UNIT
TWO
•
LESSON
TWO
What,'s
in
t.he
Wat.er?
Biat.ic
&
J\biat.ic
'EleMent.a
in
J\qpet.ic
'Ecaayat.eM&
W'IU\'P-U'P
To
wrap-up
the
investigation, bring your students
together
for
a group discussion
to
help them
understand
why
and
how
they achieved
their
results.
It
is
important
to
share results so
that
everyone
has
a clear
picture
of
what
happened.
To
help you facilitate
the
discussion, review
the
explanation in "The
Why
and
The
How"
using
the
Group Discussion questions
as
a guide.
GROUP
DISCUSSION
Explain
to
students
that
scientists learn
from
each
other
through discussion, and they build
upon
the
work
of
others
to
make
new
discoveries. Just
as
scientists
come
to
conclusions based
on
the
findings
of
their
experiments, students
will
now
come together
as
a
group
to
share
their
results and make conclusions
about
the
investigations they've conducted.
Have
students
record their final results and
the
explanation in
their
journals.
Ask students:
•When
we
remove certain elements
from
the
ecosystem,
what
is
the
impact on
the
living and non-
living elements
of
the
ecosystem?
•What
did you learn
about
water
in this investigation?
•
Why
is
water
important
in an ecosystem?
•
How
do
biotic elements interact
with
water?
•
How
does
water
affect a biotic elements?
•What
surprised you?
•
What
new questions
do
you have?
The
"Why"
and
the
"How''
Abiotic elements are those non-living physical and
chemical parts
of
an ecosystem which affect
the
ability
of
organisms
to
survive and reproduce. Chemical and
geological elements such
as
rocks and minerals, and
physical elements such
as
temperature and weather are
considered abiotic. The abiotic elements
of
an aquatic
ecosystem include water, nutrients, weather, gravel
or
sand, sunlight, cloud cover and oxygen levels.
The
biotic elements in an active aquatic ecosystem
include wildlife, aquatic plants, fungi and microscopic
soil organisms. Biotic elements also include the
stuff
that
living things leave behind
or
feed upon.
As
organisms
go
through
a
life
cycle and leave behind
things such
as
leaves, sticks, shells, skin
or
hides, feces
References
Edelstein, Karen. 1999. Pond and Stream Safari. A
guide
to
the
ecology
of
aquatic
invertebrates. Cornell Cooperative Extension. Ithaca, NY 14850.
Hall, Jody
S.
1998. Organizing Wonder: Making Inquiry Science
Work
in
the
Elementary School. Heinemann.
ISBN
0-325-00045-X.
Hunken, Jorie. 1994. Ecology
for
All
Ages: Discovering nature
through
activities
for
children
and
adults. The Globe Pequot
Press.
ISBN
1 ·56440-138-3.
Rulri,
Kerry.
1998. The Private
Eye:
(x5) Looking, Thinking
by
Analogy. The Private
Eye
Project.
P.O.
Box
646
Lyle, WA 98635
www.th~private-eye.com
ISBN
0-9605434-1-4
La
Motte
Company. 1994. The Pondwater Tour: Hands-on test
kit
and mini
curriculum
for
exploring lakes, streams and ponds. LaMotte Company,
P.O.
Box 329,
Chestertown,
MD
21620. (800) 344-3100.
Canterbury Environmental Education Centre,
UK.
Website
of
pond activities and
organism identification. www.naturegrid.org.u!Qpondexplorer/pond1 .html
http;//olympiccoast. noaa.gov/livinglmari ne _
wildlife/invertebrate~nvertl
ist.html
http;//www.estuaries.gov/pdf/EstuaryParty.pdf
21st
CENTURY
AFTERSCHOOLSCIENCE
PROJECT
(21st
CASP)
or
waste, teeth and bones.
Even
though
these
things are
no
longer living, they are biotic elements
because they came
from
living things and are used
as
food
by
other living things such
as
scavengers
and decomposers. A pile
of
earthworm
dung
is
considered biotic because
it
is
the
waste
of
a living
organism. A
rotting
log
and leaves are biotic
elements because
they
came
from
a tree
that
was
once living.
Aquatic plants and animals are interdependent (rely
on each other), and they provide
for
each other's
needs. For example, plants need water, sunlight
and nutrients
from
biotic waste
to
create their
own
food; and plants provide oxygen,
food
and
shelter
for
wildlife. Biotic and a biotic elements in all
ecosystems interact in a number
of
ways. Since living
things are dependent on abiotic elements, such
as
water, sunlight, air and nutrients
to
survive, the
more abiotic factors are available in an environment,
the
more biotic factors there are likely
to
be.
