Assignment:
Session 2 Ecosystem Paper
Observe an ecosystem, either in your backyard, a natural area within a city, a park, or another place outdoors. Take note of plant and animal life (that includes looking for traces of animals such as scat, hair, footprints, etc.). Then write a 2 to 3 page paper that includes the following listed points. It is required that you apply vocabulary and information from your reading and research in your ecosystem description with support from a minimum of two sources.
1. Describe the location you chose to observe
2. Research the term "abiotic" and discuss abiotic factors that influence the ecosystem.
3. What populations did you observe (or have observed in the past) in the ecosystem?
4. Describe the biological communities that exist.
5. What components of a food web or food chain (e.g., producers, consumers, decomposers, etc.) did you observe?
6. What interactions did you observe (or likely exist) within the ecosystem: Provide specific examples for the following interactions:
a. symbiosis (parasitism, mutualism, and commensalism)
b. predation
c. competition