ecology ecology - thirteen

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ECOLOGY Life in the Balance ECOLOGY City of New York Parks & Recreation City of New York Parks & Recreation Urban Park Rangers The New York City Department of Education urban park rangers • education program The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation presents Map Reading and Making Critical Thinking Plant Identification Researching and Writing a Field Guide Graphing Site Evaluation Creating a Timeline Data Gathering Natural Science Measuring Calculating Social Science History Art A c t i v i t i e s a n d l e s s o n s i n t h e s e p ro gra m s m eet academic performance standards accepted a n d u s e d b y t h e N e w York City Department of Education, including: ECOLOGY_M 2/16/06 1:53 PM Page 13

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Page 1: ECOLOGY ECOLOGY - Thirteen

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EECCOOLLOOGGYY

City of New YorkParks & Recreation

City of New YorkParks & RecreationUrban Park Rangers

The New York CityDepartment of Education

urban park rangers • educat ion program

The NYC Department of Parks & Recreation presents

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Key Ecology Words

environment ecosystem food chain food webbiotic biomes producers herbivoreabiotic biosphere primary consumers omnivoreindividuals habitat secondary consumers carnivorepopulations niche tertiary consumers non-nativecommunity extinct trophic levels invasive*Words will be italicized throughout program

WWhhaatt iiss tthhee NNaattuurraall CCllaassssrroooomm??WWhhaatt iiss tthhee NNaattuurraall CCllaassssrroooomm??

FFiinndd YYoouurr LLeevveell:: Level One = Grades K-2 Level Two = Grades 2-6 Level Three = Grades 6-8

WWoorrdd CChhaalllleennggee:: Important vocabulary words are pro-vided and listed in order of appearance. Let your studentsfind the definitions and begin their adventure.

FFooccuuss oonn TThhee BBiigg PPiiccttuurree:: Read the teacher text tolearn about the three main program concepts, introducethem to your class, and get them thinking in context.

TTaakkee AAccttiioonn:: Have your students research, write, meas-ure, build, and create using the pre-visit activities. Each proj-ect is designed to actively engage the group in planning fortheir park visit.

PPrreeppaarree ffoorr AAddvveennttuurree:: Review the park visit descrip-tion a few days before the trip so you will be aware of theday’s anticipated activities. Let your students know how todress for the weather, the bugs, and the terrain – you will beoutdoors in the “wilds” of New York City parks.

WWrraapp iitt uupp:: Have your students map, graph, illustrate,chart and analyze their way to thoughtful conclusions usingthe post-visit activities.

OOnn aanndd BBeeyyoonndd:: Loved your park experience and thelearning topic so much that you want more? We haveincluded extension activities that expand the scope of the in-class program.

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HHooww ttoo UUssee TThhiiss NNaattuurraall CCllaassssrroooomm PPrrooggrraamm GGuuiiddee

The activities in Ecology: Life in the Balance focus on the following skills:

• Creating and Reading Graphs, Measuring, and Making Calculations

• Exploring Living Science Concepts by creating Field Guides, perform-ing a Site Evaluation, and Gathering Data in the field

• Writing and Drawing

The Natural Classroom is a series of educational programs developed by the Urban Park Rangers toimmerse students in the living laboratory of the natural world. These programs combine standards-based education with hands-on field lessons taught by Urban Park Rangers.

Based on natural and cultural topics that are visibly brought to life in our parks, The NaturalClassroom is designed to stimulate, motivate and inspire your students to apply their developingskills in English, Math, Science and History to real-life critical thinking challenges.

1

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CONC

EPT 2

CONCEPT1

2

BBaassiicc EEccoollooggyyBBaassiicc EEccoollooggyy

Ecology is the science of the relationshipsbetween organisms and their environments.

Ecology is the holistic approach to understand-ing the environment and understanding howorganisms interact with each other and with theenvironment. The environment includes notonly the living elements (biotic), but also thenon-living elements (abiotic), like nutrientsfound within the soil, water and air.

For example, a fish’s environment includes boththe non-living water it lives in and the livingplants or animals it eats.

Ecology examines individuals (single organ-isms); populations (groups of organisms of asingle species); communities (groups of multi-ple species); ecosystems (multiple communitiesand non-living elements); biomes (mul-tiple ecosystems), and the biosphere.Collectively, these are called ecologicalsystems.

