lOMoARcPSD|22296161

Mathematics
Science and
Technology
 lOMoARcPSD|22296161

This module is created under the Department of Natural Science of University of Makati. Your use of this material constitutes acceptance of that license and the
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LEARNING MODULES FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS

FIRST EDITION

Downloaded by Seniforo Jr Perido ([email protected])

Credits
AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS
UNIT I
MARIA CARMELA F. SISON, R.N., MAED
Faculty, Natural Science Department
College of Science University
of Makati
[email protected]

UNIT II
JOY R. REGALARIO- PASCUAL, R.N., MAED
Faculty, Natural Science Department
College of Science University
of Makati
[email protected]

GERWYN C. PASCUAL, R.N., MAED

Faculty, Natural Science Department
College of Science
University of Makati
[email protected]

UNIT III
MARY ANN D. SERRANO, EDD
Faculty, Natural Science Department
College of Science
University of Makati
[email protected]

UNIT IV
LEONARDO PASQUITO, MAED
Faculty, Natural Science Department
College of Science University
of Makati
[email protected]

CURRICULUM PRODUCTION AND EDITING

Leonardo Pasquito, MaEd, and Joy R. Regalario- Pascual, R.N., MaEd

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Table of Contents
1 Title Cover

2 Credits

3 Table of Contents

4 Course Description

4 Essential Outcomes

5 Course Requirements

6 Unit Cover

7 Introduction

7 Lesson 1

21 Lesson 2

37 Lesson 3

45 Lesson 4

61 Assessment

67 References

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COURSE DESCRIPTION

I. MST (Environmental Science)

This area focuses on how ecology emerged as science starting from historical perspectives. It provides
important ecological concepts to understand interrelationships among components (biotic and abiotic
factors) of the natural world and how these interactions benefit all organisms of the planet for their
adaptation and survival.
II. MST (Human Reproduction)
This area is a combination of bio cultural and ecological perspectives of human reproduction and
identifies the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that affect it.
III. MST (People and Earth’s Ecosystem)
This area evaluates the impact of human activities on the environment and assesses the consequences
of environmental modification on human activity. This attempts to propose preventive measures and
alternative solutions to environmental problems and interprets data relating population to population
using appropriate statistical tools.
IV. MST (Living in the Information Technology or IT Era)
This area assesses the science, culture and ethics of information technology, its influence on modern
living and human relationships and its use for personal, professional, and social advancement.

ESSENTIAL OUTCOMES
At the end of the course, students must be able to

1. Demonstrate the interrelationships among components of the natural world and explains
environmental problems, their causes, associated risks, and proposes preventive measures and
alternative solutions.
2. Propose preventive measures and alternative solutions to environmental problems and interprets
data relating population to population using appropriate statistical tools.
3. Identify the environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors that affect Human Reproduction.
4. Evaluate and critique the science, culture and ethics of information technology, its influence on
modern living and human relationships and its use for personal, professional, and social
advancement

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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. Weekly task assessments (formative or summative) Outputs (may vary as home works, seat
works, individual/grouped activities, recitation, film reviews related to the topic, portfolio,
interviews, personal essays, feedback reports, surveys, and other forms of interactive/creative
presentations or projects through various means of communication or media)
2. Midterm exam
3. Final exam

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UNIT I: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

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 a. Describe what Environmental Science is and how it has become interdisciplinary in nature.
b. Trace the roots of how Ecology emerged as a study from major historical proponents and events.
c. Describe how Scientific Method applies to practical setting.
d. Differentiate Human Ecology Laws and how their principles apply to practical setting.
e. Compare and contrast the different biomes of the world.
f. Describe how organisms adapt to its environment.
g. Differentiate existing interdependent relationships among organisms in ecosystems
h. Describe how organisms survive through mutually beneficial interactions.
i. Describe how the different biogeochemical cycles take place in the planet.
j. Relate the importance of the biogeochemical cycles in maintaining balance in the environment.

INTRODUCTION

4.6 billion years ago, the planet we called Earth, has been created along with other neighboring
worlds in the Solar System. Our very own Earth became a home to us and to numerous life forms
that had existed from the earliest to present era of time. The gradual geologic and evolutionary
changes provided transformative forces that shaped the environmental landscape of the planet,
and this give us a wider perspective on how our life as living things continue to thrive and
survive successfully at present and even at the most challenging times.
In this unit we will explore how our life as living things continue to thrive and survive successfully
at present and even at the most challenging times.

CONTENT

LESSON 1: INTRODUCTION TO ECOLOGY

What is Environmental Science?
Science is a vast accumulation of knowledge based on facts, observations, and experimentations
conducted over time. Environmental Science (ES) is just one of the smaller branches of this big
Science “tree”.
So just think like this, through observation we get different facts and we test or experiment on
them to see if these really make the deal out of it and that’s it—that’s how ES came into being,
as simple as that.

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Environmental Science (ES) studies mainly the “interactions” of humans with the natural
environment. Natural environment refers to all conditions which surrounds a living organism,
which includes climate, air and water quality, soil and landforms, and presence of other living
organisms on the planet.
Remember, every condition is referred to as factors. In ES parlance, Living and Non-living
things are all interplaying factors, so in this case, we use abiotic factors to simply describe non-
living components and biotic factors for living organisms themselves, including us. We will deal
closely of these factors on the next lesson.

Environmental Science is Interdisciplinary

Think of a student organization represented by various leaders of every college. Each provides
significant voice and role to keep the whole organization executing its main objectives and
platforms. That same applies to ES. The issues studied in ES are complex and interdisciplinary
because it includes concepts and ideas from multiple fields of study or specialization and at the
same time, decisions have impacts in all these fields of study.
For instance, consider the way our government dealt with the current COVID-19 pandemic;
various sectors actually were just some of the few of the whole “interdisciplinary team” that
provided contribution to deal with this pressing environmental and health issue.

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 Figure 1. Environmental Science is interdisciplinary. (Source: Principles of Environmental Science,
Cunningham, 2005.)

Say, the utilization of PPE or personal protective equipment. Consider the example below and
those in open and closed parentheses are just some of the few playing interdisciplinary fields of
study or concerned sector of the community:

1. Our community makes decision in utilization of PPE, even before the COVID-19 pandemic
took place. We study the possibilities of how we can distribute cheapest and affordable PPE
to our healthcare delivery systems like hospitals for commercial use because we need it to
avoid contamination from infectious agents. (ECONOMICS)

2. Before a PPE is made, we need raw materials for it. Natural resources are extracted to
possibly make these PPE. Either these raw materials were mined or obtained from any
resources coming from our planet earth. (GEOLOGY)

3. These natural resources will be brought to various communities to reach target population
and here we require transportation to ease delivery and local exportation
(ENGINEERING)
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 4. These natural resources are processed in factory plants. They are transformed physically and
chemically. These release pollution in form of chemical substances that goes anywhere in
the planet and we all know that pollution is bad. (CHEMISTRY)

5. The pollution interacts with the other parts of the planet, say in the air it becomes acid rain
that falls during precipitation. (METEOROLOGY)

6. The effects of acid rain is detrimental to every life forms and even humans. (ECOLOGY)

7. Our government then creates and imposes various laws to regulate and help in mitigation of
these issues. (POLITICS)

See? That’s how Environmental Science becomes interdisciplinary. So whatever college you may
belong to or what course program you are taking at this moment, the career that you’re definitely
preparing for will soon play a role in the entire complex system of how Environmental Science is
applied to our communities.

