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Unit 1 - Populations and Ecosystems (Investigations 1-4)

Big Idea - Organisms on Earth interact and depend in a variety of ways on other living and nonliving things in their environments

Investigation 1

Key Vocabulary Terms

Organism
Species
Population
Habitat
Life Cycle

Essential Questions:

What would I need in order to raise a lot of milkweed bugs?

What will the habitat have to provide for the milkweed bugs if they are to survive?

Investigation 2

Key Vocabulary Terms

Community
Biotic
Abiotic
Resources
Individual
Population Ecosystem

Essential Questions:

What are the differences between biotic and abiotic factors?

How do resources affect a population, individual, community?

Investigation 3

Key Vocabulary Terms

Ecosystem
Environment
Mini ecosystem
Aquatic
Terrestrial

Essential Questions:

How does energy move through the life-forms in the ecosystem, and how much energy is used at each stop?

How does introduction or removal of a population affect the other populations in an ecosystem?

Investigation 4

Key Vocabulary Terms

Ecosystem
Food Web
Producer
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Consumers
Decomposer

Essential Questions:

Which organisms are used as a food source by most other organisms in an ecosystem?

How can producers survive without eating?

How do consumers get their food?