All ecological systems change over time. Manyecological interactions can be difficult to per-ceive and study, leading to uncertainty in scien-tific results. However, it is especially importantto study ecology because humans are part ofecological systems, and the study of ecologycan instruct us about how we are affected byand affect our environment.

All living organisms need key components inorder to live and reproduce: food, water, shelterand space. Together, these key componentsmake up a species’ habitat and correlate withthe needs and adaptations of the species.

For example, whales will only be found in anocean because it is large enough to accommo-date their space needs. Squirrels will only befound where there are trees to accommodatetheir food and shelter needs.

Many different species live in a given habitat,and how they interact and what roles they playin that system are very important. The role thata species plays within the habitat is called its

niche.

Each species serves aspecific purpose within agiven ecosystem. If thespecies’ habitat or nicheis disturbed, that speciescan either leave to find a

better home or it may become extinct. Eitherway, the positive effects that species had on itslocal environment disappears. For example,when nesting sites for bats are destroyed, thosebats move on, and the mosquitoes they atemultiply without control. A bat can eat up to1,000,000 mosquitoes a night.

Food chains are the “who eats whom” energyrelationships in the natural world. Green plantsare the producers, producing food from sun-light, air, and water. Primary consumers are ani-mals that eat plants. They are in turn eaten bysecondary consumers. These animals may thenbe eaten by yet another animal, a tertiary con-sumer. The position an organism occupies inthe food chain is called its trophic level.

Some animals feed at more than one trophiclevel, resulting in a more complex set of feedingrelationships known as a food web.

For example, araccoon is atertiary con-sumer when iteats a fish, butalso can be aprimary con-sumer when iteats berries.

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FACT

Within the food web, pri-mary, secondary, and terti-ary consumers can all be fur-ther defined by what theyeat. For example, a gerbileats plants and is called anherbivore, while a dog whowill eat anything, plant oranimal, is an omnivore. TheRed-tail hawk you see in thepark eats only meat and iscalled a carnivore.

A park is an ecological community of populations of species livingtogether.

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CONC

EPT 33

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The parks of New York City are not only homesfor wildlife, they are also gardens for people toenjoy. Parks personnel maintain most park areasby planting, weeding, watering, mowing andpruning. All of these actions directly affect theecosystems in the immediate area and beyond.

The delicate balance between organisms andthe area in which they survive and thrive can beupset by human intervention, introduction ofnon-native (exotic, introduced) species, naturalcatastrophes, environmental conditions, and/orthe presence or decline of other species.

Within the ecosystems of parks we can observemany species of plants and animals that are notnative to this region of the world. Some ofthese plants and animals can thrive outside ofthe area they were introduced into, and mayinvade the surrounding ecosystem. These non-native invasive species may have been broughthere intentionally or arrived accidentally.

New York City forests, for example, currentlyharbor a variety of plant species known to beinvasive. Most of these species come fromEurope and Asia and were intentionally intro-duced as garden plants. Some of the worstoffenders include Asiatic bittersweet and porce-lainberry vines, Norway and sycamore maples,

multiflora rose and honeysuckle shrubs. Theseinvasive species thrive at the expense of nativespecies, creating a more homogeneous ecosys-tem and lowering plant and animal diversity.Removing or controlling these invasives isessential to the success of restoration efforts inNew York City.

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The following pre-park visit activities will pre-pare your students for their trip to the park.

SSeettttiinngg uupp aa FFiieelldd JJoouurrnnaallAll Levels

Objective: To give students the means to make apermanent record of their experience.

Materials: Stapler, 10 sheets of paper per stu-dent, pencils.

What To Do: Fold the sheets of paper in half andstaple along the folded edge.

Explain that the students will be using the journalsto record information and observations from thepark visit. Have each student write their name onthe cover of the journal, as well as the name ofthe park they are gong to visit. Encourage them todraw a picture of what they expect to find at thepark.

Make some predictions before going in the field,and have students record these in their journals.

School

Playground

Deli

Park

Supermarket

Startling Starling Data

In 1890, Eugene Scheiffelin, a fan of WilliamShakespeare, decided to bring all of the birdsmentioned in Shakespeare’s writings to theUnited States. At that time, he released about 30pairs of European Starlings, and within 30 years,the original European starlings had spreadthroughout the United States.

