DEFORESTATION

1. What are the negative effects of DEFORESTATION? CLICK HERE to read more. Be sure to click on the photo gallery at the bottom of the page. And you can take an Energy IQ test. Check on the right side of the website.
1.1 What is the leading cause of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon?
1.2 What is illegal logging and how does it contribute to deforestation?

POPULATION GROWTH: CARRYING CAPACITY

1. CLICK HERE to view an animation on how populations grow.
1. 1 Why do most populations show a clump distribution?
1.2 Has human population reached its carrying capacity?

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

1. CLICK HERE to access a narrated animation on ecological successions. You can take a 2 question quiz at the end of the animation. How did you do?

2. CLICK HERE to access a website with information on ecological succession. On this website you will see the animations from class.

3. CLICK HERE for a short animation on ecological succession.

4. Watch this short, 3 part animation about succession in Glacier Bay, Alaska. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS

CLICK HERE to access a website with very good information on symbiotic relationships.
You can navigate the page and for information on other topics.
1. Can you see the barnacles on the humpback whale?
2. What type of symbiotic relationship is represented by the whale and the barnacles, why?

EUTROPHICATION

1. CLICK HERE to view an animation that shows eutrophication of a river.
2. CLICK HERE to watch a video clip that explains the process of eutrophication of a lake.
2.1 How does the excess algae growth affect the quality of the water?
3. CLICK HERE to watch a video clip on how humans can affect the ecosystems.
3.1 Why do top predators accumulate more toxic substances in their body tissues?

A Marine Chemist Studies How Life Began (article)

CLICK HERE to read an interview on how life began.
1. Amino acids have been found inside some of the meteorites that have come to earth, What does this indicate?

ECOLOGY: FEEDING RELATIONSHIPS

1. All living things play roles in a food chain. This short cartoon explains just how a food chain works. You'll see why every creature's part is important. Take the quiz when you finish watching the cartoon. How did you do? Also, don't miss the Sea Monsters article available at the website!!!!

2. CLICK HERE to watch an animation about decomposers. Take a quiz at the end of the animation. How did you do?
3.1 What important role do decomposers play in all ecosystems?

4. CLICK HERE to watch an animation about an energy pyramid.
4.1 In a healthy ecosystem there are lots of producers, some herbivores, and not many carnivores. Why is this important?
4.2 Why can't food pyramids hold an unlimited number of trophic levels?

DICHOTOMOUS KEY

If you need extra practice, try to identify the microscopic organisms found in the Chesapeake Bay. Click on "What are these things?" You can also click on "How to construct a key" and construct your own.

GENETIC VARIATION and EVOLUTION

CLICK HERE to read about how the lack of genetic variation in Irish potatoes contributed to the severity of the Irish potato famine.
1. Why are populations with low genetic variation more vulnerable to changing environmental conditions than diverse populations?
2. What are the sources of genetic variation?
3. Why is there little or no genetic variation in the the “lumper” potato variety?
4. Why does planting genetically uniform crops increase the risk of “losing it all” when environmental variables change?

INTERACTIVE TREE OF LIFE

Explore the connections in the natural world, and learn about evolution with this Interactive Tree of Life.
1. Can you describe primitive life?
2. What organisms did you read about?
3. Is a Koala related to a Iguana?

CLICK HERE to watch the Tree of Life video we watched in class.

TREE OF LIFE

CLICK HERE to test your skills at judging who is who on the tree of life. The animation will show you different organisms and you will be able to construct different trees of life according to evolutionary relationships between the different organisms.
1. What type of evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated species? Can you think of some examples?

EVOLUTION: 2 articles

1. BACTERIA RUN WILD, DEFYING ANTIBIOTICS Source NY Times
A new chapter in the continuing story of antibiotic resistance is being written in doctors' offices across the country

2. HUMAN CULTURE, AN EVOLUTIONARY FORCE. Source NY Times
Genes enabling lactose tolerance, which probably resulted in more surviving offspring, were detected in cultures like the Kenyan shepherd's

QUESTIONS:
1. How do these articles relate to the Living Environment curriculum?
2. (article 1) Why can the new resistant staph be treated with several common antibiotics different from the ones doctors are accustomed to using?

NATURAL SELECTION

CLICK HERE to view an animation that shows how natural selection forces evolution of the finches population on a small island in the Galapagos. You will be asked to interact with the animation at the end. And you can take a 2 question quiz after watching the animation.
How did you do?
How does speciation occur?

CLICK HERE to view an animation that witness how the pollenpeeper (fictional organisms) evolve due to natural selection and adaptive radiation.