Roots of Ecology from Major Historical Proponents

Ecological sciences are traced back to Greek proponents who introduced the systematic way of
solving problem through logical and analytical approaches. This approach is known as the
Scientific Method.
To understand this, you need to consider how some of these Greek minds think of when they
view a natural phenomenon. They have become so eager and curious how things take can place
like that. Gone the old times they just relied on their mythological thinking linking to gods and
goddesses the explanations because they started to incorporate critical thinking to describe the
phenomena they experience. Critical thinking lead to development of Scientific Method. We will
deal with it right after the brief ecological history.

What is Ecology?
Ernst Haeckel, a German zoologist coined the word, oikologie which came from two Greek
words, “oikos” and “logos”; meaning “household” and “to study”. So here, ecology is all about
the relationship of living things to its so-called natural environment. It’s the same as the study of
existing interaction between biotic and abiotic factors and how this interaction influences or
affects the distribution and abundance of living organisms.

Ecology cannot be set aside. Our relationship as humans to our nature actually developed a
pressing problem in our civilization at present. Our activities lead to various environmental

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issues we cannot easily leave and escape from. Because of this, Ecology itself became a very
important aspect in philosophical discussions that stands at the intersection of politics, science
and economics. (studfile.net, 2015)
Some of the Greek philosophers had both mixed mythical and critical thoughts when they
describe a certain phenomenon. Through their contemplative speculations over things, the
concept of “balance of nature” became the earliest ecological idea and remained to be a
fundamental aspect so far in ecology. Below are some ancient proponents who lead to the
emergence of ecology as science:

1. Thales (c.460—c. 547 BC)

• “All things came from water.” (Mythic and critical)
• “All things have souls.” (Mythic)
Because water is the only substance known to Greeks in all state of matter.
2. Anaximander (c.610—c. 545 BC)
• “Life came from the sea and we came from some species before us.”
3. Anaximenes (c.545 BC)
• “Ice and air (pneuma) is basic not water. Because pneuma can change.”

Notice here that according to a 20th century philosopher, Karl Popper, he described the manner
of how natural philosophers presented their thoughts through progression of ideas, meaning they
don’t prove their opinions and their opinions persists until proven false. This, for some of you
may think, this is suspicious because we don’t have proofs to support such notions. Exactly.
That’s how science started, out of curiosity, we create first speculations or theories to describe
how things as they are.
Eventually, mathematics cleared these suspicions. Chemists for instance started to find out the
presence of whole-number ratios in nature. Here in the ancient times, natural philosophers slowly
engaged incorporating critical thinking where analytical and logical components contributed
more plausible explanations to natural phenomena.

1. Pythagoras (c.560-480 BC)

• “There are numerical harmonies in nature, and that mathematics is the key to finding
them.”
2. Alcmaeon (born c. 535 BC)

• applied Pythagorean idea of harmony to medical thought.

• “There are body “forces” (hot and cold, sweet and bitter, and so on) that properly
“balance with each other when one is healthy, and illness occurs when the forces are out
of balance.”
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This is the birth way of Medicine where rational ideas and empirical medicine came together.
This supported rational thinking that when “People live in healthy environments, eat healthy
diets, and get adequate amount of exercise—therefore maintain a healthy body state and when
things are contrasting, diseases are more likely.
3. Hippocrates (460—c. 370 BC)
• Hippocratic Corpus, Waters and Places: Books that correlate diseases in a community
with changing weather conditions that are affected by seasonal changes. Hippocrates is
famously known as the Father of Medicine and an oath named after him, the Hippocratic
Oath taken and sworn by medical practitioners such as physicians.

4. Herodotos (died c. 425 BC)

• The “traveling” Father of History
• “History is a mixture of old and new thinking.”

As time goes by, in certain places, observation prevailed more than religion in Egypt. Herodotos
observed the changes of the Sun pathway and direction of north-blowing winds influence the
strength of flooding.
He also noticed that there is interconnection among things, big or small. (Nile crocodiles as observed to
have mutual relationship with sandpipers/Egyptian Spur-winged Plovers)
Through these various speculations and observational methods engaged upon, a true BALANCE
of NATURE was discovered out of the ideas borne by the natural thinkers themselves. Now, pay
attention to the next situations here as the next proponents and their actions contributed further to
development of ecological history where diseases were linked to human activities.

5. Thucydides (c. 460—c. 400 BC)

• wrote History of the Peloponnesian War

• “The plague of Athens spread from Ethiopia to Egypt that is contagious to both people
and animals.”
6. Pericles (430 BC)

• led the Spartans to invade Attica and this provoked an epidemic eruption by simple
ravaging or destruction of the Spartans at the countryside. The epidemic plague killed
Pericles (429 BC) that caused the surrender of Athens in 404BC.

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7. Plato

• in his Republic, he discredits sensory observations. For him, “If you understand that
collecting data is nonsense, then you can gain an understanding of the world and society
in the only reliable ways left open— through MATHEMATICS and DIALECTICS. We are
all familiar what mathematics is. It’s the language of science presenting proven scientific
investigations summed in mindboggling equations.

Dialectics on the other hand according to dictionary is the art of investigating or discussing the truth
of opinions or an inquiry into metaphysical contradictions and their solutions.
Summing it all up, we go back to Karl Popper’s description that scientific theories originate from
myths that may contain important prediction of a scientific theory. Also, observation and critical
thinking engaged upon the proponents themselves helped in the development of Scientific
Method.

Scientific Method
The previous historical discussion of proponents and events reflects how philosophers utilized
and exercised their empirical and logical abilities to explain a particular situation. In these
situations, we noticed that various factors in the natural environment itself interacted with one
another hence producing certain scenarios as a result. Then, this result perplex another person to
question how come these things relate to and influence our lives over time.
We owe a lot to our early pioneers and now the information we all encounter today is actually
product of correct knowledge that has been uncovered, verified, and refined. We can also say it
is like having possibly a wrong knowledge in the beginning because we lack supporting
evidences but these nevertheless gradually became a correct knowledge over time because
scientific method allowed us to arrive to conclusions after conducting series of testing or
experimentation.
So now, the question is, how do you apply these same abilities that our ancient proponents did
during their times to your life at the moment? The purpose of why you repeatedly encounter
scientific method is to see how it really applies practically, to almost everything in this life in
order to ease us and to provide possible options, suggestions, and even solutions to problems we
encounter every day. You needed to have an open mind to do so. Any experience you may
encounter as a problem can be solved by applying this logical and systematic approach.

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 Figure 2. Scientific Method (Source: North, R. (2018) How to invent everything

The success of this method depends on how you apply it. How will you know? When you have
produced a knowledge that is reproducible. Meaning your knowledge can be checked by anyone
as they do the same experiments by themselves. (North, 2018)

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Human Ecology Laws
Being a concerned individual matters. You may ask yourself with these questions, “what is my
concern?”, “why am I concerned?”, “for what or to whom am I concerned?”, “how to become
concerned?” So, what are these questions pertaining to? Simple. They all ask you how concerned
you can be as a person whenever you encounter issues or problems in your community or your
entire society. Or even, what is the role you play as a concerned citizen your nation?
Laws place all things in proper order. Be it a natural law or made by humans like us, their main
purpose is to provide stability in any form of organization or system. Now, what happens when
these laws are violated or say, some of us unfortunately fail to observe or abide in them?
Problems arise. That’s it. If we want to keep our natural systems intact and sustainable for the
next generation, we may want to reflect within ourselves how do we keep these laws observed at
all costs.
There are 16 Human Ecology Laws. It’s quite a lot but most of them are similar to one another and
its worth the time and effort to be familiar with them:

1.Law of Interrelatedness (“we are all together”)

This is a famous “no man is an island”. We are all dependent to one another for survival. No one
can say, “I don’t need anyone or anything” or “I can live all by myself”. The sustenance our
body needs come from the environment where we live. Nothing is expendable.