Not
all environments have
the
same a biotic factors.
Some environments have warmer temperatures
than others. Some aquatic habitats have more salt
than others. Some environments may have rockier
terrain than others.
These
abiotic factors affect
the
organisms
that
live in those environments.
To
survive, these organisms must adapt
or
adjust
to
these abiotic conditions. For example, polar bears
have thick coats
of
fur, black skin and layers
of
fat
to
insulate them
from
the
cold temperatures.
Because
a polar bear
is
adapted
to
cold climates and
cannot survive in warm climates, temperature
is
an
important
abiotic element.
The
abiotic elements
of
an aquatic ecosystem are
equally
as
important
as
the
biotic elements. All
of
the
parts
of
an aquatic ecosystem are essential
to
its
health and sustainability.
c rrlculr
•
Defin
~
the
followin
erms in
your
own
word
~:
ecosyste
~
i
o
t
ic
,
abiot
ic.
• Make a data
tab
e
of
the
bi
ot
ic and
ab
i
ot
i
~
elem nts
found
in
a local body
of
water
and
the
source
of
pollutants in
the
water.
W
rit
e a poem
about
t e
bi
otic
and
~biotic
~
ments
found
in
y ,
ur
favorite
aqu
~
tic
ecos~stem
.
• Make a
eb
of
ti1
otic
an
ab
i
ot
ic elements
in
an
estua
~
This lesson was
funded
in
(whole
or
part)
with
federal
funds
from
Title
IV,
Part
B,
21st Century
Community
Learning Centers program
of
the
No
Child Left Behind Act
of
2001 awarded
to
the
New
Jersey Department
of
Education.
UNIT
TWO
•
LESSON
TWO
PAGE4
'LeernlnCJ
ClbJect.ivea
Students
will:
1 . Identify abiotic
and biotic
elements
of
an
aquatic
habitat.
2. Explain
the
relationship
between
a biotic
and biotic
elements
in
an
ecosystem.
3.
Identify
variables
that
affect
the
sustainability
of
an
ecosystem.
Vacebulery
Vent.urea
a biotic
aquatic
biosphere
biotic elements
ecosystem
terrestrial
An ecosystem
is
an
area
that
contains living things
such
as
plants, animals
and microorganisms
(bacteria,
for
example)
that
interact
with
one another and the
environment
in
which
they
live.
Ecosystems can be
of
any
size -small like a rotting
log,
or
large like a beach
or
a forest. Ecosystems
are identified
as
either
aquatic
(water)
or
terrestrial
(land). The
biosphere
is
the parts
of
the
Earth and the
atmosphere
that
contain
living organisms. Every
ecosystem
is
a
part
of
the
biosphere.
The organisms
that
make
up
the
living
part
of
an
ecosystem are called
biotic,
which means
"living or having lived".
r
scripta
(yellow-bellied slider)
aquatic ecosystem
Some examples
of
biotic
elements in an ecosystem
include snails, flowers,
butterflies, leaves,
or
a
piece
of
wood.
Living
things a
re
affected by
the physical conditions
in
the environment and by
other
living things in an
ecosystem.
Nonliving things
found
in
an ecosystem are called
abiotic,
which
means
"non-living,
or
never
having lived". Abiotic
elements have an effect
on
the
type and number
of
organisms living in
an ecosystem. Examples
of
abiotic elements in
an ecosystem include
soil, rocks, water, air,
temperature and sunlight.
Water plays a special
role in every ecosystem,
interacting
with
all
of
the
biotic and abiotic
elements. As a result,
these elements affect
the
quality and
amount
of
water
in
the
biosphere.
We are going
to
examine
biotic and abiotic elements
in an aquatic ecosystem.
L.
terrestris (earthworm)
llMe
leeclecl
t.a
CancU:t,
llMSkJlt,lan
This investigation has two parts.
Organize and set
up
materials: 10 minutes
Introduce
the
lesson: 5 minutes
Conduct
the
investigation:
30
minutes
Student journaling/group reflection: 1 O -
15
minutes
Total estimated
time
: 55 -
60
minutes
21st
CENTURY
AFTERSCHOOLSCIENCE
PROJECT
(21st
CASP)
UNIT
TWO
•
LESSON
TWO
PAGE
1
