Ecosystem Assignment

Use the Science text book and your notes ,observations & research to complete this assignment.

For full marks, include:

detailed observations chronologically classified measured data-charts, tables and graphs drawings, diagrams and pictures complete answers to questions with details and elaboration

Section 1 1) Describe your ecosystem in detail. Identify the roles and relationships of the organisms in the ecosystem.
a. What did you include at the beginning? (How did you build your ecosystem) b. What did you change? c. Which organisms were producers, consumers and decomposers

2) Describe the changes you observed in the ecosystem.

a. What changes did you make from your initial set-up to the final day b. What changes occurred in the ecosystem? c. To the best of your ability, explain the changes that you noticed and the contributing factors to those changes.

3) Describe how energy was transferred through your ecosystem. 4) Describe the water, carbon and nitrogen cycles that occurred in your groups ecosystem 5) Describe your final observations and conclusions you have reached after analyzing the contents of your ecosystem. 6) Describe sources of error & improvement - this is an analysis of what may have caused the results to be different from expectations.
a. What factors may have caused inaccurate conclusions or caused errors? b. What would have caused your ecosystem to have thrived more successfully? c. What is different from the artificial environment that you created from the natural world? d. How could the experiment be changed or modified in order to understand more about the ideas being examined? e. What would make it better?

Section 2 1. Do you think ecosystems are fragile, stable, or adaptable? Why? 2. How does one ecosystem in an environment affect other ecosystems? 3. What can happen when a new population is introduced into an ecosystem? 4. Why can organisms in an ecosystem share the same habitat but not the same niche? Section 3 Field Study questions 1. Compare the biodiversity of the Tropical rainforest ecosystem at the Vancouver Aquarium with the biodiversity of the ecosystem you created. (similarities differences) 2. Name two species observed at the Aquarium that are: a. aquatic b. arboreal c. terrestrial 3. Why is it important to preserve the ecosystem of the Amazon basin? 4. What are the competing forces that are endangering tropical rain forests? 5. Do you believe in keeping animals in captivity as seen at the aquarium? Why or why not?