STANDARD 6: Stability in an ecosystem is a balance between
competing
effects. As a basis for understanding this concept:
6a: Biodiversity is the sum total of different kinds of organisms
and is
affected by alterations of habitats.
6b: Analyze changes in an ecosystem resulting from changes in
climate, human
activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in
population size.
6c: Fluctuations in population size in an ecosystem are
determined by the
relative rates of birth, immigration, emigration, and death.
6d: Students know how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between
abiotic
resources and organic matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen
cycles through
photosynthesis and respiration.
6e: A vital part of an ecosystem is the stability of its
producers and
decomposers.
6f: At each link in a food web some energy is stored in newly
made
structures but much energy is dissipated into the environment as
heat. This
dissipation may be represented in an energy pyramid.
California Standards for Biology
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - home page. A good start
for
searching for current issues on human activity affecting the
environment.
http://www.epa.gov/
National Wildlife Magazine - A good Resource for both Human
impact and
Wildlife issues (endangered, invasive). Full text articles!
http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/pastissues.cfm
Air Pollution issues
http://www.epa.gov/airnow/
Habitat loss issues
http://www.sierraclub.org/wildlife/species/
Ozone depletion issues
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/
Air Pollution from EPA
http://www.epa.gov/air/
Deforestation (Causing Decline of Forests)
http://www.fao.org/forestry/index.jsp
Over-fishing
http://www.fao.org/fi/default.asp
A variety of Human influences on the environment from NASA.
http://gcmd.gsfc.nasa.gov/KeywordSearch/Keywords.do?Portal=GCMD&KeywordPath=Parameters%7CHUMAN+DIMENSIONS%7CENVIRONMENTAL+IMPACTS&MetadataType=0&lbnode=gcmd3a
Human effect on the environment: Several Articles
http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/olson.html
Red Rides: The dangers of Algae Bloom
http://whyfiles.org/082ocean_health/4.html
Birds - How much do they eat in a day? Interesting and sometimes
surprising
facts.
http://www.duncraft.com/Wild_Bird_Nutrition.ihtml
Food Webs - Interactive: n four different ecosystems, place the
organism in
the correct trophic level, and get the food web in return.
http://www.gould.edu.au/foodwebs/kids_web.htm
Nitrogen Cycle - Great simplifying animation!
http://www.nps.gov/olym/hand/process/ncycle.htm
INVASIVE SPECIES - The EPA list and data Sheets.
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/
Ballona Wetlands Trust - Main page
http://www.ballona.org/
Ballona Wetlands - Photos by Jonathan!
http://flickr.com/photos/stonebird/
Mediterranean Chaparral (us!)- Background
http://www.runet.edu/%7Eswoodwar/CLASSES/GEOG235/biomes/medit/medit.html
World Human Population throughout history - GREAT!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmEosykOesE
Earth without Humans - Article, Video, Timeline with audio Check
it out!
http://sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=2691D716-E7F2-99DF-38F54EF6075AAB4D
Global Data Base for Invasive Species
http://www.issg.org/database/welcome/
Invasive Species - from National Geographic (although not the
full article,
offers an introduction and another good article). Recommended -
pick up the
issue form the school library.
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0503/feature5/index.html
Biodiversity by location - A vast data base
http://zipcodezoo.com/
THE STORY OF STUFF....
http://www.storyofstuff.com/
A student's guide to pests in the US
http://www.startlocal.com.au/articles/educational_us_pests.html