Today, non-native European starlings are out-competing native North American birds such aseastern bluebirds, red-headed woodpeckers,northern flickers, and great crested flycatchers.Over the past century, the original 30 pairs ofEuropean starlings introduced to North Americahave increased to over 200,000,000 birds (onethird of the world's European Starling popula-tion). As a matter of fact, the European starlingand the English house sparrow (both exotic inva-sive species in this country) are endangered inEngland, the country they originated from.

TTaakkee AAccttiioonn

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Get students thinking by asking the followingquestions: Based on the time of year, what doyou expect to see at the park? What do you thinkyou will learn from the visit? Have studentsinclude a few questions and answers of their ownon the first page of the journal.

The information the students collect and theobservations they make in the field will bedependent on many things, including the time ofyear, time of day, and weather conditions. As aresult, it is important to include the followinginformation for each field journal entry:

Date: Is it early spring? Late fall? The time of yearwill greatly affect what you find in the park (e.g.many species migrate in the fall).

Time: Is it early in the morning? High noon? Thetime of day will also affect what you are likely toobserve (e.g. many species are more active atdawn and dusk).

Weather Conditions: Is it pouring rain? Blisteringhot? These conditions will also affect what youare likely to observe (e.g. some species bask in thesun).

Location: Are you standing in a forest? Lookingout over a body of water? Make note of the habi-tat features (forest/trees, meadow/grasses, pond,playground) in the area, as this will greatly affectwhat you see (e.g. some species prefer the forest,some the meadow ).

Observations: Is there a swarm of flies around acertain tree? Have you seen an unusual numberof butterflies? Using the background informationlearned in the pre-visit activities, keep your eyespeeled and keep track of any interesting observa-tions.

Sketch: A picture is worth a thousand words.Students will practice capturing specific details inthe field by drawing what they see.

Don’t forget to bring the field journals with youto the park!

WWeebb ooff LLiiffee AAccttiivviittyyAll Levels

Objective: To illustrate the interconnectednessof organisms within an ecosystem.

Materials: Yarn, index cards, hole punch, mark-ers, Web of Life Basic Characters list.

Before You Begin:Using the Web of Life Basic Characters List onpage 5, create a set of “web of life” index cardsfor the class to use. Punch each card with twoholes and string the yarn through the holes.Each student will wear an index card during theactivity.

What To Do: Have the students sit in a circle,wearing the cards that represent the “web oflife” elements within an ecosystem (sun, air,pond, trees, soil, grass, mammals, birds, inver-tebrates) and pass the ball of yarn to eachother, calling out relationships with each pass(e.g. “the bird eats the mosquitoes) to illustratethe connection between individual organismswithin an ecosystem.

Level One“Who Eats Whom?”For the youngest students, exploring the rela-tionship of who eats whom will give them abasic understanding of the food web. As theteacher, you can begin by passing the ball ofyarn to a student and explaining the relation-ship between the two organisms (e.g. “theduck eats the duckweed”). Continue untileveryone is holding the yarn.

Level Two/Three“Exploring the Web”For older students, expand the concept of thefood web into the web of life by including non-living elements in the web. Keep the activitygoing until each student has received andpassed the yarn twice, once to represent a“who eats whom” relationship (e.g. “heronseat crayfish”), and once to represent a relation-ship between a non-living and a living element

4N

School

Playground

Deli

Park

Supermarket

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(e.g. “turtles bask in the sun to regulate temper-ature”). Continue this process until each studentin the circle is holding a section of the yarn.Students can pass the yarn to anything that theyeat, that eats them, that they live in, or that theyare connected to in another way.

All LevelsWhen the activity is complete, and each studentis holding the yarn, the teacher will ask thegroup to sit still. The teacher will gently tug athis/her end of the yarn and instruct the studentsthat when they feel the tug on their end of theyarn, they should gently tug back. Students willcontinue tugging until each student is gentlytugging and the web they have created isvibrating. This represents the interconnected-ness of everything within the ecosystem.

Focus Question:All Levels• Can any of the organisms be connected tomore than one item within the web at a time?• How many organisms are affected if weremove one organism from the web?• Identify one individual within the web thatseems less important to the group. What wouldhappen to the web without that organism?

Web of Life Basic CharactersThese lists can be changed to suit your classroom. Use them to make

your index cards

PPaarrkk VViissiitt

Level One

Turtles DucksDuckweed Lily padsDragonflies MosquitoesFish TadpolesFrogs TreesGrass Birds

Level Two/Three

Sun SoilWater Oak treeMaple tree Pine treeHeron Bluegill sunfishPumpkinseed sunfish Stickleback fishBullfrogs Pond snailsPainted turtles Freshwater musselsNewts CrayfishTadpoles WaterboatmenWater fleas Water liliesCattails ShrimpLeeches Snapping turtles

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Read through the following park-visit activitiesto get a sense of what your students will bedoing on the day of the trip.

