urban ecosystems work book

Urban Ecosystems WorkbookBTEC First Applied Science

If completed this Provides Evidence for P2, P3, M2, M3 and D2

Teresa Greer • [email protected] • Haringey Sixth Form Centre 1

Name:

mailto:[email protected]


Ecosystem and Human Impact

what organisms will you find and how are they affected by man?

Describe the Ecosystem Investigated and Look at Mans Impact

The ecosystem we are investigating is a large one and made up of a number of

habitats. We are going to look at the following areas:

1. Tottenham Marshes - an Urban Green Space

2. Tottenham Cemetery - Urban Green space and cemetery

3. Area behind Tottenham High road - Urban Wasteland

4. Lordship Woods - a Wooded area

Your first task is to draw a plan or

map of each area we are looking at.

Each plan should fill the box on the

relevant sheets. Make sure your plan

is labelled with anything worthy of

note.

example area plan

Teresa Greer • [email protected] • Haringey Sixth Form Centre



Tottenham Marshes




Tottenham Cemetery




Urban Wasteland




Wooded Area




Are organisms picky about where they live?

We are going to look at what organisms live where. We will use the same sam-

pling techniques as when we looked at flowering and non flowering plants at the

wildlife pond. In each area we will do six quadrats making sure to note what

plants and animals we find and how many of each. You should fill in the results

on tables like this:

Results Example: Investigation of wildlife pond (P2)

Quadrat number Plants Animals

1 20% Grass

70% moss

10% Nettle

5 woodlice

12 ants

3 centipedes

2 80% moss

20% grass

2 woodlice

3 100% grass 3 centipedes

4 90% grass

10% Nettles

4 woodlice

3 false scorpions

5 100% Grass 2 woodlice

6 70% grass

30% moss

5 woodlice

2 centipedes




Tottenham Marshes


1

2

3

4

5

6




Tottenham Cemetery


1

2

3

4

5

6




Wasteland


1

2

3

4

5

6




Wooded Area


1

2

3

4

5

6




Adaptations

Some organisms are adapted specially for the habitat you find them in. A polar

bear has clear white looking fur to absorb the maximum sunlight possible in cold

climates, fish have gills that allow them to obtain enough oxygen underwater.

How are Tottenhams organisms especially adapted for their habitat? Choose one

of the organisms you found in your investigation and draw it below. Label

around it the specific adaptations that make it suited to where you found it.




Relationships of Organisms

who eats who?

We have looked recently at food chains, food webs, pyramids of number and

pyramids of biomass. Your next task is to create one of each out of the data we

have gathered.

Food Chain

Using the data you collected from one of the quadrats from any site draw a sim-

ple food chain, showing where the energy originates from, with arrows in the

correct direction and the following labels: Producer, Consumer, Direction of en-

ergy transfer




Food web

Using all of the data you have collected from one area create a food web show-

ing the relationship between the organisms in that area.




Pyramids of number and Pyramids of Biomass

Using the data you have collected from one area give a rough representation of

the amounts of organisms and the mass of them in a pyramid of number and a

pyramid of biomass. Make sure to write the correct title for each one.




Mans Impact on the Environment

How big an impact does man have on his environment?

We are going to use two methods for measuring mans impact on the environ-

ment around tottenham.

1. Indicator Species

2.Pollution levels

Indicator species

Lichen is a commonly used indicator species in looking at air quality. Quite sim-

ply the more of it you see - the better the quality of air there is. If you see very

little lichen then the air quality is very poor. You can use the Lichen identification

key to look for and name particular species of lichen. Use the following pages to

record what species and how much is at each area. State whether this indicates

good or poor air quality.

Pollution levels

Pollution leaves its marks on walls and trees and buildings for all to see. To look

at the pollution levels you need to take approximately 2cm of stick tape and

place the sticky side against the bark of a tree. Leave it for 10 seconds then at-

tach it to your sheet. Repeat this three times for each tree and state what per-

centage of the tape is covered by sooty pollution particles.




Tottenham MarshesPOLLUTION PARTICLES

1 2 3

Percentage of pollution particles:

LICHEN




Tottenham CemeteryPOLLUTION PARTICLES

1 2 3


LICHEN




WastelandPOLLUTION PARTICLES

1 2 3


LICHEN




WoodlandPOLLUTION PARTICLES

1 2 3


LICHEN




Long Term Investigation

How do you measure environmental impact over time?

This is work you should attempt over half term but only if you have completed

all of the previous assignments

Plan an investigation

For this task you need to plan an investigation that will be a long term investiga-

tion into mans impact on the environment in the Tottenham area. How long will

you carry out your investigation? How frequently? What information will you

gather? Use your practical report template to help you.You need to produce

1.Title - what will you call your investigation?

2. Introduction - background information

3. Hypothesis - What would you expect to see?

4. Method - how will you do it?

5. Apparatus - what equipment will you need?




urban ecosystems work book

Art & Photos

wooded area teresa greer

tottenham marshes teresa

urban wasteland teresa

centipedesteresa greer

form centre1

ergy transfer teresa

example area planteresa

pyramids of number