2. Law of Conservation of Energy (“you can’t get something from nothing”)

Don’t get this wrong because you see the word “conservation” there and most student always
say, it’s all about “conserving energy” like turning off the light or electrical appliances or
something when not in use. It’s not like that. This means, we cannot create energy nor we can
destroy it. It is only “transformed”. Energy is elsewhere. We usually find ways how to collect or
harness this energy for our benefit so things may work for us. The word “conservation” here
refers to the fact that energy is not lost when it’s used but just converts into another form. Think
of solar energy absorbed by plants and this energy transforms into chemical energy through
photosynthesis and then becomes mechanical energy, and so on and so forth.

3. Second Law of Thermodynamics (“there’s overall decrease in amount of usefulness”) Here,

you don’t say “okay, since energy is neither created nor destroyed, what’s the sense of saving
energy, since energy is just elsewhere?” Any energy stored let’s say, the butane fuel inside a
canister decreases its amount of usefulness because it runs your portable gas range to grill
your favorite Korean samgyupsal. Work is obtained from the stored energy in the canister to
fire the gas range so you can cook your meal well. Eventually, you notice the gas runs out
because there is no more available usefulness to keep the gas range working. While the
energy is doing the work, its amount of usefulness decreases at the same time. Take in mind
that we need to use energy efficiently. Don’t overuse your gadgets because the amount of
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 usefulness stored in their batteries will run out soon. You definitely don’t want to replace the
battery or the gadget itself very quick because of that.

4. Law of Conservation of Matter (“there is no away”)

5. Law of Continuous Creation (“everything becomes something else”)
These two laws above are similar. It applies the same principle that matter is neither created nor
destroyed but transformed as well just like energy. There is no “away”. The matter yesterday is
the same matter as today. It may not be the same look because it already transformed into a new
look. Matter exists in various states (solid, liquid, gas, plasma). When water evaporates, it
becomes gas. The former liquid matter is not actually gone, it’s still the same water vapor in the
air. The plastic that people burns seemed to have disappeared but it is the same matter in another
form such as pollution on land or in air. See, matter can transform physically or chemically. The
best effort we can do to avoid accumulation of wastes from unwanted matter is to perform the
3Rs—Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

6. The Diversity Principle (“there’s unity in differences”)

Our differences is actually a strength. Balance is achieved mysteriously despite diversity.
Evolutionary processes created various traits favorable for survival. One is essential and nothing
is expendable. The role played by one organism determines the success of another species or
even their survival.

7. Nature Knows Best (“nature knows best but not all the time”)
You can relate here the present pandemic pressing at our world at the moment. You see, we get also
the same treatments or way of alleviating our health problems from nature itself.
Our vaccines utilize natural mechanisms to induce immunity in our body. We discovered this
through experiments and now we take advantage of its benefits to healthcare and medical fields
but, we have to take full responsibility of what we discover and what we can create through
science. We have to impose accountability to the results or impacts it may impose to our health
or environment. There are widespread alleged possibilities circulating in social media that
COVID19 might have been developed purposely in laboratories but we cannot consider the
veracity of this unless we have supporting facts or evidences explaining this phenomenon.

8. Your Environment Is You (“you shape building, your building shapes you”)
The way you treat your home actually reflects the kind of place where you live in. If you prefer
throwing garbage elsewhere or you don’t take responsibility of the wastes that you discard
regardless of amount, type or size, these accumulate in time making your place or your
community untidy and eventually becomes polluted and unfit for living.

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9. The Environmental Bill of Rights (“right to live in clean environment”.)
All humans deserve to live in a clean environment. For example, we noticed in our barangay that
there is a very untidy area with some garbage are left behind. This leaves foul stench that invites
insects like flies and pests such as rats scavenging on any leftovers. We help by raising and
voicing out our concerns to our community and even to local officials to act and urge one
another in keeping our communities clean, safe and livable for everyone.

10. The Rights of the Unborn (“give the unborn a clean place to live in”)

11. The Responsibility of the Born (“pass to the next generation the nature undamaged”)
The two laws above are also the same. We are all responsible for passing to the next generation a
sustainable, clean, safe, and livable home.

12. The Law of Equity (“all is equal to live in dignity and peace”)
Whatever socioeconomic background or nationality, each one of us is covered by this human
ecology law. It is our responsibility to continue observing and keeping this law working for all of
us at all cost. We respect every individuality as we become more considerate to one another.
Next time we want to sing loud with our karaoke to showcase our voice, regardless of our
singing skills, we put others first before ourselves. The loud karaoke sound is actually noise
pollution and adjusting the volume eases possible tension. Doing so will not cause further
discomfort to our neighbors at the same time.

13. The Goal of the Society (“comfortable living is the goal of the society”)
A sustainable community can make this possible. More work and opportunities can ensure order
by keeping people and their families well provided and sustained. Every society must have this
goal to ensure success among members of community.

14. Technology: Part of the Problem, Part of the Solution (“technology gives and takes”)
Always consider that technology always have positive and negative impacts. As Lewis
Wolpert once said, “Reliable scientific knowledge is value free and has no moral ethical
value. Science tells us how the world is… Dangers and ethical issue arise only when science
is applied as technology.”

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15. Give Earth a Chance (“nature is inevitably pursuing it’s need to change for better or
worse”) Admit it. We can never have control over things in this natural world, most
especially natural changes. Our planet will transform anytime it like without telling us the
schedule when it is going to happen. The best we can do is to be prepared at all cost. Nature
itself provided us in the past how severe it can be through its earthquakes, hurricanes,
tsunamis, floods, forest fires and other forms of deadly and devastating natural events and
calamities. With our past experiences of these things, we can learn how to mitigate, adapt and
overcome once they occur again anytime soon at this present age.

16. Brontosaurus Principle (“the bigger the better, or the bigger the worse”.)
Dinosaurs were so big that we think they could have been the strongest living things that had
ever existed but their size as well imposed a disadvantage that led to their quick extinction. On
the other hand, cockroaches were said to be one of the longest surviving insect species because
they adapted so well to changes. Size does matter especially when we relate human population
here. We need to put into consideration that our planet maintains its carrying capacity to sustain
every living organism its basic needs.
Because we all compete for natural resources, humans must take actions on helping our planet restore its
resources faster than it is consumed in order to sustain our growing population.

LET’S HAVE SOME PRACTICE ACTIVITIES!

A. What course are you taking at this moment? Think of your future self and the possible career you will
be having as profession. Now describe the possibility how Environmental Science and your profession
interacts in your work. Think of other possible sectors or groups within your place that will be part of
the interdisciplinary interaction.

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 MY FUTURE CAREER/PROFESSION: ____________________________________

B. Write before each arrow the possible sectors or groups that might become part of the “interdisciplinary”
interaction. You may want to review pages 3 to 5 of this module for your reference.
When you are finished, explain briefly your completed figure describing that Environmental Science is
interdisciplinary in nature.
My brief explanation:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
B. Let’s get familiar with the Human Ecology Laws. Observe each picture and determine possible ecology
laws that relate to the issues presented in each photo.

(a) (b) (c)

(d) (e) (f)

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Write your brief explanation how the laws you have chosen are related to each photo.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

LESSON 2: BIOMES
Our planet is a complex system made up of functional and structural levels of organization.
Similarly, in all multicellular organisms, our bodies begin from the simplest to complex unit. Notice
the two figures below:

Figure 3: Levels of Organization inside a living organism

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Figure 4. Levels of Organization outside the living organism. This figure shows the levels of
organization within the scope of Ecology

You need to be aware of the levels of organization so that you can easily understand the scope of
Ecology, especially when you start studying the different biomes of our planet Earth.