OObbsseerrvviinngg CCoommmmuunniittiieessAll Levels

Objective: To have students conduct ecologyfield investigation and discover what organismscoexist in the park.

Materials: Field journal, Site EvaluationWorksheets.

What To Do: Hiking with the Ranger throughthe park, students will record what they find intwo different habitat types. Students will record

additional observations and drawings in theirfield journals.

Level OneVisit one area that has only a few plants and/oranimals (site one) and another area that hasmany different plants and/or animals (site two).Follow the instructions and fill in the chart onthe Site Evaluation Worksheet.

Level Two/ThreeVisit an area like a ball field or playground, withlow diversity of plants/animals (site one) and amore “natural” area with a greater diversity ofliving organisms (site two). Follow the instruc-tions and fill in the chart on the Site EvaluationWorksheet.

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Focus Questions:All Levels• What are the differences between the twosites?• Which one has a greater diversity of organ-isms (biodiversity)?• Ask your students to come up with examplesof ways these ecosystems are disturbed byhuman action.

Level One• Which site would you like to visit next timeyou come to the park? Why?

Level Two• How many different producers did you find atSite 1? Site 2? • Are you able to find examples of every troph-ic level at both sites?• Compare the number of different primary andsecondary consumers you found in the twosites. Why do you think they are there? What isthe difference between Site 1 and Site 2?

Level Three• How are primary and tertiary consumer pop-ulations affected by different kinds of humanactions? • How would this affect the entire ecosystem?• Did you find any non-native, invasive species?

• How do you think these invasive speciesarrived at the park? • How do you think these invasive speciesmight be controlled?

IInnvvaassiivvee SSppeecciieess IInnvveessttiiggaattoorrssLevel(s) Two/Three

Materials: Invasive Species List, pencil, fieldjournals.

What To Do: At the park, have the students:• Identify three invasive plant species.• Identify two invasive animal species.• Record, if possible, the quantity of eachspecies identified (e.g. 40 starlings, 123 phrag-mities plants) in their field journals.

Back in the classroom, have the studentsresearch each invasive species identified to findout:• Where they are originally from and identifythe location.• How they arrived at the present location.• How they are impacting the local ecosystem.• Which invasive species on the list do you thinkis the most harmful?

INVASIVE SPECIES LISTCheck off the species you find in the park

PLANT

1 Garlic Mustard

2 Phragmites

3 Tiger Lily

4 Norway maple

5 Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven)

6 Purple Loosestrife

7 Multiflora Rose

ANIMAL

1 Mute Swan

2 European Starling

3 Pigeon

4 European House Sparrow

5 Asian Longhorn Beetle

6 Gypsy Moth

7 Red-eared Slider

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School

Playground

Deli

Park

Supermarket

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The following post-park visit activities will helpyou wrap up the park visit by using data collect-ed at the park to draw conclusions. Extensionactivities are also included.

EEccoollooggyy iinn GGrraapphhiicc DDeettaaiillAll Levels

Objective: To analyze the data collected in thepark.

Materials: Paper, markers, ruler, graph paper,field journals, Site Evaluation Worksheets.

What To Do: Analyze the data in the field jour-nals and on the worksheets by creating draw-ings, graphs, and charts.

Level OneWork as a class to tally the total number of dif-ferent species observed in each trophic level ateach site. Create a chart on the board to recordtotals. Next, work as a class to create a bargraph comparing the total number of speciesobserved for each trophic level at each site.Finally, compare the differences between thetwo sites.

Levels Two and ThreeHave each student tally the total number ofspecies observed in each trophic level at eachsite and create a chart. Next, have each studentcreate a graph comparing the total number ofspecies observed in each trophic level at eachsite and compare the differences. Finally, havethe students calculate the total number of inva-sive and non-invasive plants observed at eachsite and create a graph.

Focus Questions:All Levels• Which site had higher biodiversity (highernumber of different species)? Why?

Level Two/Three• Which site had a larger number of invasivespecies?• What will these sites look like in a year fromnow?• Which site is ecologically “healthier”?

SScchhooooll YYaarrdd SSuurrvveeyyAll Levels

Objective: To use skills learned at the park in aninvestigation of the school yard.

