Centers - Environmental Pressure

7/29/2019 Centers - Environmental Pressure

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Writing Center

Can limiting factors be a good thing? Your task is to find a way to turn what seems like a bad situation for each of the following organisms

into a good one. Heres a hint: think about how it could make the entire population stronger, not necessarily the individual organism. (Its

all evolution!)

Pigweed

Pigweedis a species of plant that takes over

farmland. It survives well in our North Florida

environment.

Pigweeds main limiting factor is not natural, but

man-made. Herbicides, or plant poisons, are

developed to kill Pigweed. If youve ever heard of

Round-Up, thats what were talking about.

Farmers are having problems with Pigweed, though.

Some pigweed still dies from herbicides, but some

Pigweed seeds are growing into plants that are

immune to herbicides. How can death be seen as a

good thing by the Pigweed population?

Longleaf Pines

Longleaf Pines have developed in an interesting way. Its important to understand

the Long-Leaf Pine ecosystem when discussing its limiting factors.

Longleaf Pines have evolved in an area thats known for flashfires from lightning

strikes. Fires are its greatest limiting factor. Because of this, baby trees need to

find a way to time their growth perfectly to avoid being burned to death in a fire.

Once the tree is tall enough, most fires will only burn its thick bark and not damagethe vital insides of the tree.

Baby Longleaf pines have evolved so that they needto be burned before they will

grow into adults. A baby long-leaf looks more like a green prickly bush than a tree.

Once it has been burned the tree grows super-fast so that by the time another fire

starts it will be safe.

Not all pines are like this, though. Scientists think that originally Longleaf Pines

were like other trees and just grew without waiting for a fire. How could the death

of some of those old types of pines help the population as a whole?

Baby Longleaf Pine Adult Longleaf Pines with Flashfire


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Data Center

How do humans impact their surroundings? Check out the images below from the US Geological Survey. Each shows an image of

Orlando, FL from different time periods. How much has the city grown in 19 years? How would this affect the food webs and ecosystems

in these areas?

Orlando 1973 Orlando 1992

Key: Each yellow square is about 125 sq. km = City = Water = Land


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CREATIVE CENTER

You are an alien that has crash-landed onto Earth. Your alien species is like nothing the Earth

has ever seen you can change your DNA so that your body grows in whatever way you can

imagine. Each of the following environments are a possible place for you to land. Your mission

is as follows:

1. Choose one of the ecosystems for your alien to crash land into.

2. On your worksheet, list and explain 5 adaptations your alien will make to its body so thatdealing with limiting factors and the ecosystem is easier.

3. On your worksheet, draw your modified alien so that it includes the 5 adaptations you

made it its body.

An example of your Alien species. Your

blobby body might not look like much

now, but just wait until you adapt!

CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEM DESERT ECOSYSTEM JUNGLE ECOSYSTEM


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MODELING CENTER

Models are a way to represent something thats too large, too expensive, or just plain too hard to do naturally. Youre going to model planning

an ecosystem-friendly human development.

The local Jacksonville Rural Development Committee, JRDC, would like for you to find a way toplan the placement of several human

locations in a wildlife area while keeping as much of the native wildlife in place as possible. Each species population needs different

amounts of area in order to thrive.

Your worksheet has a grid for you to setup your development. Listed below are Human Developments that need to be added to the area, as

well as the amount of space each native organism needs to survive.

Will you be the development planner the JRDC chooses to use?

HUMAN DEVELOPMENTSEach development shows the amount of space it will take up.

Outline the locations in BLACKon your planning grids and label

them.

Shopping Center

Needs 2

(Includes Parking)

Neighborhood

Needs 4

(Includes Streets)

Restaurants, Shops,

Boutiques, Movie

Theatres, Parks, Etc.

Needs 10(Includes Parking)

Schools

Needs 3

(Includes Parking)

Utilities

(Water & Electricity)

Needs 2

(Includes Parking)

Roads

As many as needed

POPULATION

REQUIREMENTSEach population shows the amount of space it needs. Include as

many populations as possible. (Populations should overlap on

your grid.)

(shade squares green)

Primary Consumers

Herbivores

Secondary Consumers

Omnivores and

Carnivores

Producers

Grasses, Shrubs,

Flowers, and Trees

Requires 4 Green Squares

(outline 4 squares in blue)

Requires 4 Blue Squares

(X 4 blue squares in red)


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TheCO

W&THEW

OLFCARD5

Ag

ooddeal

Thew

olvesinArizonaseemtobe

enjoyingthedeal,too.They

haveplentyofelk,squirrels,

deer,gophers,and

cockr

oachestoeat.

Andw

hilenostudieshaveactuallylookeddirectlyathowpred

ator-friendlyfarmingaffectspredatorpopulations,

thestrategydoesseemtomakes

ensetoresearcherssuchasTreves.

Weresurethatpredator-friendlymanagementisgoingtohe

lp,Trevessays.Sofar,the

outlooksprettygood.

Forhispart,Treveshasbeenstud

yingwolvesinWisconsin.He

stryingtounderstandwhatmakessomewolves

more

likelytoattackthanothers.

Hesalsolookingatfactorsthatseemtoencouragewolvestogoafterlivestock.

Some

patternsareemergingfrom

hisresearch.Mixingsmallw

olfpackswithlargeherdsoflivestockinareaswhere

wildhabitatsoverlapwithranchla

nd,

foronething,seemstob

earecipefordisaster.Carelesslythrowingaway

animalcarcassescausesproblems,too.

Treve

sisalsostudyingwhatmake

ssomepeoplereactsostronglytowolvesandotherpredators.Figuringout

wherepeoplesfeelingsaboutpre

datorscomefrom,Trevessuggests,isthefirststeptowa

rdchangingthose

feelin

gsandprotectingpredators

inthelongterm.

Learn

ingtolivetogetherwilltake

alotofeffortandalargedo

seofcooperation,Trevessays.Eventually,though,

mayb

eeveryonewillgetalongw

olves,tigers,people,andall.

SCIENCE LITERATURECENTER

Today you will be jigsawing an article about predators, livestock, and

conservation.

Divide the cards amongst yourselves. There are 5 cards, which means someone is

probably going to get stuck with 2. Just remember who it was if no one wants to

do it, and let them have a break next time. Work as a team.

Read the cards silently. Once youve spent about 10 minutes reading your card

(or cards), discuss the questions on your worksheet and come up with answers as

a group.

This picture represents a rancher or farmers usual way of dealing with top

predators like wolves and coyotes. Could there be a better way of dealing with

these large beasts?

Good luck!

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Centers - Environmental Pressure