What are Biomes?

Biomes are simply group of ecosystems with similar climates (temperature and rainfall) and
organisms. These group of ecosystems came from biological communities which share similar
conditions of biotic and abiotic factors. It is recommended that you view a virtual map or globe
so that you can visualize the imaginary latitude and longitude lines on our planet. (e.g. equator)

The six major types of biomes include the forest, grassland, desert, tundra, freshwater, and marine
respectively. (University of California Museum of Paleontology, 2019)
1. Forest. This biome is classified according to latitude in the planet, characterized for over
twothirds of the leaf area of land plants and contains about 70% of carbon present in living
things. There are three major classifications: Tropical, Temperate, and Boreal or Taiga.
*Tropical. It contains the greatest diversity of species. Noted by its only two seasons (rainy and
dry). Located within latitudes of 23.5 degrees North and 23.5 degrees South with average
temperatures of 2025°C. Numerous birds, bats, small mammals, and insects can be spotted.
Examples are evergreen rainforests, seasonal rainforests, semi-evergreen forests, and moist/dry
deciduous forests (monsoon).
*Temperate. Located in eastern North America, northeastern Asia, and western and central
Europe. It has distinct winter and well-defined seasons. Temperature varies from -30° C to 30°
C. Plants species are oak, hickory, beech, hemlock, maple, basswood, cottonwood, elm, willow,
and spring-flowering herbs. Common animals are squirrels, rabbits, skunks, birds, deer,
mountain lion, bobcat, timber wolf, fox, and black bear.

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 Forests
such as this
tropical
rainforest
lie within

intertropical convergence zones and are characterized by presence of canopy structure.

Canopy is the dense ceiling of leaves and tree branches resulted from closely spaced forest
trees.
(Source: Mongabay)

Image above shows the distribution of rainforests in the planet (Source: Mongabay)

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Image above is a typical temperate forest characterized by presence of deciduous trees which are
leaf-shedding in nature. (Image Credit: Paul Bolstad, University of Minnesota, Bugwood.org,
CC BY 3.0 US)

Image at the
left is a
typical
Boreal forest
or taiga
characterized
by long and
cold winters
and dominant
pines, fir,
spruce, birch,
and aspen
canopy of
trees.
(Source: Yale
School of
Environment,
2020)

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 *Boreal forests (taiga).
The largest terrestrial biome with very low temperatures and precipitation is in the form of snow.
Location in the planet is between 50 and 60 degrees north latitudes. Usually in Eurasia and North
America: two-thirds in Siberia with the rest in Scandinavia, Alaska, and Canada. Growing plants
are evergreen conifers with needle-like leaves, such as pine, fir, and spruce. Animals are
woodpeckers, hawks, moose, bear, weasel, lynx, fox, wolf, deer, hares, chipmunks, shrews, and
bats.

2. Grassland. Grasses mainly characterize this biome.

*Tropical grassland or savannas. Grasslands covering half of African continent. Animals like
giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, mice, moles, gophers, ground squirrels, snakes, worms, termites,
beetles, lions, leopards, hyenas, and elephants can be found here.
*Temperate Grasslands such as Prairies and Steppes. Prairies have tall grasses while steppes
have shorter grasses. Animals like badgers, hawks, owls, and snakes can be spotted in these
biomes.

3. Desert. Characterized by less rainfall. Sahara of North Africa and the deserts of the
southwestern U.S., Mexico, and Australia, occur at low latitudes. While cold deserts, are
located in Utah and Nevada and in some parts of western Asia. Common animals thriving here
are non mammalian vertebrates, like reptiles. North American deserts usually have smaller
mammals like kangaroo mice. Cacti plants are well adapted in this biome.

4. Tundra. The coldest of all biomes. It has low biotic diversity, meaning you will not find much
varied species of animals and plants here. Examples are the Arctic tundra in the northern
hemisphere, mainly in Canada and Alaska; and the Alpine tundra located on mountains where
trees cannot grow. Polar bear, caribou, and arctic fox are commonly found.

Image below shows an Acacia tree in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Grazing animals feeding on
grasses roam in this savanna biome in Africa. (Source: Charles J Sharp [CC BY-SA] via
Wikimedia Commons).

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25
(A) Steppe grassland at Pawnee National
Grassland, Colorado (B) Prairie at St. Lazare, Manitoba; C.
Prairie and Steppe

(C.) Source: sandiegozoo.org

Steppes and prairies are temperate grasslands characterized by hot summer and cold
winter temperatures. Prairies have usual taller grasses than steppes.

26
Image above shows distribution of deserts all over the world. (Source: (Let’s Talk Science
using a public domain image from the U.S. Geological Survey).

Image at
the left
is a
typical
arctic
tundra in

Nunavut.

27
Tundras are noted from extreme cold temperatures. (Source: Let’s Talk Science using
photo from ADialla [CC By] via Wikimedia Commons).

5. Freshwater. An aquatic biome that has low salt concentration.

*Ponds and Lakes. Usually isolated bodies of water that are not moving. They contain
special algae called diatoms and aquatic plants, grazing snails, clams, insects, crustaceans,
fishes, amphibians, turtles, snakes, and ducks.
*Streams and Rivers. These are moving bodies of water. Temperature is cooler and
clearer with high oxygen levels suitable for freshwater fishes like trout. Some areas that
become murky can be a habitat for catfish and carps because they are adapted to these areas
having lower oxygen levels.
*Wetlands. These are areas of standing water like marshes, swamps and bogs.
Characterized by its very moist and humid conditions. Wetlands have the highest species
diversity of all ecosystems. Animals you can spot here include different species of
amphibians, reptiles, birds like ducks, and furbearers. Shrimps and shellfish can also be
found.

6. Marine. An aquatic biome that has high salt concentration. Contains marine algae
supply that provides our planet’s oxygen supply. Oceans, coral reefs, and estuaries
consist the marine biomes.
*Oceans. Of all the ecosystems, oceans are the largest occupying on the Earth’s surface.
Species that can be spotted here depends on the zone or oceanic region. Invertebrate fishes,
worms, clams, crustaceans, crabs and seaweed can be found in the intertidal zone. Going
deep, fishes, whales and dolphins swim in the open ocean called pelagic zone. Below this
zone are the benthic zone followed by abyssal zone. In these two bottom zones;
temperature, oxygen level and nutrient content notably decreases. Bacteria, fungi, sponges,
sea anemones, worms, sea stars, and fishes can thrive in benthic zone. Some species of
invertebrates and fishes feed on chemosynthetic bacteria found in abyssal zone.

