Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Evolution: Natural Selection
The concept of interdependence in an ecosystem and its effect on the evolution of populations is further explored through a model of a dam. Students build a dam in the middle of the field, dividing the ecosystem in half to illustrate the...
PBS
Nova: Earth in Peril
A series of nine maps with accompanying explanations. They show how population growth has affected the environment around the world in terms of water availability, climate change, land and forest use, and more. There are both interactive...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Life Science: 12.7 Competition
Understand how competition affects the populations in an ecosystem.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Monitoring Life in the Rocky Intertidal Ecosystem
This activity will allow young scholars to learn the sampling techniques used in the field by citizen scientists who participate in LiMPETS, five national marine sanctuaries along the West Coast.
McGill University
Mc Gill University: Canadian Biodiversity: Ecozones: Mixedwood Plains
This Mixedwood Plains ecozone extends along the Quebec City- Windsor corridor and the densely-populated region of Southern Ontario. This brief, concise description includes a collection of images of the animals and birds native to the...
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Life Science: 12.2 Ecological Organization
See how ecosystems are organized into several different levels, and an ecosystem can be studied at any one of the various levels of organization.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Life Science: Levels of Ecological Organization
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Ecosystems are organized into several different levels, and they can be studied at any one of the various levels of organization. Learn more about levels of...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: What Is Ecology?
A webpage giving an overview of ecology. Learn about the biotic and abiotic factors that make up an ecosystem as well as the different levels of ecology.
Other
The Sustainable Scale Project: Carrying Capacity
Students study carrying capacity, a measure of sustainability within changing conditions inside ecosystems.
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Natural Selection
Build a dam in the middle of an ecosystem and observe how the population of plants and animals adapt to their new environment with this science simulation. Learn how the populations adapt to survive in their new habitat. Then remove the...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: The Habitable Planet: Ecology Lab
Create the parameters of your own ecosystem by choosing which producers and consumers live there. Visualize how the food web operates and species populations change. This simulator mimics the food web within a typical ecosystem and gives...
Concord Consortium
Concord Consortium: Stem Resources: Predators and Prey
Did you ever want to be a hawk? In this virtual ecosystem, students will take on the role of a hawk and try to catch rabbits on a snowy field. Students will see which rabbits have adaptations that allow them to blend into the environment...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating the Long Meadow Lake Unit of Valley Nat'l Wildlife Refuge
This is a field investigation at the Bass Ponds Trailhead area in the MN Valley National Wildlife Refuge in which middle schoolers will collect data in the field and samples to test back in the classroom. Students will try to elicit the...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Your River's Health
Students perform a macroinvertebrate survey to gauge the health of a local river. They collect water samples and count macroinvertebrates to learn how the health of a river's ecosystem can be determined by its river insect population.
Other
Vancouver Aquarium: Harbor Seals
Are harbour seal populations endangered? What role does the harbour seal play in the ecosystem? How does the harbour seal reproduce? Find the answers to these questions and more in this enlightening site.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating the Ecology of Goldenrod Galls Through Biological Sampling
In this biology field lab exercise, students conduct a stationary population study of goldenrod galls. They examine a host of factors including goldenrod plant density, goldenrod gall density, gall height, gall mass, larval exit hole...
Georgia Department of Education
Ga Virtual Learning: Ap Biology: Ecology
Students review the study of living things and make connections back to Earth's systems. This unit focuses on how various species, grouped in populations and communities, work with the nonliving things around them to ensure survival.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mit: Open Course Ware: Courses: Civil Environmental: Ecology I: The Earth System
College-level online course highlighting the fundamentals of ecology. Course topics include coevolution of the biosphere, geosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere; photosynthesis and respiration; and the carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles....
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: Ecology Lab
Build your own ecosystem, and explore the effects of these interrelationships.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Making Sense of How Life Fits Together
Bobbi Seleski catalogs biology from our body and beyond, tracking how unicellular organisms, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and our biosphere build off of each other and work together....
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Bug Vacuums: Sucking Up Biodiversity
In this science fair project you can take on the role of a wildlife biologist by examining the biodiversity of insects in your own backyard. To do this, you will follow the directions to create a homemade bug vacuum.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Sea Level and the Terrapin
Students build a model ecosystem to simulate the life and limiting factors of the Terrapin turtle.
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Where Have All the Scrub Jays Gone?
Learn how organisms rely on one another but also compete with one another within the same ecosystem.
BBC
Bbc: Gcse Bitesize: Adaptations, Interdependence and Competition Aqa
The abundance and distribution of organisms in an ecosystem is determined by biotic and abiotic factors. Animals and plants have adaptations to allow them to compete for resources.