When going on an excursion you must have a clear idea what you are going to do. Decide what you are going to measure and what equipment you need to take with you. We are going to study an aquatic local ecosystem.
Here is a list of what we are going to look at. The list is based on the new HSC Stage 6 Biology syllabus for NSW including the October 2002 amendments. Use this list to make sure that you have covered all the syllabus points or use the Table below.Abiotic factors
Biotic factors
- estimate the size of a plant population and an animal population in the ecosystem using transects and /or random quadrats
- collect, analyse and present data to describe the distribution of the plant and animal species whose abundance has been estimated
- describe two trophic interactions found between organisms in the area studied
- identify examples examples of allelopathy, parasitism, mutualism and commensalism in an ecosystem and the role of organisms in each type of relationship
- explain trophic interactions between organisms in an ecosystem using food chains, food webs and pyramids of biomass and energy
- gather information from first-hand and secondary sources to construct food chains and food webs to illustrate the relationships between member species an ecosystem
- producers consumers and decomposers and create
- describe the role of decomposers in ecosystems
- identify some adaptations of of living things to factors in their environment
- identify and describe in detail adaptations of a plant and an animal from the local ecosystem
- outline factors that affect numbers in predator/ prey populations in the area studied
- identify the impact of humans in the ecosystem studied area
Presenting Results
-calculation of mean values with ranges
-graphing changes with time in the measured abiotic data
-evaluating variability in measurements made during a scientific investigation
A good place to begin is with the abiotic factors of the ecosystem.
- process and analyse information and present a report of the investigation of an ecosystem in which the purpose is introduced, the methods described and the results shown graphically and use available evidence to discuss their relevance
- data using tables, graphs, mean and range of data
- present a report on the field study
Abiotic factor Biotic factors Biotic factors Report Other Salinity Population estimates Allelopathy Report writing Quiz Temperature Commensalism Glossary Oxygen Distribution of species Mutualism Links Producers Gap fill exercise Decomposers Consumers Adaptations Food chains and webs Trophic interactions Human impacts Parasitism Predator/prey Return to this page to move through the site.
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