28
Images above show the Laurentian Great Lakes (a) of North America, the Three Gorges
Dam (b) in China, a small pond (c) used as a water source for cattle, a high elevation lake
(d) in the Sierra Mountains, California, a temporary pond (e) embedded within a forest in
Michigan, and a small open-canopy wetland (f) in Pennsylvania. (Source:
© 2012 Nature Education Photos courtesy of NASA (a, b), Pieter Johnson (c, d), Earl
Werner (e), Jason Hoverman (f). All rights reserved. ) The city of San Pablo, Laguna in the
Philippines is famous for its 7 crater lakes, namely; Sampaloc (the largest), Bunot,
Mohicap, Palakpakin, Calibato, Pandin, and Yambo respectively. Natural resources include
freshwater fish mostly cultured tilapia, silver carps and mussels (tahong). (Image source:
Shoestring travelers.com)

29
Image at the right is the world’s longest
river, the
Amazon River in South America (Image
source: worldatlas.com)

30
Below is the longest and largest river in the Philippines, the Cagayan River, in the Cagayan
Valley Region (Northeastern Luzon) traversing the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino,
Isabela and Cagayan

(Image source: backpackerlifestyles.blogspot.com)

Wetlands like the image at

the left are usually covered
by water. This one is near
the Stillaguamish River in
Washington.
(Image source: Dave Mccoy,

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/ encyclopedia/wetland/#swamplanterns)

31
 (Image source: Britannica.com)

Image above shows that oceans are contained on enormous basins on Earth’s surface. The
Pacific (the largest), Atlantic, Indian, Arctic (smallest), and Southern oceans (Antarctica)
consist Earth’s major oceans. (Cenedese, 2020)

Coral reefs are also known

as the “Rainforests of the
Ocean” These biomes have
rich biodiversity. Reefs are
formed by coral polyps
that become habitat for
many ocean fishes
(NOAA, 2020)

32
(Image source: untamedscience.com Estuaries in this image has slightly salty water as
freshwater and seawater
combine when a river meets
the ocean. (Image source:
Kim D. Pickard by https://
www.nationalgeographic.org/

encyclopedia/estuary/#parkerriver)

33
 *Coral reefs. These ecosystems are found as barriers along continents as they are
widely distributed in warm shallow waters. Algae and tissues of animal polyp consists the
corals. Invertebrates, fishes, sea urchins, octopuses, and sea stars can be spotted in these
coral reefs.
*Estuaries. An ecosystem where freshwater and marine water meets as streams or
rivers merge with the ocean. Algae, seaweeds, and mangrove trees found in tropical
regions, worms, oysters, crabs and waterfowls can be spotted in these marine biomes.

LET’S HAVE SOME PRACTICE ACTIVITIES!

1. Complete the table on the below so that you will be able to compare and contrast the
different types of biomes and tell how each organism is able to adapt to its specific
habitat.

Organism Type of Biome where they are Notable characteristics of the How are these organisms able
best found (include the biome where they are found to adapt to this kind of
specific classification of the habitat?
biome if possible; for
example: Forest biome could
be Tropical, Temperate or
Boreal)

1. Cactus

34
2. African
Lions

3. Whales

4. Octopus

5. Mangrove

6. Mountain
lions

7. Catfish

8. Polar bear

9. Maple
tree

10. Different
amphibian
species

35
Since there are numerous biomes in the planet, name at least one known biome and tell
where they are geographically located. An example is given below:

Location
Biome Name
Ex. Coral reef Great barrier reef Australia

1. Tropical rainforest

2. Tundra

3. Savannah

4. Marine

36
5. River

6. Lake

7. Temperate forest

8. Savannah

9. Desert

10. Estuaries

37
LESSON 3: INTERDEPENDENT
RELATIONSHIPS IN ECOSYSTEMS
Ecology is all about existing interactions between biotic (living) and abiotic (non-living)
factors and how this interaction influences or affects the distribution and abundance of
living organisms.
The physical space, the resources that a living thing utilize, and the presence of interaction
with other organisms constitute to the niche that an organism occupies in its lifetime.
Different populations can be found interacting in a particular ecosystem because the niches
of these organisms overlap with one another. Thus, overlapping niches create different
types of relationships at the same time. (Nguyen, 2020). You will notice that in these
relationships, organisms themselves either cooperate or compete in order to maintain
balance of nature in the environment.
The Law of Interrelatedness states that “we are all together”. Living things or biotic factors
depend on each other’s role for survival, which is essential in order for all ecosystems to
sustain its stability. This in return promotes sustainability in keeping different populations
of organisms to thrive, adapt and survive throughout its lifetime.
There are five types of ecological relationships They are symbiotic in nature since the
organisms are closely living together. These are mutualism, commensalism, parasitism,
predation and competition. (Nguyen, 2020)

1. Mutualism. Living things involved in this relationship benefit mutually from one
another and neither is harmed during interaction. The relationship provides these
general purposes: for obtaining food and energy, and for protection. Examples:

38
 A. Egyptian plover birds pick up and eat leeches on mouths of crocodiles.
These birds help in cleaning their teeth as the crocs open their mouth wide
and receive a good oral prophylaxis treat. Herodotos noticed this
relationship in Egypt.
B. Birds such as oxpeckers pick up and eat the ticks hiding on the skin surfaces
of grazing animals like zebras.
C. Crabs carry on their backs poisonous sea urchins for protection and as
weapons while the urchins get a good free ride under the sea.
D. Grey wolves use the good sense of smell of striped hyenas when hunting for
food. Hyenas benefit from the good hunting skills of wolves on the other
hand.
E. Clown fish gets protection from sea anemones against predators while its
waste serves as nutrients for the anemone in return.

2. Commensalism. Here, one organism is benefited in the relationship and the other is
neither helped nor harmed. Examples:
A. Bacteria producing chemical for the benefit of another bacteria.
B. Barnacles become mobile and can get protection from predators as they
grow on whales and on other marine animals. They can also feed as whales
transfer from certain places under the sea.
C. The hollows of trees become shelter and give protection to birds.
D. Cattle egrets get food whenever cattle stir up and disturb insects as they
move while grazing on fields.
E. Some species of orchids and ferns grow on another plant or trees for
support.
3. Parasitism. One organism, called parasite benefits in this relationship while the
other, which is the host is actually harmed. Examples:
A. Endoparasites such as intestinal worms living inside the digestive tract of
animals obtain nutrients from them throughout their lifetime. During
infestation, organisms suffer and may get sick from these parasites.
B. Ectoparasites like lice, ticks, and fleas feed on their host as they attach and
live on the surface of their hosts. Human lice cause itching and discomfort
on scalp of their hosts.

39
4. Predation. In this relationship, one gets killed and becomes a food for another’s
survival.
The one that hunts for food is called predator and the one being hunted and killed is called
prey. Examples:
A. Any animal that eats another organism for food is considered a predator be
it on land, on water, or air. Most predators are carnivorous in nature
although some are omnivores that consume both plants and animals as part
of their diet. Grazing herbivores usually become prey to land predators.
Although there are cases that a predator may also end up becoming a prey to
another bigger predator.
B. Notorious hunters known in the African continent are lions, cheetahs,
leopards, hyenas, wild dogs, crocodiles, snakes, eagles, hawks, and owls to
name a few. Commonly hunted prey are zebras, gazelles, antelopes,
warthogs, and wildebeests.
C. Sharks, orca whales, leopard seals feed on sea lions, penguins, and other
organisms in the sea. Polar bears in the Arctic can also feed on similar prey.
D. Wolves, coyotes, grizzly bears, mountain lions, and alligators are common
predators in the North American continent while jaguars, anacondas,
caimans, piranhas dwell in the jungles and waters of South America.
Dingoes (Australian wild dogs), Tasmanian devil, and saltwater crocodiles
are common in Australia.
E. In Asia, lions and tigers also roam in Indian subcontinent; tigers can be
spotted too in Siberia and even in Malaysia. Large lizards such as Komodo
Dragons are found in Indonesia. Salt water and freshwater crocodiles are
also common in the Philippines.

5. Competition. Every organism needs the ability to thrive and survive in their
respective habitats. Overlapping of their niches may also result to tension among
them, meaning the competition for food, other natural resources, mate, and space or
territory is at stake. Examples:
A. Similar species competing for resources is intraspecific competition and
between different species is interspecific competition.
B. Intraspecific competition occurs between two species of animals competing
for a mate. During breeding season, a younger male elephant seal duels with
a dominant male that controls a harem of females. Their fights are bloody,
inflicting injuries to one another that may soon lead to death of the other.

