Assignment for Midterm Exam

So far in this class I have tried to cover some of the main topics in ecology. Often we choose examples from different environments to discuss each of these topics. However, I think that our students would benefit more from seeing how these topics can be applied to the same environment.

Choose an "area" (I suggest that the more specific the better- e.g. don't just choose "the desert" choose a particular location in a particular desert)that either you are particularly interested in or that you think that your students will be interested in learning more about. Your area can be terrestrial, marine or aquatic or tropical, temperate or polar. The discussions of biomes and ecoregions found in the EoE may help you to choose an area.

Think about how the following topics relate to your "area".


1) Physical Environment
- discuss the causes of climate in your area

2) Adaptations of Plants and Animals to the Physical Environment
- discuss morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations to the physical environment of your area

3) Population Regulation
- discuss the factors that regulate population sizes in your area

4) Species Interactions
- discuss some important interactions between species in your area

5) Adaptations to Biotic Interactions
- discuss examples of morphological and behavioral adaptations that help organisms in their interactions with other species

6) Food Webs, Indirect Interactions, Keystone Species
- discuss the food web of your area- discuss important indirect interactions and keystone species

7) Energy Flow
- discuss pattern of energy flow in a chosen environment

8) Nutrient Cycling
- discuss either nutrient cycling or the hydrologic cycle in your area

9) Ecosystem Services
- discuss ecosystem services provided by species in your area

Assignment
You assignment for this exam is to write a paper discussing 5 of the 9 topics listed above. Not all topics will be equally interesting or accessible in different areas (and you may be more interested in teaching about some of these topics than others). Your audience for this paper is the parents of your students. Imagine that you are trying to stimulate them to be more involved in their children's educations by providing them with enough background information about biology that they can understand what their children are learning.

All exam papers must include
(i)a discussion of topic 1 (physical environment)
(ii) a discussion of at least one section studying adapations (topics 2 or 5, you may discuss both)
(iii)at least one section discussing factors at the ecosystem level (topics 7, 8, or 9)

Feel free to incoude Figures, Graphs, or whatever materials you think would be useful.

DUE DATE

All assignments should be emailed to me and should arrive at in my mailbox no later than 10:00 PM on Monday February 23rd, 2009.

Note

This assignment makes perfect sense to me, but I imagine that I might not have explained perfectly well what I would like you to do. Please let me know if you have any questions.