.
- The size of their
population depends on the
sunlight that can
penetrates
the water.
- Ocean is divided into different areas depending on the amount of sunlight
that receive and the water temperature.

-
• Intertidal Zone—the area of the ocean at the edge of the land. This ar-
ea is affected by changes in high and low tides. This zone supports a
variety of organisms.
• Ocean Zone—from just beyond the low-tide line to the point where the
ocean begins is an area where sunlight penetrates and water are
calmers. It is where you can find some of the world’s magnificent un-
derwater habitat. This is also a region of complex food webs with
predators and many types of prey at every feeding level. In the open
ocean lies the three main zones these are:
 Top or sunlight—zone that reaches from the surface down to
about 200 meters or 656 feet. Plankton live near the surface
where there is light. Other marine organisms like squid, octo-
pus, whales, fish and other marine organisms feed on the
plankton.
Twilightzone—this is between 200 meters to 1000 meters, the
zone where it is dark and cold with little food available. Marine
organisms that live in this zone have adapted to this condition.
Midnight zone—marine organisms that grows and live here are
eyeless. Totally dark and no photosynthetic organisms can live
here.
19

QUICK CHECK!!!

What do land food


webs and marine
food webs have in
common?
20

Energy Pyramid
- a model that shows how energy moves through a food chain.
- producers always make up the base of the pyramid.
- indicates reduction in the availability of energy between different trophic
levels. Greater amount energy by respiration increases progressively from lower to
higher trophic level.

Pyramid of Numbers
- it illustrates population density relationship within and between the
trophic levels.

Pyramid of Biomass
- it shows a decrease in the biomass from the higher trophic levels.

QUICK CHECK!!!

What would happen if


resources decreased
in a location?

NOTES:
21

Lesson Review

Name: Date:
Year & Section: Score:

THINK, TALK AND WRITE

Compare and Contrast: Make a Venn Diagram that shows how scaven-
gers differ from a decomposer.
Critical Thinking: Explain why a food web tells us more about an ecosys-
tem than a food chain.

EXPOSITORY WRITING
Research an issue that affects Earth’s ecosystem. Write and record a pub-
lic –service announcement to state your position on the issue.
22

Lesson 3

EARTH’S CYCLE
WEEK 3
HOURS
Lesson Outcomes 3

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:


1. Describe the different biogeochemical
cycles in the environment.
2. Describe water cycle, carbon cycle, nitro-
gen cycle, and phosphorous cycle.

Explore How does water recycle itself?


Make a prediction:

What will happen to a soil if it is moistened with Materials


water and then placed under the heat source?
Empty soda bottle cut in-
Test your prediction: to half with cap
1. Place about 4 inches of soil in the bottom half Soil
of the soda bottle.
Water spray bottle
2. Spray the soil with water so that it moist but
Lamp or window with
not wet.
sunlight
3. Secure the top half of the soda bottle over the
bottom half. Use tape if necessary.
4. Observe. Place the bottle under a lamp or in direct sunlight. Observe it eve-
ry 10 minutes for a class period. Write down your observation. Observe the
bottle again on the second day. Write down your observations.
5. Draw Conclusion: What did you see on the first day? What did you see the
second day?
6. What was the source of the water? What was the source of the energy that
cause the changes in the bottle?
7. Observe what happened to the water?
23

Explore More
What happen if you added some small plants to the bottle? Some small
rocks? What might happen if you added more heat or placed the bottle in
the shade?

Read and Learn


Hydrological Cycle
- the continuous movement of water between Earth’s surface and the air.
- it works because water can change from a solid to a liquid to a gas and
back again.
- the energy from the sun powers the water cycle.
- when the sun heats the water from the ocean, lakes, rivers, and ponds
causes evaporation the process in which liquid changes into a gas. Condensation
is the process by which a gas exchange into a liquid. Droplets of condensed water
accumulates in the clouds. When the droplets became heavy, they fall to earth’s
surface in form of a precipitation, in a form of any water (snow, rain, sleet or hail).
When water hits the Earth’s surface it may soak into the ground and be stored as
groundwater in a process called collection. About 85% of the water that evaporates
on Earth comes from the ocean. Water evaporates from both freshwater and salt-
water but the precipitation that falls back into the Earth is fresh water. The salt is
left behind when salt water evaporates.
Figure 3: The Water Cy-
cle
Prof. Leila Farhadi –
Remote Sensing and
Computer Modelling: Un-
derstanding the Dynamic
Water . https://
www.scientia.global/
professor-leila-farhadi-
remote-sensing-computer-
modelling-understanding-
the-dynamic-water-
cycle/
24

The Carbon Cycle


- carbon is one of the element that makes up living things.
- it is the process which carbon is recycled between the atmosphere and liv-
ing things.
- evidences shows that a build up of gases such as carbon dioxide, nitric
oxide and methane trap heat that normally would escape from Earth’s atmos- phere
which is known as greenhouse gases. This process leads to global warming.
- Scientists predicted that the continuous increase of temperature on Earth
will lead to many problems, such as melting of the polar ice caps which can cause
sea level rise up and flood.
Carbon and Life
- carbon is stored in molecules of living and dead organisms, in organic
matter in soil, in the air as Carbon dioxide and in fossil fuels. Dissolved carbon
dioxide can be found also in the ocean and in the shells of some marine organ-
isms.