40
 C. On the other hand, corals and sponges for instance in ocean biomes
exemplifies interspecific competition between them. These organisms
compete for food and other resources. To some extent, their competition
keeps balance of nature at check for their existence because if one of them
outcompetes the other, it benefits neither and may also perish in the end.
D. Trees and other vegetation in forest biomes also compete for abiotic factors
like water and sunlight. Shorter plants receive less sunlight while taller trees
can get more of it.
E. In the African savanna, predators like lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, and
wild dogs may compete for similar prey. Hence, some could end in one
bloody confrontation where one has to kill the other in order to eliminate
competitors for such resources.

LET’S HAVE SOME PRACTICE ACTIVITIES!

A. Determine the interdependent relationship that exists among these organisms and
describe how their interaction affect their surroundings.

Organisms Interdependent How does this relationship affect their survival?

Relationship
1. Owls and
mice

2.
Tapeworm
and cattle

3. Colorful
male birds
of the same
species

41
4. Bees and
flowers

5.
Barnacles
and crabs

6. Pistol
shrimp and
goby fish

7. Remora
fish and
shark

8. Trees and
plants in a
rainforest

9. Monkeys
of different
species in a
jungle
10. Lichens
and fungi

B. Video analysis. Watch by downloading or streaming online this video on

Youtube.com entitled:
BBC Documentary - Journey of Life 4 of 5 - Living Together

Video URL is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CulkEXTrt-E

42
Submit a written document focusing on the following guide questions: (Provide maximum
of only 150 words per item.)
1. How do the presence of diversity of populations within ecosystems is associated to
balance of nature?
2. How do various factors influence the growth of individual species and their
populations?
3. How do biotic and abiotic factors in the environment change as they respond to our
changing planet?
4. Describe the scope of interrelationships of humans with the biotic and abiotic factors
of the planet.
5. How do our individual choices and societal actions can influence the improvement of
our environment?
Grading rubrics for your analysis.
Criteria 6 5 4 3 2 1

43
MEANING Uniquely Totally Mixture of Mixture of Some new Strictly a
personal personal personal and personal and information repeat of
What have you but nothing
response response that other other information
shared about your that is
providing deep is quite information information, that is already
analysis? personal or
insight into self original. that is but not very known.
slightly unique interesting
engaging
DEVELOPMENT Tells a unique The The student The student No new No
story that clearly student explains the lists ideas of related knowledge
How specific and
defines the illustrates analysis analysis information of information
meaningful are
analysis the provided provided
your insights?
analysis

ORGANIZATION Naturally drawn Thoughts Consistent Simple, but Shifting No noticeable

conclusion flow focus/well formal focus/ does organization
How focused and naturally/ balanced structure not
structured is your good (intro, body paragraph
response? transitions & properly
conclusion)

LANGUAGE Demonstrates Uses Moderate Uses simple Uses Uses

engaging sophisticated language skill vocabulary/ language incoherent or
How refined your that is not
personal vocabulary & sentences inappropriate
sense of audience voice sentences suitable to language.
and purpose? prescribed
curriculum

CONVENTIONS Nearly perfect A few errors A few basic Many errors Barely Writing is
with errors readable incoherent.
How correct are your
mechanics? sophisticated
mechan-
ics

30= 100 23= 86 16= 72

29= 98 22= 84 15= 70

28= 96 21= 82 14= 68

27= 94 20= 80 13= 66

26= 92 19= 78 12 and below= 60

44
 25= 90 18= 76

24= 88 17= 74

LESSON 4: BIOGEOCHEMICAL
CYCLES
Ecology is all about interaction. Biotic factors (living things) interact with abiotic factors
(nonliving things) in order for life to exist and continue thriving throughout time. Living
organisms both need energy and nutrients to keep their internal metabolic processes
working within optimum limits for their continuous survival.
Our planet is composed of matter, which is made up of different substances that constitute
to the chemical basis of life. Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen elements makes most
of the biomolecules essential to life. These substances keep on cycling all around Earth’s
biosphere to ensure their availability for all-natural purposes required in sustaining and
maintaining life.

45
Without these cycles, life will not be able to continue and move forward. The dependence
of living things to these cycles is equivalent to a life support. Oxygen gas for instance helps
in running internal metabolic processes within our cells to transform chemical energy into
mechanical activities within our bodies. Every cycle is indispensable in nature and humans
must understand that ordinary man-made activities can create a big impact on the manner
of how matter naturally cycles within our planet.

Figure 5. Plants are producers; animals are consumers; fungi and microorganisms such as
bacteria are decomposers. (Image credit: Biogeochemical cycles: Figure 1 by Eva Horne and Robert A.
Bear; source article is CC BY 4.0)

The different biogeochemical cycles are best understood through an illustration. Arrows
present movement of how each substance transform into another until it becomes the same
substance again. You need to take note that one form of substance cannot be readily used
by a particular organism that is why it has to be transformed within the cycle either by
chemical process or by the help of an organism.

A. Carbon Cycle. Carbon makes up most of the organic compounds found in living
organisms. At the same time, we get energy from fossil fuels that are extracted from the
planet and its mainly composed of carbon.

46
Figure 6. Carbon Cycle. Carbon element is present in various substances and materials like
carbon dioxide gas and fossil fuels.
(Image credit: Biogeochemical cycles: Figure 3 by OpenStax College, Biology, CC BY 4.0; modification of
work by John M. Evans and Howard Perlman, USGS)

Carbon element is essential as it comprises most of the organic substances found in living
organisms. Biomolecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids contain
significant amount of this element in their structure.
Carbon is also present in carbon dioxide gas (CO 2) that goes into the atmosphere as one of
major greenhouse gases so far. Sources of CO 2 comes from respiration among animals,
decomposition of dead bodies, natural events such as volcanic eruptions, and man-made
activities like burning and other human emissions from industrial factories. CO 2 levels had
increased significantly over the past years especially during emergence of the Industrial
Revolution.
During photosynthesis producers or autotrophs (plants and algae) either on land or in water
convert
CO2 into organic substances such sugar (glucose), which at the same time essential for
heterotrophs (animals) as energy source. Heterotrophs gets their energy by breaking this

47
sugar during cellular respiration. CO2 is released as waste product in this metabolic
activity.
Carbon is also released into the soil through weathering of rocks and other geologic
landforms. The carbon in the soil becomes fossil fuels in time. Downpour of rains cause
leaching and runoff in the soil, bringing carbon into oceans and settle as sediments. CO 2
also reacts and dissolve in water producing bicarbonate ions (HCO3 −). In time, ocean
sediments composed of calcium carbonates (CaCO 3) are returned back into the land by
means of uplifting when waters surge into the shore. This process continues, to ensure that
carbon element cycles in the biosphere, to be taken up and used in whatever meaningful
activity necessary to maintain life and being.

B. Nitrogen Cycle.

Figure 7. Nitrogen Cycle involving Biotic Factors (Image credit to Khan

Academy)
Nitrogen is the most abundant element on Earth in the form of nitrogen gas (N 2). Formation
of protein and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) in many organisms requires nitrogen. But
plants and animals, including us cannot directly make use of this abundant N 2 gas since we
lack mechanisms in our bodies to convert it into its usable form. Prokaryotes or single-
celled organisms such as nitrogen-fixing bacteria called cyanobacteria in aquatic biomes;
the Rhizobium bacteria living symbiotically in the root nodules of legume plants like peas,
beans, and peanuts; and the free-living Azotobacter can transform nitrogen gas into
biologically usable forms by means of nitrogen fixation.