Materials: String, chalk, hand lenses, pencil,field journal or sheets of paper.

What To Do: Break the class into small groupsand provide each group with a 3-foot length ofstring and hand lenses . Have the groups spreadout around the schoolyard and place their stringon the ground at a desired location. Holdingone end of the string in place, move the otherend in a circle, outlining the circle with chalk asyou go. Using the hand lenses, each studentshould record what they find within their stringcircle.

Back in the classroom, have each group sharewhat they found in their area.

Have the students record their observations inthe field journal.

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OOnn aanndd BBeeyyoonndd

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School

School

Playground

Playground

DeliDeli

ParkPark

Supermarket

Supermarket

8

Focus Questions:• What did you find the most of at your site?• How is your site different from the other sitesand why?• Which group found the most plant/animal lifeand why?

OOwwll PPeelllleett DDiissccoovveerryyAll Levels

Objective: To have students examine the con-tents of owl pellets to discover what the owlseat.

Materials: Owl Pellets, owl pellet worksheet,tweezers and black construction paper.

Before You Begin: Owls are carnivores and sec-ondary consumers. This activity will give yourclass the unique opportunity to see what is ontheir menu. Owl pellets are masses of indi-gestible food that owls regurgitate. Items suchas bones, fur, scales and feathers of the animalsthe owls dined on can be found in these “pel-lets.”

What To Do: Break the students into groups forthe owl pellet dissection. Demonstrate to theclass how to use the tweezers to break apartand examine the contents of the pellet. Oncethe students have their owl pellets dissected,use the worksheets provided to sort out andidentify the material found in the pellets.

CCoommmmuunniittiieessAll Levels

Objective: To learn how to use maps to explorehuman habitats or communities and examinethe relationships that we form with our physicalenvironment.

Materials: Graph paper, Pencil, Ruler.

What To Do: Have students create a “Where ILive” map, including the important featuressuch as where they buy food, where family andfriends live and go to school, and where theirhouse is. By researching the different landmarksfor each of their maps, students can discoverthe importance of these features and how theyimpact and are connected to their daily lives.

Focus Questions:All Levels• Are the features the same from student tostudent? Why or why not?• What is the most common feature mapped?• What is the least common feature mapped?• What is the most important feature on yourmap? Why?• How would your life change if one or morefeatures were removed from your map?

Level One• What does the map tell you about your com-munity? Is it residential or commercial, more orless urban? How many parks are on your map?

Level Two• What features on the map directly affect yourlife every day? • Which of these features is most important toyou and why?

Level Three• Can you plan a park on your map? Where onyour map would you put a shopping mall?What would happen to the other features onyour map if you added a shopping mall?

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SSiittee EEvvaalluuaattiioonn WWoorrkksshheeeettWhat To do:

At each site:• Identify as many different kinds of producers (plants) as you can.• Identify as many different kinds of consumers (animals) as you can. In addition to recording

actual animals, you should record evidence of animals (nests, tracks, droppings)• Determine if each consumer is a primary (eats plants), secondary (eats animals that eat plants)

or tertiary (eats animals that eat animals that eat plants) consumer.• Identify as many different kinds of decomposers as you can.

Location Site 1 Site 2

PRODUCERS

PRIMARY CONSUMERS

SECONDARY CONSUMERS

TERTIARY CONSUMERS

DECOMPOSERS

e.g. grass

e.g. squirrel

e.g. robin (or robin’s nest)

e.g. red-tailed hawk

e.g. earthworm (or worm castings)

e.g. maple tree

e.g. mouse (or mouse droppings)

e.g. spider (or spider web)

e.g. screech owl (or owl pellet)

e.g. mushroom

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OOwwll PPeelllleett DDiisssseeccttiioonn WWoorrkksshheeeett

Name: Date:

1. Measuring (All Levels)

Length: Width:

2. Categorization (Level(s) Two/Three)

How many of the following bones did you find?

Humerus: Femur:Lower Jaw: Skull:Vertebrae: Shoulder Blade:Ulna/Radius: Ribs:Pelvic Bones: Tibia/Fibula:

3. Focus Questions (All Levels)

How many animals did this owl eat?

What do the contents in this pellet tell you about the owl’s diet?

What habitat do you think this owl would be hunting in?

4. Drawing (All Levels)

Draw a picture of your owl pellet before and after dissection. Include details of each bone.

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