#9978 THE BIOSPHERE DESCRIPTION ACADEMIC STANDARDS INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS SUBJECT AREA: GEOGRAPHY PHYSICAL SYSTEMS SUBJECT AREA: SCIENCE LIFE SCIENCES

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1 #9978 THE BIOSPHERE DESCRIPTION VISUAL LEARNING COMPANY, 2002 Grade Level: mins. 2 Instructional Graphics Enclosed The biosphere is a thin zone of land, air, and water that is home to all living things on earth. Discusses its features as well as characteristics of ecosystems and biomes, including biotic and abiotic components. Also covers types of terrestrial and aquatic biomes, and how ecosystems can change through a process called succession. Defines terminology, and concludes with a summary and quiz. ACADEMIC STANDARDS SUBJECT AREA: GEOGRAPHY PHYSICAL SYSTEMS Standard: Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on Earth's surface o Benchmark: Knows the physical components of Earth's atmosphere (e.g., weather and climate), lithosphere (e.g., land forms such as mountains, hills, plateaus, plains), hydrosphere (e.g., oceans, lakes, rivers), and biosphere (e.g., vegetation and biomes) (See INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 1, 2, 4, and 5.) SUBJECT AREA: SCIENCE LIFE SCIENCES Standard: Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment o Benchmark: Knows that all individuals of a species that exist together at a given place and time make up a population, and all populations living together and the physical factors with which they interact compose an ecosystem (See INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 1 and 2.) o Benchmark: Knows factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g., available resources; abiotic factors such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition; disease; competition from other organisms within the ecosystem; predation) (See INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 2.) o Benchmark: Knows that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms (e.g., some organisms move in, others move out; some organisms survive and reproduce, others die) (See INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 3.) INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS 1. To define the terms biosphere and ecosystem. 2. To introduce biotic and abiotic components of ecosystems. 3. To describe the process of primary and secondary succession in an ecosystem. 4. To illustrate the differences between some terrestrial biomes including the tundra, taiga, deciduous forest, tropical rain forest, grassland, and desert. 5. To explain some of the differences between freshwater and saltwater biomes. Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

2 BACKGROUND INFORMATION A ten-question quiz appears on-screen at the end of the program. See the Biosphere Video Review paper in INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS. VOCABULARY 1. abiotic components 11. organisms 2. aquatic biomes 12. pioneer community 3. biosphere 13. precipitation 4. biotic components 14. primary succession 5. climate 15. terrestrial biomes 6. climax community 16. tropical rain forest 7. desert 17. secondary succession 8. ecological succession 18. taiga 9. ecosystem 19. temperate deciduous forest 10. grassland 20. tundra BEFORE SHOWING 1. Explain some of the characteristics of the environment that make up an ecosystem. a. Describe the local environment. List plants and animals that are common in the area. b. Describe some of the nonliving factors that affect living things, such as wind, temperature, soil type, and precipitation. 2. Describe some of the different types of ecosystems found in the area. Discuss how the living and nonliving things differ from each other in these ecosystems. DURING SHOWING 1. View the video more than once, with one showing uninterrupted. 2. Pause at each You Decide screen. Allow students time to record their responses on the Biosphere Video Review sheet. Discuss guesses. (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.) 3. This video is content-rich with numerous vocabulary words. Consider pausing periodically to review and discuss new terminology and concepts. Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

3 AFTER SHOWING DISCUSSION ITEMS AND QUESTIONS 1. Define biosphere. 2. What is an ecosystem? 3. Describe a marsh. What kinds of plants and animals live in a marsh? 4. Where are maple-beech forests found? What types of plants and animals live in a maple-beech forest? 5. Define and give examples of abiotic components affecting ecosystems. 6. Describe and give examples of ecological succession. 7. What is primary succession? What is secondary succession? Give an example of each. 8. Describe a climax community. Give an example. 9. What is a biome? What is the single biggest factor to cause one biome to be different from another biome? 10. Describe the locations and the plants and animals of the tundra, taiga, temperate deciduous forest, tropical rain forest, grassland, and desert biomes. 11. What are the two types of aquatic biomes? Describe each, including the type of water. 12. What factors vary throughout the oceans? 13. Define estuary. Give an example. APPLICATIONS AND ACTIVITIES 1. Complete the quiz at the end of the video. (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.) The answers are: ecosystem, biotic, abiotic, succession, pioneer, climax, climate, tundra, grassland, and marine. 2. Use the completed Biosphere Video Review sheet to review the information presented in the video. 3. In small groups, study one terrestrial or aquatic biome. Create a model or diorama of that biome, including plants and animals. 4. On individual copies of a world map, locate the terrestrial biomes mentioned in the video. Using a color-coded key, color each biome. Discuss: a. What is the largest terrestrial biome? b. On which continent is the largest desert located? c. In what type of biome would you find a maple tree? polar bear? cactus? 5. Identify types of successions and communities. (See INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS.) 6. Compare how people are affected by abiotic and biotic factors today and 200 years ago. Describe how people might react to these situations now and in the past: a. Light It is dark and you need to do your homework. b. Temperature It is very cold in your house. c. Water You need water to wash your clothes. d. Food You are hungry and need some food to eat. e. Disease You have a bacterial infection and feel quite ill. f. Grass You need to cut the grass around your house. Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

4 DCMP RELATED RESOURCES Internet Communities of Living Things Habitats The following websites complement the contents of this guide; they were selected by professionals. Every effort was made to select accurate, educationally relevant, and kid safe sites. However, teachers should preview them before use. The U.S. Department of Education, the NAD, and the DCMP do not endorse the sites and are not responsible for their content. BIOMESOFTHEWORLD This site has information on terrestrial and aquatic biomes. Each section has its own table of contents which allows users to move around at will through the information. Includes photographs. BIOMES/HABITATS This site has sections on a variety of biomes. Each section has information on organisms that live in that biome. Some sections also have printable books and worksheets. Although aimed at elementary students, this site has much usable information for middle school students. ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION This site explains ecological succession with diagrams. It also has links to information on abiotic and biotic factors, energy flow (food chains), and the water and carbon-oxygen cycles. Each section has an interactive online multiple-choice question review. WIKIPEDIA: ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION This article from The Free Encyclopedia site has vocabulary words linked to other information. INSTRUCTIONAL GRAPHICS BIOSPHERE VIDEO REVIEW ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

5 Name: Biosphere Video Review Directions: During the course of the program, answer the You Decide questions as they are presented in the video. Answer the Video Quiz questions at the end of the video. YOU DECIDE What is an ecosystem? What animals made this pond? What is a climax community? What is this biome called? How much of the earth's surface do the oceans cover? VIDEO QUIZ 1. A(n) consists of all living and nonliving things. 2. components consist of living things. 3. Temperature is a(n) component. 4. Ecological is the change of an ecosystem over time. 5. A(n) community is the first group of organisms to move into an area. 6. communities tend to be more stable. 7. is the weather of an area over time. 8. The is a cold, dry biome. 9. Bison once roamed the. 10. The biome consists of salt water. Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

6 Name: Ecological Succession Directions: Match the terms listed below to the correct successional illustration New growth following a forest fire. Flowers growing on hardened lava Old growth forest. Lichens and mosses on rocks. climax community secondary succession pioneer community primary succession ecological succession ACTIVITY EXTENSION Directions: On the back of this piece of paper, create an additional drawing to illustrate the end of successional stages. Funding for the is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.