Problem
A. Based on the first video, when did ecology first become a science? What does ecology mean and who coined the term? What types of scientists are involved in studying ecology? What three scientists established ecosystem ecology and what was it used to describe?
B. According to the second video, what is biogeography, what is a biome, and how does a biome fit into the science of biogeography? What are abiotic factors, biotic factors, weather, and climate, and how do they affect ecosystems? What is the rain shadow effect and how does it affect climate?
C. According to the third video, what are the major terrestrial biomes? For each one, describe the type of climate, location, and organisms present. Why are these organisms found in these types of biomes?
D. According to the fifth video, what conditions exist during greenhouse and icehouse periods and how are they different from each other? What period are we currently experiencing? How can an icehouse period become a greenhouse period and vice versa? What factors affect these periods?
E. According to the eighth video, how do births, deaths, immigration, and emigration affect population size? How can we calculate the change in population size (explain using an equation). What type of reproductive strategy do whooping cranes follow, what are some characteristics of this strategy, and what type of growth rate occurs as a result? What type of reproductive strategy is used by rabbits, and how is it different than the strategy used by whooping cranes?
F. According to video ten, what type of growth are humans currently experiencing? What advances lead to this type of growth? How long can it continue, and how will we know when we reach or exceed our carrying capacity? What is an ecological footprint, and how is it used to measure resource use? How large is our country's footprint, and why? Why is our country's growth rate decreasing, and will it be enough to keep us from reaching carrying capacity?
G. Citing examples used in the eleventh video, explain the concepts of resource partitioning, mutualism, and commensalism. What is the difference between a fundamental niche and a realized niche? How many organisms obtain the former, and how many the latter?
H. Using the example found in video twelve, explain how a predator/prey cycle works. Then, citing specific examples from the video, discuss several mechanisms prey organisms have developed to help them avoid being eaten.
I. According to video 14, what are the major differences between a food web and a food chain? Is one more stable than the other? What role do the following players play within an ecosystem? Give specific examples from the video: herbivores, carnivores, detritivores, omnivores, consumers, producers, and autotrophs.
J. After watching the fifteenth video, describe a trophic period from the bottom up, including the groups at each level, with specific examples of organisms in each group, and explain what happens to energy each time you move up a level.