48
Nitrogenous wastes from animals or decaying bodies become ammonium (NH 4+) through
ammonification with the help of certain bacteria and fungi.

Nitrifying bacteria like Nitrosomas can convert this ammonium into nitrites (NO 2-) in the
process called nitrification. Nitrites can be converted into nitrates (NO 3-) by same bacteria.
Eventually, nitrates can be turned back into nitrogen gas through denitrification process
performed by another bacteria like Pseudomonas and Clostridium.
Animals that eat plants get the nitrogen-containing molecules and becomes part of their
bodies; some will be broken down and excreted as urea, which is found in their urine.
Nitrogen cycle also occurs in marine biomes as depicted by the image below.

Figure 8. Nitrogen Cycle involving Abiotic Factors

(Image credit: Biogeochemical cycles: Figure 4 by OpenStax College, Biology, CC BY 4.0(Opens in a new
window). Modification of work by John M. Evans and Howard Perlman, USGS)

C. Oxygen Cycle.

49
Figure 9. Oxygen Cycle

(Image credit to: https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/natural-resources/biogeochemical-cycles/)

Oxygen gas (O2) is essential to metabolism in animals such as cellular respiration. This gas
is released as by-product during photosynthesis by plants. Besides respiration, oxygen is
also required for other chemical reaction such as combustion, oxidation, and
decomposition.
As animals utilize oxygen in their bodies, carbon dioxide is formed as waste product which
is exhaled out of the body. Carbon dioxide is then used during photosynthesis and this
cycle repeats to keep oxygen balanced in the atmosphere.

D. Phosphorus Cycle.

50
Figure 10. Phosphorus Cycle (Image credit: Biogeochemical cycles: Figure 5 by OpenStax College,
Concepts of Biology, CC BY 4.0; modification of work by John M. Evans and Howard Perlman, USGS)

Like nitrogen, phosphorus is also an essential element in biomolecules, most especially in

nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and also as structural component of the phospholipids in
cells. Phosphate ion (PO43-) is the most common form of phosphorus in nature. This
element also provides support to body parts such as bones.
As shown by the image above, phosphorus cycle takes place in terrestrial and water
biomes. Phosphate compounds naturally come from volcanic ash, aerosols, and mineral
dusts. These compounds are absorbed by plants. Animals obtain these compounds by
eating the plants.
Phosphate compounds in animals are released either as excreted wastes or through
decomposition when they die. When rain pours, soil containing phosphates may runoff to
bodies of water and these compounds are taken up by organisms living there. In marine
biomes, phosphate compounds are excreted by organisms and they sink at the bottom of the
floor and form into sedimentary layers over a long period of time. Movements in ocean
floors such as an uplift moves these sedimentary rocks into the land. These uplifted rocks

51
from sea undergo similar weathering process releasing once again the same phosphate
compounds back to the soil.

Phosphate compounds including nitrogenous substances are widely used as raw materials
in manufacturing commercial fertilizers for agricultural use. Similarly, any runoff on
agricultural lands with fertilizers brings these compounds into various freshwater biomes.
Too much of these compounds is detrimental to aquatic life because it promotes increase in
the growth of algae. This condition is known as eutrophication. Some algae produce toxic
compounds in the water making it taste or smell bad and when these algae die, a lot of
oxygen in the water is used up during decomposition. Fishes and other organisms die due
to hypoxia as oxygen levels significantly drops because of the phenomenon.

Irresponsible use of fertilizers and detergents containing phosphate compounds in the past
had led to formation of dead zones in certain lakes and oceans, meaning these zones are
depleted of oxygen. These regions are now unsuitable for most aquatic organisms such as
fishes and shellfish to thrive and survive.

52
E. Water or Hydrologic Cycle.
Inventory of Water at the Earth’s Surface
Reservoir Volume (cubic km x Percent of Total
1,000,000)
Oceans 1370 97.25

Ice Caps/Glaciers 29 2.05

Deep Groundwater (1) 5.3 0.38

Shallow Groundwater (2) 4.2 0.30

Lakes 0.125 0.01

Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005

Atmosphere 0.013 0.001

Rivers 0.0017 0.0001

Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004

(Source: Pidwinry & Gow, 2020)

Freshwater in groundwater, lakes, rivers, soil, and the atmosphere provides most of the
water that we use in our daily life. Despite that oceans have highest percent of total water,
we cannot use it directly because of dissolved salts in it. Ice caps and glaciers provide 60%
of freshwater supply but our limited access due to its form and location hinders us from
using the water coming from it.
Water (H2O) is a chemical compound with a lot of important use to maintain stability in
any external or internal system within Earth’s biosphere. It is a universal solvent because a
lot of different chemical substances can be dissolved by it. Its properties allow solvent
nutrients to be carried in living organisms and in the environment through runoff,
infiltration, and groundwater flow. (Pidwirny & Gow, 2020)

53
Figure 11. Water Cycle or Hydrologic Cycle
(Image credit: The water cycle by NOAA National Weather Service Jetstream, CC BY 2.0)

The energy source that keeps water cycling comes mainly from the Sun. Heat causes
evaporation (liquid to gas) of liquid water and sublimation of ice (solid to gas). Water
vapor, which is a gaseous state moves into the atmosphere. On terrestrial biomes, plants
undergo transpiration, where water from their surfaces evaporates as well into the
atmosphere. During condensation, these water vapor condenses into clouds; which then
falls as precipitation either as rain or snow depending on geographical location.
Downpour of rain waters the plants and reaches the soil. At some instance, runoff happens
due to heavy rains causing the soil to become saturated with water. Water percolates or
moves into the subsoil and bedrock, hence forming the groundwater. Groundwater serves
as a reservoir of freshwater that also connects to other freshwater biomes.

LET’S HAVE SOME PRACTICE ACTIVITIES!

54
Print these images out and label the illustration by coloring it appropriately.

55
56
57
58
59
Guide questions for the biogeochemical cycles:

Carbon Cycle
1. What function do heterotrophs have in the forests in the carbon cycle?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. What is fossil fuel?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. How does carbon get into the oceans?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____

Nitrogen Cycle
1. Why is nitrogen essential to life?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
2. How is nitrogen from the atmosphere, the abiotic part of the ecosystem, converted
into the biotic part of the ecosystem in organisms?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. What is denitrification?

60
 ____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____ Phosphorus Cycle
1. Why is phosphorus an important biological molecule?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
2. How are phosphates incorporated into the organic molecules in plants and animals?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. How detrimental is phosphorus that runoff into freshwater biomes?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____

Water Cycle
1. Describe three important needs for water.
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
2. Differentiate these terms to one another: evaporation, sublimation, condensation,
transpiration, precipitation, and percolation.
____________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

61
 _________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
3. How is water distributed through the biosphere?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____ Oxygen cycle
1. How important is oxygen in nature?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
2. How are carbon and oxygen cycles related to one another?
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
3. Describe the importance of oxygen to combustion, oxidation, and decomposition
processes.
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____
____________________________________________________________________
_____ ASSESSMENTS
Assessment for Lesson 1

Without looking back at the topics of this module, test yourself for some vocabulary and
simple memory recall.
A. Provide the appropriate answers.
1. Science is a vast knowledge and by definition what are the three main words used to
describe what it is? These are

62
 _______________, __________________, and _________________.
2. This word refers to all conditions which surrounds a living organism. What is the
word? _________________
3. This science is interdisciplinary by nature because it includes concepts and ideas
from multiple fields of study or specialization. What is it? ____________________
4. This study pertains to the relationship of living things to its so-called natural
environment. What is it? ______________________
5. This is a systematic and logical approach of solving problems. What is it?
_____________________
6. What are the two Greek words where the word Ecology originated from?
__________ and __________.
7. Issue on population growth is relatable to which human ecology law?
________________________________
8. Positive and negative consequences imposed by technology as attributed to which
ecology law? ___________________________
9. Our abilities to prepare for and mitigate disasters of natural calamities relate to which
ecology law? __________________________
10. In the second law of thermodynamics, what is being lost when energy is transformed
to in order to do work? __________________

B. Match the proponents to their contributions/identity/theories they proposed:

Greek Proponent Contribution/identity/theory

1. ___Pericles A. He is known as “Father of Medicine”

2. ___Thales B. He observed mutual relationships between Nile crocodile and

sandpipers.

