Author: e127318

ECOLOGY
The Forest Ecosystem Gizmo™ shows you the effects of adding organisms to, or taking them from, a forest. An organism is any living thing. To start, do the following:
Press Reset on the Gizmo.
Click Advance year a couple times to see two years of growth.
Remove all deer from the forest by clicking the minus (-) button until none remain.
Click Advance year a couple more times.
Select the Data tab. Be sure the Pictograph is showing the size of the tree population for the past several years. (If it is not, click on the tree.) How did removing deer affect the tree population? Why do you think this happened?
Under Choose organism, select the Mushroom. How did losing deer affect the mushroom population? Explain why this occurred.
Question: What role do trees play in the forest?
Form hypothesis: Where do you think trees get the nutrients they need to grow?
Analyze: Remove ALL organisms except trees. Click Advance year a few times and select the Data tab. Was your prediction correct? Explain what you found.
Draw conclusions: Substances that contain carbon and are produced by living things are called organic. Examples of organic materials are sugar, blood, protein, and fat. Other materials, like water, carbon dioxide, oxygen, and ammonia, are called inorganic.
Some living things, called producers, can produce the organic materials they need (like food) from inorganic matter. All other organisms are consumers; they consume organic matter since they cannot make it themselves.
Do your results show you that trees are producers or consumers? Explain.

Question: How do bears get the nutrients they need to live?
Explore: Run a few trials with the Gizmo to figure out what bears depend on for nutrition. How do bears get the energy and nutrients they need?
Predict: Based on your hypothesis, which population(s) would be hurt if bears were added?
Classify: Are bears producers or consumers? Explain your reasoning.
Draw conclusions: An organism that breaks down organic matter into simpler inorganic matter (like carbon dioxide) is called a decomposer. Decomposers absorb nutrients from living things or the organic matter they leave behind. They do not need to kill to get their food. Do your results suggest bears are decomposers? Explain your reasoning.
Question: How do mushrooms get the nutrients they need to grow?
Form hypothesis: How do mushrooms get their food?
Predict: Based on your hypothesis, how will the mushroom population change when other organisms are added to the forest? Fill in the middle column below with your predictions.
Test: Test your predictions with three separate trials. Write the results in the last column of the table above.
Classify: Do your experiments suggest that mushrooms are decomposers (organisms that break organic matter down to simpler, inorganic matter)? Explain.
Extend: If mushrooms were producers, how would your results have been different?

ECOLOGY: Draw a food web using the organisms from the forest simulation gizmo on explorelearning.com
From the food web above, pick one food chain and create a ecological pyramid.
Energy Pyramid Biomass Pyramid Individual Pyramid
From the Good Buddies Game, Identify and describe at least 2 relationships for each type below. If you don’t see a relationship identified in Good Buddies, please come up with one and record it below!

Competition

Predator-Prey

Mutualism

Parasitism

Commensalism

Activity A: / Trees	Get the Gizmo ready: / Click Reset. / Select the Forest tab.

Activity B: / Bears	Get the Gizmo ready: / Click Reset. / Select the Forest tab.

Activity C: / Mushrooms	Get the Gizmo ready: / Click Reset. / Select the Forest tab (if necessary).

Change	Predicted effect on / mushroom population	Actual effect on / mushroom population
Trees added
Deer added
Bears added