Figure 4: The Carbon Cycle. TERC Earth Labs: Climate and the Carbon Cycle.
https://serc.carleton.edu/eslabs/carbon/index.html
25

The Nitrogen Cycle


- it is the continuous trapping of nitrogen gas into compounds in the soil and
the returning of nitrogen gas to the air.
- the Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen. However, plants and animals
cannot use nitrogen in this form. Plants must get nitrogen from nitrogen com-
pound in the soil that have been made usable. Animals get nitrogen in the same
way they get energy—by eating plants and animals that consume nitrogen.
Uses of Nitrogen
- Lightning can change the nitrogen found in the atmosphere into a water
soluble compound that dissolves in rainwater to form nitric acid. Small amount of
nitrogen is absorbed into the soil this way.
- Rest of the nitrogen in soil comes from certain bacteria, Nitrogen-fixing
bacteria which live in the roots of beans, peas, and peanuts and can extract nitro-
gen from the air. Other bacteria converts the nitrogen into usable compounds like
nitrates and nitrites which is absorbed by the plants and used them to make pro-
teins. Proteins are passed along when animals eat plants and one another. When

plants and animals die, the nitrogen from their remains returns to the soil when
bacteria break it down into nitrogen gas. These bacteria return about the same
amount of nitrogen to the air as other bacteria take from the air, keeping the na-
ture balance.

Figure 5: The Nitrogen Cycle


ACS Distance Education https:/www.studyacs.com/blog-nitrogen-cycle-37.aspx
26

QUICK CHECK!!!

Why do some people


uses manure, or raw
animal wastes, in
their gardens?

Phosphorus Cycle
- Rocks, water, soil, and sediments constitute the primary nonliving sources
of phosphorus, whereas plants and animals form the major living sources.
- there are five steps of phosphorus cycle, these are:
 Weathering. This is the first step of the phosphorus cycle where
phosphates found in the sedimentary rocks as PO43-, are leached out
of the disintegrated rocks from its various environmental sources in
the form of inorganic phosphate ions. Other than weathering, volcanic
ash, aerosols, and mineral dust also serve as other significa nt
phosphate sources.
 Mineralization by plants. Plants absorb organic phosphorus present in
soil and underground water and convert them to inorganic forms for
utilization is called mineralization. The aquatic plants absorb inorganic
phosphorus from lower layers of water bodies due to their low solubility
in water.
 Assimilation by animals. Herbivorous and carnivorous animals,
including humans, absorb phosphorus when they consume these
plants for their food, a process known as assimilation. Besides,
animals obtain phosphorus directly from drinking water.
 Decomposition by microorganisms. Microorganisms such as bacteria
and fungi decompose organic phosphates back into the inorganic form,
which is then returned to the soil and water bodies. Phosphorus
containing compounds may also be carried in the surface runoff to
rivers, lakes, and oceans to form sediments.
 Geological uplift by tectonic movements. Over long periods, sedimentary
rocks containing phosphorus may be moved from the ocean to the land
by a process called geological uplift.
27

Figure 6: Phosphorus Cycle


ScienceFacts.net https://www.sciencefacts.net/phosphorus-cycle.html

Human Impact on Phosphorus Cycle


A number of human activities, use of fertilizers, artificial eutrophication, etc. has a great impact on the
phosphorus cycle.

The phosphorus fertilizers increase the level of phosphorus in the soil.


Overuse of these fertilizers reduces the fertility of the soil and is also
harmful to the microorganisms present in the soil. When these are
washed away into the nearby water bodies, they are hazardous to
aquatic life.

During the shipping of food from farms to cities, the amount of


phosphorus that is washed away in water causes eutrophication. This
leads to the growth of algae. These form algal blooms or die, which is
toxic to the aquatic ecosystem.

Why is it important to evaluate


phosphorus?
High concentrations of phosphorus may result from poor agricultural
practices, runoff from urban areas and lawns, leaking septic systems or
discharges from sewage treatment plants. Too much phosphorus can
cause increased growth of algae and large aquatic plants, which can
result in decreased levels of dissolved oxygen– a process called
eutrophication. High levels of phosphorus can also lead to algae blooms
that produce algal toxins which can be harmful to human and animal
health.
28

NOTES:
29

Lesson Review

Name: Date:
Year & Section: Score:

THINK, TALK AND WRITE


Critical Thinking:
• Explain why the cycles play an important role in the environment.
• What would happen if Earth become much warmer?
• Think of ways on how you could reduce the amount of phosphorus in the
environment.
EXPOSITORY WRITING
Research a local environmental problem that is related to water or air. How
does this problem results from human activities?
30

SUMMARY
• Ecology, the study of the interactions among different types of organ-
isms, and between organisms and their physical environment.
• Ecosystems are areas where living things and non-living things interact
with each other.
• The environment is organized into five layers of organisms, these are the
individual species, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere.
And this is sometimes alter due to ecological disturbances having a wide
effect to the biotic and abiotic factor.
• Food Chain is the transfer of energy from plants through a series of oth-
er organisms.
• Food Web are interconnected food chains that shows patterns of energy
flow.
• Trophic level shows how organisms obtained foods from plants by the
same number of stops which is represented by links of food chain in the
trophic level.
• Biogeochemical cycles shows how each materials transfer from the or-
ganisms to their environment and back to the organisms.

REFERENCES
Miller, Tyler G, Scott, Spoolman. Introduction to Environmental Science. Cen-
cage Learning: Singapore. 2009
Catchillar, Gerry C. Fundamentals of Environmental Science. National
Bookstore: Mandaluyong City. 2008
Miller, Tyler G. Environmental Science. Thomson Learning: Singapore. 2006
Tayo, Gilma T, Gascon, Cecilla N. et.al. Fundamentals of Environmental Sci-
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