3. ___Alcmaeon C. Pneuma can change

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4. ___Anaximander D. All things came from water.

5. ___Hippocrates E. During his time, the plague of Athens spread from Ethiopia to Egypt.

6. ___Anaximenes F. There are body forces balancing each other.

7. ___Phythagoras G. Opinions persists until proven wrong.

8. ___Herodotos H. He discredits sensory observations.

9. ___Thucydides I. Life came from the sea and we came from some species before us.

10. ___Plato
J. All things came from water.
K. There are numerical harmonies and mathematics can find them.
L. During his time, an epidemic erupted due to Spartans that rav-aged
at the countryside.

C. Complete the missing items to complete the sequence of solving a problem.

1. Observation.
2. _______________________________
3. Gathering data or information
4. _______________________________
5. Testing the hypothesis or experimentation
6. _______________________________ 7. Reporting the results.

Assessment for Lesson 2

Without looking back at the topics of this module, test yourself for some vocabulary and
simple memory recall.
A. Identify the biome which is best described by the words given.

1. moving water, temperature is cooler, catfish and trout can thrive

_________________________
2. largest terrestrial biome, very low temperatures, snow precipitation

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 _________________________
3. mangrove trees, freshwater and ocean meets, crabs and oysters
_________________________
4. less rainfall, reptiles commonly thrive, cactus plants can be spotted
_________________________
5. abyssal zone, algae provides most oxygen, largest occupying on earth’s surface
_________________________
6. badgers, hawks, owls, shorter grasses
_________________________
7. coldest biome, polar bear, mainly in Canada and Alaska
_________________________
8. two-thirds of leaf area of land plants, tropical, temperate, boreal
_________________________
9. diatoms, not moving bodies of water, freshwater
_________________________
10. moist and humid, freshwater, different species of amphibians
_________________________

B. Read each description and determine if each statement is true or false.

_____1. Boreal forests are also known as “taiga” characterized by having winter precipitation.
_____2. Steppes and prairies are temperate grasslands.
_____3. Estuaries are freshwater biomes where mangrove forests can thrive.
_____4. Marine biomes account the largest occupied ecosystems on the Earth’s surface.
_____5. Lakes and ponds have high salt concentration.

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_____6. Wetlands, swamps, and bogs are examples of estuaries characterized by brackish
waters.
_____7. Prairies have longer grasses compared to steppes.
_____8. The largest ocean biome is the Atlantic Ocean.
_____9. Coral reefs are also known as “Freshwater Rainforests”
_____10. Rivers and streams have lower salt concentration compared to oceans and seas.
_____11. Temperate forests usually have deciduous trees that shed leaves as seasons
change from time to time.
_____12. Savanna is temperate grassland characterized by alternating short and long
grasses.
_____13. Brackish water is a characteristic when freshwater and marine water meets.
Estuaries are commonly brackish in nature.
_____14. Forests are characterized by presence of canopy of trees.
_____15. Hot deserts are located at low latitudes in the planet.

Assessment for Lesson 3

Without looking back at the topics of this module, test yourself for some vocabulary and
simple memory recall.
A. Determine the interdependent relationship based on the given descriptions or examples.
1. ____________ Organisms are both benefited and they are neither harmed by one
another.
2. ____________ Tigers hunt sambar deer in the forest.

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3. ____________ Pork tapeworms live in human digestive tract.
4. ____________ Tall trees receive more sunlight than shorter plants in a forest.
5. ____________ It involves a prey in the relationship.
6. ____________ Orchids grown on bark of coconut trees.
7. ____________ Both organisms are benefited in the relationship.
8. ____________ Humans hunting wild boar for food.
9. ____________ One organism is not killed but it is negatively affected in the
relationship
10. ____________ Organisms in an ecosystem compete for resources.
11. ____________ It involves a host in the relationship.
12. ____________ Only one organism benefits while the other is neither harmed in the
interaction.
13. ____________ It can be intraspecific or interspecific in nature.
14. ____________ One organism kills another species for food.
15. ____________ One species need to eliminate another species for natural resources
either by fighting it or killing it.

B. Describe how organisms cooperate or compete to maintain balance of nature in the

environment. Include how do they adapt and survive in their interdependent relationships
with one another. (Limit explanation maximum to only 150 words).

Assessment for Lesson 4

Without looking back at the topics of this module, test yourself for some vocabulary and
simple memory recall.
A. Underline the correct word to fill in the blanks for the carbon cycle.
1. When plants perform (photosynthesis OR cellular respiration) they take carbon dioxide
out of the atmosphere and release oxygen.

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2. When animals perform (photosynthesis OR cellular respiration) they take oxygen out of
the atmosphere and release carbon dioxide.
3. Deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels (increases OR decreases) the amount of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
4. Decomposition (releases OR uses) carbon dioxide.
5. Water (releases OR absorbs) carbon dioxide.

B. Draw a diagram of the nitrogen cycle. No pictures needed. Make sure to incorporate the
following terms and briefly describe each step. (Limit explanation maximum to only
150 words)
Nitrogen fixation, absorption, decomposition, ammonification

Explanation
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____

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________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____
________________________________________________________________________________
_____

C. Describe the oxygen cycle. Use the appropriate terms and give a brief description of
each step. (Limit explanation maximum to only 150 words)
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
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_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
_________________________________________________________________________
____ Grading rubrics for all of your essay-type responses.
Criteria 6 5 4 3 2 1

MEANING Uniquely Totally Mixture of Mixture of Some new Strictly a

personal personal personal and personal and information repeat of
What have you
response response that other other but nothing information
shared about your
providing deep is quite information information, that is that is already
analysis?
insight into self original. that is but not very personal or known.
slightly unique interesting
engaging
DEVELOPMENT Tells a unique The The student The student No new No
story that clearly student explains the lists ideas of related knowledge
How specific and of
defines the illustrates analysis analysis information
meaningful are information
analysis the provided
your insights? provided
analysis

70
ORGANIZATION Naturally drawn Thoughts Consistent Simple, but Shifting No noticeable
conclusion flow focus/well formal focus/ does organization
How focused and naturally/ structure
balanced not
structured is your good (intro, body paragraph
response? transitions & properly
conclusion)

LANGUAGE Demonstrates Uses Moderate Uses simple Uses Uses

engaging sophisticated language skill vocabulary/ language incoherent or
How refined your that is not
personal vocabulary & sentences inappropriate
sense of audience voice sentences suitable to language.
and purpose? prescribed
curriculum

CONVENTIONS Nearly perfect A few errors A few basic Many errors Barely Writing is
with errors readable incoherent.
How correct are your
sophisticated
mechanics?
mechan-
ics

30= 100 23= 86 16= 72

29= 98 22= 84 15= 70

28= 96 21= 82 14= 68

27= 94 20= 80 13= 66

26= 92 19= 78 12 and below= 60

25= 90 18= 76

24= 88 17= 74

71
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